Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ANKARA5927
2003-09-19 06:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

GOT ENGAGED IN INTERNAL DEBATE OVER IDP CONFERENCE

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005927 

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2008
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE
SUBJECT: GOT ENGAGED IN INTERNAL DEBATE OVER IDP CONFERENCE


REF: A. ANKARA 5566

B. ANKARA 5745


Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch; reasons 1.5 b and d.


C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005927

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2008
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE
SUBJECT: GOT ENGAGED IN INTERNAL DEBATE OVER IDP CONFERENCE


REF: A. ANKARA 5566

B. ANKARA 5745


Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch; reasons 1.5 b and d.



1. (C) Summary: Some MFA officials support a UN
recommendation to hold an international conference on return
programs for those displaced from the southeast during the
PKK conflict; however, the Interior Ministry opposes. UNHCR
believes the conference should also include the return of
refugees from the Makhmour camp in northern Iraq. An
international conference could lead to a returns program
capable of drawing international funding. End Summary.


--------------
UN Rep Proposes Conference
--------------



2. (C) Francis Deng, UN Special Representative on Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs),visited Turkey in May 2002 and
reported a new, more open attitude among GOT officials on the
issue of the IDPs who fled, or were forced, from the
southeast during the height of the PKK conflict (the GOT
claims 378,000 "migrated" from the region; various NGOs
estimate that from 1-3 million left). Deng made a number of
recommendations for turning this new attitude into concrete
progress, including a suggestion that the GOT convene an IDP
conference with international representatives aimed at
developing return programs in concert with the international
community. To date, Deng's report has not brought about any
tangible changes -- the GOT continues with an IDP return
program that has been widely criticized as limited and
secretive. Potential international donors maintain that they

SIPDIS
cannot contribute to a return effort that fails to meet
international standards.


--------------
MFA, EU SecGen Support
--------------



3. (C) A number of officials in the MFA and the closely
related Secretariat General for EU Affairs, the bureaucratic
offices leading the EU reform drive, support the idea of an
international IDP conference. They are anxious to show
progress on an issue listed among the EU accession criteria
(reftels). Asligul Ugdul, Secretariat General political
affairs director, told us she and her colleagues will work to

persuade high-level MFA officials, just returning from summer
leave, to lobby for a conference. She averred that a
conference would allow the GOT to present the IDP issue with
all its complexities to the outside world. With any luck,
international representatives would leave understanding that
the problem requires a long-term solution, and Turkey would
leave with a transparent returns program capable of drawing
international support. Ugdul said this would be far more
effective than the GOT's current "secretive" approach. "We
always criticize everyone for not understanding us, but it's
our own fault," she said. "What are we doing to explain
ourselves?" Kaan Esener, head of the MFA Council of Europe
Department, said the GOT has long resisted the idea of
outside involvement in the southeast, but, he insisted,
"there is going to be a change in our approach."


--------------
Interior: Turkey Not a "Banana Republic"
--------------



4. (U) However, a number of contacts have told us the
Interior Ministry is trying to block the effort. Nezih
Dogan, Interior Ministry secretary general, confirmed this
with his rejection of an international conference: "Turkey is
not a banana republic. We don't need other countries telling
us how to deal with this." Dogan defended the GOT's current
returns program as effective and transparent. He said
international grants or zero-interest loans could be helpful,
but not if they come with strings attached. Dogan argued
that international organizations impose uniform standards, on
housing for example, that are not appropriate for Turkey's
southeast. The GOT is best qualified to develop programs
appropriate for its own people.


--------------
UNHCR Wants Makhmour Included
--------------

5. (U) It is not clear how this internal GOT debate will play
out. Gesche Karrenbrock, UNHCR Turkey Representative, told
us UNHCR is still waiting for a response to a letter sent to
the GOT in July proposing an international "stakeholders"
conference on development and returns for the southeast.
UNHCR is eager to work with the GOT and CPA to assist in the
voluntary return to Turkey of refugees from the Makhmour camp
in northern Iraq. To be successful, a return program for
Makhmour would have to be tied into a larger effort that
would include IDPs within Turkey, she said.


--------------
Comment
--------------



6. (C) An international IDP conference would provide the GOT
with an excellent opportunity to break the logjam on this
chronic human rights issue. The Turks are right to argue
that returns and economic development in the southeast are
complex, long term problems. But Turkey's international
critics are right to accuse the GOT of failing to make
serious efforts to assist IDPs who want to return to their
homes. European contacts have assured us the EU would
provide funding for a transparent return program meeting
international standards. If a conference leads to a program
with international support, the international community will
become Turkey's partner in the solution, rather than an
outside critic. The returns issue will then be removed from
the list of Turkey's human rights abuses and placed among its
areas of progress. However, we doubt this will be settled in
favor of international transparency.



7. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.


EDELMAN