TURKEY: VIEW FROM THE HEARTLAND III: KURDS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006163

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2008
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: VIEW FROM THE HEARTLAND III: KURDS IN
SOUTHEAST SAY EU REFORMS NOT IMPLEMENTED


REF: A. ANKARA 6140

B. ANKARA 5566


(U) Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.5 b and
d.



1. (C) Summary: Kurds in the southeast insist recent human
rights reforms have not been implemented, and that practices
such as torture, lack of attorney access for detainees, and
restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language continue
unabated. Even if the reforms are implemented in the rest of
Turkey, they doubt they will see real change in the
southeast. Even under the best of circumstances, it will
take time for the GOT to fully implement the reforms. End
Summary.



2. (U) Embassy Human Rights Officer and EUR/SE Desk Officer
traveled to the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Batman,
Sirnak, and Mardin September 23-26 and met with human rights
activists, security officials, mayors, governors, attorneys,
doctors, and religious leaders. Adana PO also participated
in portions of the visit as part of a longer orientation
tour. This report, as well as reftel A, is based on these
meetings.


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Double-Standard for Southeast
--------------



3. (C) Turkish human rights advocates and outside observers
have praised the wide array of EU-related human rights
reforms adopted by the Turkish Parliament since mid-2001 and
also point out the slow pace of implementation. EU officials
have told the GOT Turkey's candidacy will depend heavily on
its ability to implement the reforms it has adopted (reftel
B). A number of GOT contacts say they accept this challenge,
and the GOT has established a minister-level committee to
monitor implementation. In this light the gap between law
and practice is acutely felt in Turkey's troubled,
Kurdish-dominated southeast, where human rights abuses appear
to remain common. Our Kurdish contacts asserted to us there
is a double standard between the southeast and the rest of
Turkey. Even if the reforms are implemented elsewhere,
southeastern Kurds doubt whether they will see any change in
the region. "People here have been disappointed so many
times that they don't believe promises," said Nezahat
Dagtekin, director of ART Radio/TV in Diyarbakir. "They
believe what they can actually see."



4. (U) Our contacts reported a general lack of progress in a
number of human rights fields. For example:


--------------
Torture
--------------



5. (C) Representatives of the Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
office in Diyarbakir, which operates a torture treatment
center, told us that legal reforms designed to crack down on
torture have not caused a decrease in the practice. They
said torture cases have dropped significantly since the
height of the PKK conflict in the mid-1990s, but only because
the number of detainees has decreased. Physicians at the
treatment center showed us pictures of patients with obvious
injuries they said were caused by torture in detention. They
claimed that all the patients came to the HRF center after
being examined in detention by a doctor who falsely reported
observing no signs of torture. Necdet Ipekyuz, president of
the Chamber of Doctors in Diyarbakir, said police and
Jandarma often remain in the room when doctors examine
detainees, in violation of privacy regulations, thereby
intimidating doctors who would otherwise report evidence of
torture. These views were mirrored by other human rights
activists with whom we spoke, with the exception of members
of the Batman Human Rights Association (HRA) and Bar
Association, who reported a sharp decrease in torture cases
in the province. However, our Batman contacts said that
authorities continue to protect police when torture incidents
occur. HRF representatives said recent amendments decreasing
the maximum detention period from 10 days to seven days has
forced police to use torture methods that do not leave
telltale marks. As a result, there is a greater reliance on
methods such as: slapping, exposure to cold, sleep and food
deprivation, and threats and mock execution. There is a
reduced use of: electric shock, beating on the soles of the
feet (falaka),pressure hose, and hanging by the arms.


--------------
Attorney Access
--------------



6. (C) Our contacts agreed that authorities have not
implemented a January reform extending the right of immediate
attorney access to all detainees. Sezgin Tanrikulu,
president of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, said Diyarbakir
police rarely contact the Bar Association concerning
detainees, and estimated that only 5 percent of detainees in
the province consult with attorneys. Tanrikulu said police
do not inform detainees of their right to attorney access at
no cost. When detainees request an attorney, police often
warn that if they insist on attorney access while in
detention a court will assume they are guilty at trial.
Other human rights activists in the southeast supported
Tanrikulu's views, which are also consistent with what Ankara
HRA and HRF officials have told us about the situation
nationwide.


--------------
Kurdish Language Rights
--------------



7. (C) Recent reforms loosening restrictions on the use of
Kurdish have yet to be implemented nationwide. But our
contacts told us the restrictions have always been tightest
in the southeast, often extending beyond the regulations.
Dagtekin, of ART Radio/TV, said local authorities continue to
periodically close her station for broadcasting Kurdish
songs, despite the fact that the Culture Ministry has
approved the songs. Local officials claim the lyrics contain
separatist propaganda, but they are only traditional love
songs, she said. Dagtekin averred that stations in Istanbul,
Ankara and other cities outside the region broadcast the same
songs without drawing any reaction. "The use of Kurdish is
more sensitive here," she said. Naci Sapan, president of the
Southeast Journalists Association, said it will take time for
local authorities to accept the idea of Kurdish-language
broadcasts. Even once the legal framework is fully
established, most regional figures will avoid speaking
Kurdish on the air, for fear of official harassment. The
first Kurdish-language non-music programs will likely feature
human rights activists who have been taken to court so many
times they have lost their fear of the State. Then,
gradually, the voices will multiply, he predicted.



8. (C) Tanrikulu said authorities continue to prohibit the
use of Kurdish names for children, despite a legal amendment
intended to end the practice. He noted that the GOT on
September 24 issued a circular advising authorities of the
new regulations. At the same time, however, the circular
prohibits the use of Kurdish letters not found in Turkish (q,
w, x),a restriction rendering the reform meaningless in many
cases, he complained.



9. (C) We note, however, that as humiliating as this
bureaucratic obstructionism is, Kurds are finding ways around
it. For instance, the words "Kurdistan" and Mesopotamia" are
taboo. Kurds have now started to use the word GAP (the
normal abbreviation for the Turkish State's pharaonic dam and
irrigation Southeast Anatolia Project) to refer to their
homeland, and the name of the Hotel GAP in the heart of the
capital Ankara is a source of mirth for activist Kurds who
congregate there. Moreover, Kurds are beginning to shrug
their shoulders at the refusal of registry offices to accept
names with letters not in Turkish. Heja Elci (himself with a
Kurdish name that his father, prominent Kurdish nationalist
Serafettin Elci was able to bestow on him when Kurdish names
were not taboo) insisted that the Ankara registry office
accept "Mexar" as the name for his son. When the office
refused to use an "x", Elci substituted an "h", but told us
Sept. 24 that any Kurd reading the name will pronounce it in
the Kurdish "kh" way.


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



10. (C) Even under the best of circumstances, the current GOT
does not have the influence to gain full control of the law
enforcement bureaucracy and ensure full implementation of the
reforms quickly, whether in the west or southeast. Practices
such as torture and censorship are deeply rooted among
officials at all levels, as is the heightened fear among
officials in the southeast that Kurdish cultural expression
will lead to separatism. The GOT can help expedite change by
enhancing training for law enforcement and judicial officials
on the new laws and sentencing police who commit torture to
jail terms.


EDELMAN