TENSIONS REMAIN IN SOUTHEAST, DESPITE REFORMS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001532

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE


E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE
SUBJECT: TENSIONS REMAIN IN SOUTHEAST, DESPITE REFORMS

Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.4 b and d.



1. (C) Summary: Kurds in southeast Turkey want the U.S. to
solve the Kurdish problem internationally as part of the
Greater Middle East Initiative. They criticize the USG
decision to list PKK successor Kongra Gel as a terrorist
organization, arguing that the GOT should negotiate with
Kongra Gel the surrender of PKK militants. Our Kurdish
contacts say the ruling AK Party does not sincerely support
Kurdish rights, but they see no better alternative to AK at
the national level at this time. Despite the recent
EU-related reforms, Kurds say State authorities continue to
block progress in the southeast. However, security officials
say the situation in the region is improving, and blame
lingering conflict on the pro-Kurdish Democracy People's
Party (DEHAP). Kurdish language courses are expected to
begin soon in several southeastern cities. End Summary.



2. (U) Officers from Embassy and Adana traveled February
23-26 to the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Batman,
and Mardin and met with a wide range of government, security,
NGO, and professional contacts.


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Greater (Kurdish) Middle East Initiative
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3. (C) As if speaking from shared talking points, our Kurdish
contacts across the board -- doctors, teachers, politicians,
journalists, and human rights activists -- insisted that the
U.S. resolve the Kurdish problem internationally as part of
the Greater Middle East Initiative (GME). They are anxious
to learn about GME, and hopeful it will prove beneficial to
Kurds. They warned us that GME will fail if it does not
address their problems. "There will not be democracy in
Turkey or the world until the Kurdish problem is solved,"
said Necdet Ipekyuz_, president of the Diyarbakir Chamber of
Doctors. We told our interlocutors that GME is not a
unilateral U.S. effort; we are developing it with countries
in the region and other allies around the world.


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Kurds Deny Kongra Gel is "Terrorist"
--------------



4. (C) The Kurds with whom we spoke were equally uniform in
their disappointment with the U.S. decision to include Kongra
Gel, the latest iteration of the terrorist PKK, on its
official list of terrorist organizations. While
acknowledging that Kongra Gel members are armed and hiding in
the mountains of the southeast, they rejected our assertions
that the organization is merely the PKK with a new name.
They claimed PKK members formed Kongra Gel in an effort to
establish a dialogue with the GOT. Reyhan Yalcindag,
attorney and member of the Diyarbakir branch of the Human
Rights Association, argued that the GOT refuses to recognize
any interlocutors who can speak for Kurds, and has therefore
blocked any non-violent outlet for Kurdish frustrations.
Cemal Dogan, director of Gun ("Day") TV and Radio in
Diyarbakir, expressed similar views, noting that the Turkish
State closed the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP)
and several of its predecessors, is seeking to close DEHAP,
HADEP's successor, and has labeled every PKK successor
organization terrorist. "If DEHAP and every Kurdish party is
terrorist, and every group with links to the PKK is
terrorist, then who can represent Kurds? How will the
Kurdish problem be solved?" Dogan asked. We emphasized the
USG view that Kongra Gel is a terrorist organization, and
noted that DEHAP (for the time being at least) remains a
legal political party. Batman Mayor Huseyin Kalkan, a DEHAP
member, told us DEHAP and Kongra Gel are both important for
Kurds in the southeast. While Kurds look to DEHAP for
political leadership, Kongra Gel speaks for the PKK.
Southeastern Kurds are hoping that Kongra Gel can negotiate
an agreement to bring their sons and daughters down from the
mountains.


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No Alternative to AK, "Unfortunately"
--------------



5. (C) Like many of our contacts, teachers Medeni Alpkaya,
Zeyyad Ceylan, and Ihsan Babaoglu -- members of the Egitsen
teachers' union -- believe the ruling AK Party has no sincere
interest in developing a new relationship between the Turkish
State and the Kurdish community. They support the AK
government's EU-related legislative reforms, and say there is
currently no better alternative party that is viable at the
national level (DEHAP is dominant in the southeast, but lacks
strong national support). But they claim there are no AK
leaders who can speak for Kurds -- they derisively dismiss
Interior Minister Aksu, who is Kurdish, saying he has never
supported Kurdish cultural rights during his extensive
political career. As Alpkaya sees it, the GOT is moving
forward on a number of fronts -- even working on a Cyprus
settlement -- but is dragging its feet on reforms related to
Kurdish rights. While the Turkish Parliament has passed
legislation allowing, in principle, Kurdish language
broadcasts and courses, these have still not been implemented
after more than a year of delay.


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Despite Reforms, Mistrust Persists
--------------

6. (SBU) Despite the ever-popular EU reforms, and the lifting
of the regional state of emergency in 2002, mutual distrust
continues to cloud relations between the mostly Kurdish
southeastern population and the Ankara-appointed authorities
in the region. Our Kurdish contacts cited many examples of
cases which, they believe, illustrate how the State holds
Kurds in contempt and seeks to keep them mired in poverty and
backward traditions. Ipekyuz_ and fellow doctor Ilhan Diken
told us that 50 percent of births in the southeast take place
in the home, with no nurse or other qualified practitioner
present. Many women have so little basic health knowledge
that they try to treat their babies with tea and alcohol when
they are sick. They said the Diyarbakir Chamber of Doctors
applied to the High Board of Radio and Television to
broadcast health-related programming on local stations -- but
were rejected without explanation. Our teacher contacts told
us Education Ministry authorities rejected their proposal to
provide free Kurdish language instruction on weekends.
Kalkan, mayor of Batman, said he applied to the Treasury
Ministry two months ago seeking approval to use a USD 48
million loan for infrastructural development, and has heard
nothing. When we offered Dicle University Rector Fikri
Canoruc books on the U.S. for the university library, he
nervously asked if they contained any "separatist" language,
and claimed he could be punished if the content were found to
be inappropriate.


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Police: DEHAP Is To Blame
--------------



7. (U) Orhan Okur, Diyarbakir Security Director, said
tensions in the region have dropped sharply. He told us that
one of the first decisions he made after taking office in
December was to reduce the police presence on the streets,
especially armored vehicles, in order to create a more
relaxed atmosphere (Note: We saw far fewer police than during
our last visit, in September. Moreover, we saw no
police/intelligence unit assigned to tail us during our
entire trip, something even our veteran Adana FSN colleague
could not recall. End Note). Okur acknowledged there are
still occasional violent clashes involving police, for which
he holds DEHAP solely responsible. He accused DEHAP members
of deliberately sparking confrontations with the police in
order to maintain the crisis atmosphere the party needs to
thrive. In some cases, for example, DEHAP supporters receive
permission to demonstrate, and then pass out brochures at the
demonstration, which is prohibited. When the police seize
the brochures, the demonstrators accuse them of violating
their rights. Okur insisted that police in Diyarbakir no
longer torture detainees under any circumstances. When we
asked to visit a local police station, he instead gave us a
tour of the anti-terrorist wing of the Diyarbakir
headquarters. The recently built holding cells were empty,
and Okur pointed out the hidden cameras which, he said,
protect officers from false torture allegations. He also
showed us the one blemish in an otherwise immaculate ward --
the word "direnis" (resistance) was written in blood on the
wall of one cell.


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Kurdish Courses on Horizon
--------------



8. (U) Though the EU-related reforms have been slow to impact
the southeast, there is at least one area where progress
appears to be on the horizon. Kurds in several southeastern
cities are preparing to open Kurdish language courses. We
visited the schools in Diyarbakir and Batman, where school
directors proudly showed us the brand new facilities,
complete with desks, blackboards, snack bars, etc. The
Batman school features a new twist on the mandatory "Ataturk
corner" -- beneath the bust of the Turkish Republic's founder
is the Ataturk slogan "The Greatest Virtue in the World is
Science" written in Kurdish. School directors in Batman have
received all the necessary approvals and expect to begin
instruction April 1 (official opening ceremonies were held
March 15); the Diyarbakir school director says he is a couple
of months away from opening. Aydin Unesi, head of the Batman
school, told us the language courses are important for Kurds,
for both symbolic and practical reasons. At least 90 percent
of Kurds speak Turkish, largely because education is in
Turkish. But outside the classroom they cannot always
express themselves fully in Turkish. "To write a poem or a
novel, to talk to our wives or doctors, we need our mother
tongue," Unesi said.


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Tensions Still Too High for Peace
--------------



9. (C) Omer Ulu, subgovernor of Nusaybin, on the Syrian
border, has perhaps the most balanced view of anyone we met.
He told us he deeply regrets Turkey's history of
ethnic-religious clashes that have scarred the southeast so
deeply. He admires Nusaybin's rich, diverse history, and
would like to see the town's Syriac, Jewish, Yezidi, and Arab
residents return and re-establish their abandoned
communities. He opposes restrictions on Kurdish and other
traditional languages, and the closing of political parties.
"Turkey needs to become a multi-ethnic, multilingual,
multi-religious state, like the U.S. or UK," he said. "If it
continues to be monolithic, it will fail." But he also
recalls how PKK terrorists attacked his motorcade shortly
after he assumed office, and how the DEHAP mayor of Nusaybin
was recently caught recruiting PKK members. There has been
too much blood spilled on both sides for the GOT to negotiate
with any parties representing the PKK. For now at least,
tensions are still too high for real peace.



10. (U) Those tensions were evident later that afternoon as
we rode with Nusaybin Police Chief Cemil Beyazit in his
official vehicle. An oncoming group of cars departing from a
traditional wedding forced us off the road. Several
screaming passengers held out streamers of green, yellow and
red -- the colors of the banned Kurdish flag, and also of the
PKK.


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Comment
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11. (C) The state of emergency has been lifted, Kurdish
language courses are about to open, and Turkey appears to be
making progress toward eventual EU membership. But in spite
of all this surface progress, the deeper problems of the
southeast remain unaffected. The State is perpetually
focused on control rather than development -- working to
prevent the region from breaking away, instead of trying to
bring it into the fold. And the Kurds, for their part,
continue to look for someone else (the U.S.) to solve their
problems. Although we have repeatedly told them otherwise,
they believe the U.S. can force the GOT to offer a general
amnesty to the PKK, and that all they have to do is give the
organization a new name.
EDELMAN