TURKEY: THE VIEW FROM THE HEARTLAND, PART TWO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006160

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: THE VIEW FROM THE HEARTLAND, PART TWO


REF: ANKARA 6060


(U) Classified by Political Counselor John Kunstadter, E.O.
12958, reasons 1.5 (b) and (d).



1. (C) Summary: Public support for the AK government is
solid in the conservative central Anatolian provinces of
Konya and Karaman. If the AK government takes the lead, the
local public, although wary, appears willing to go along with
sending Turkish troops to Iraq. Government officials and
residents support EU reforms, notably without nationalistic
resentment about the imposition of outside standards.
Meanwhile, reform has not come to the sclerotic central
bureaucracy that controls most government services. End
Summary.



2. (C) Konya and Karaman are conservative provinces with
agricultural bases and growing industry. Konya has a
reputation as a center of more religiously-oriented political
thinking. Residents and state officials are sensitive about
Konya's religious image and are quick to claim that "this is
not Qom." Konya is home to Selcuk University, whose 70,000
students make it Turkey's second-largest university and give
the provincial center a more cosmopolitan air than the rest
of the region. AK dominated the region in November's
parliamentary elections, taking 14 of 16 seats in Konya and 2
of 3 in Karaman. However, a mix of parties have filled
municipalities since the last local elections in 1999,
including the left of center CHP, right-wing MHP, and
Islamist SP.


Solid Support for AK Government



3. (C) Public support for the AK government is solid in
Konya and Karaman. Even opposition party mayors agreed that
the AK government is popular with the local public. Konya
Chamber of Commerce leaders claimed that according to a
private poll they conducted, local support for AK had
increased 5% since the November elections. Residents,
government officials and opposition party members credited
the AK with continued effective grassroots political work in
cities, unlike previous parties who only focused on contact
with the public as elections neared. Small farmers expressed
satisfaction that since November the AK government had not
increased the price of their most expensive input, diesel
fuel for tractors.



4. (C) There is widespread local optimism about the AK
government, partially because it came to power without a
coalition, unlike recent governments, and is perceived as
potentially more effective. But optimism is also buoyed by a
sense that the November elections wiped the slate clean of
old, discredited parties and opened a new political chapter.
Konya Chamber of Commerce leaders said people had confidence
in AK "because it started from scratch." Karaman provincial
AK leaders, most of whom were under 40, claimed they had not
been involved in politics previously but that AK had given
them a reason to become involved. A retired police officer
in the town of Ayranci, in Karaman province, compared the AK
government to a new building: "The old building collapsed,"
he said, "now a new one is going up."


Wary Support for Troops to Iraq -- If the Government Leads



5. (C) The Konya and Karaman publics appear wary but ready
to support Turkey sending troops to Iraq -- if the AK
government leads. However, locals expressed a mix of
uncertainty about U.S. intentions in Iraq, fear of a Kurdish
state in Northern Iraq, and desire for U.S. action on
PKK/KADEK in Iraq. A Konya attorney predicted the local
public would support the AK government's position on troops,
but added "the U.S. must declare its intentions." Karaman AK
leaders predicted the same in their city, also saying the
U.S. needed to clarify its intentions. Even Yesildere's very
partisan CHP mayor said that the local public would follow
the AK government's lead on the troop question "if U.S.
support for the Kurds is withdrawn." Karaman's AK Chairman
chided the U.S. for inaction on KADEK -- and was unaware the
U.S. had already declared it a terrorist organization.


Positive on the EU



6. (C) Konya and Karaman officials and residents expressed
positive views on Turkey's EU reforms. Security directors
said they welcomed EU-related reforms to the criminal justice
system, which they asserted were being implemented. Security
directors in Konya and Karaman claimed they were applying to
judges for search warrants when they had not done so
previously. Konya's chief public prosecutor said Turkey
needed to continue to keep up with the EU in the area of
criminal law. Owners of a local Konya TV station predicted
EU membership would bring expanded freedom of expression.
Librarians in the town of Eregli (Karaman province) saw EU
membership as holding out the prospect of expanded freedom of
thought.



7. (C) Amid the support for reforms, there was no expression
of nationalistic resentment over pressure from reforms coming
from the outside. The only hint came from Eregli's
right-wing MHP deputy mayor, who declared Turkey was making
too many concessions to the EU. He furnished no examples,
and hastily added that he was not opposed to Turkey's EU
membership but was simply saying reforms should be in
Turkey's interest.


The Sclerotic Central Bureaucracy



8. (C) One area that has not seen reform is Turkey's
sclerotic central government bureaucracy, which controls most
government services but appears only sporadically effective.
Offices of centrally-appointed state governors, who command
most resources, were filled with officials, but few citizens,
in contrast to the offices of elected mayors and local
political parties. In the provincial capital of Aksaray,
north of Karaman, a group of residents praised the governor,
but none knew his name or any projects he had completed (they
all knew the mayor). The central bureaucracy does appear to
work sporadically, especially writ small. The sub-governor
of Ayranci (pop. 3200),his outer office filled with
citizens, said local residents even contacted him for help
when their cars broke down. The village headman of tiny Uc
Bas (pop. 70) said the governor's office was responsive to
requests at monthly meetings with village headmen.



9. (C) But when it comes to getting things done, the state
system is more a hindrance than a help to most residents.
Small merchants in Konya said they took their problems to the
mayor's office, not the governor. Konya Chamber of Commerce
leaders emphasized their economic independence from the state
but worried that the "unwieldy structure" of the state
economic bureaucracy would nevertheless "cast a shadow" over
their businesses. Owners of a Konya TV station recalled that
the governor brushed off public demands to increase the
number of stores selling required school uniforms, relenting
when their station ran a series of feature stories on the
subject.



10. (C) The system is frustrating even to those who work
within it. The sub-governor of Eregli in Karaman province
described Turkey as "one of only two communist states left",
the other being North Korea. He blamed the Turkish
bureaucracy for stifling dairy exports from his town's
factories. The state, he said, required "200 signatures in
order to export" and no factory was brave enough to initiate
the time-consuming process. The sub-governor added with
disgust that he had to ask Ankara for permission even to
replace a broken window in a schoolhouse. Ayranci's
sub-governor, who used to work in the private sector,
expressed disappointment at the lack of initiative in the
state system. He said that he would like his office to work
longer hours, but could not require employees to do so.
Eregli's state-appointed librarians, who receive books from
Ankara instead of selecting their own, complained they had to
request Ankara's permission in order to accept donated books.



11. (C) Comment: It is noteworthy that AK is not resting on
its laurels even in natural strongholds like Konya and
Karaman, although the party is avoiding getting out front on
sending troops to Iraq. In contrast, EU reforms appear to
enjoy genuine official and grassroots support. End Comment.


EDELMAN