TIP IN TURKEY: MEDIA ATTENTION, September 2004

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ANKARA 005750 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF TU TIP IN TURKEY SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: MEDIA ATTENTION, September 2004 ¶1. (U) In response to G/TIP inquiries about anti-TIP public information campaigns, post provides as examples the following TIP press reports. Text of articles originally published in Turkish is provided through unofficial local FSN translation. ¶2. (U) Published September 28, 2004 by the Anatolian News Agency: TITLE: Aksu: International Community Comprehends Importance Of Fight Against Transborder Crimes BEGIN TEXT: ISTANBUL - Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said that international community comprehended the importance of fight against "transborder crimes". The conference "International Initiative Against Smuggling of Drugs and Money Laundering," organized by Turkish Police Department and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of the United States, started today at the Istanbul Hilton Hotel. Making opening remarks of the conference, minister Aksu said that Turkey hosted a conference on fight against drug smuggling for the second time in the last two months. Stating that those who committed crimes beyond borders use high technology, Aksu said that they noticed that crime organizations use more sophisticated methods as technology progress. Aksu stressed that Turkey has been exerting efforts to fight against drug smuggling for years by using the most advanced technology. Stating that Turkish government aimed to strengthen infrastructure and institutionalize the fight against crimes, he noted that they expected security forces to be more professional in fight against drug trafficking. "Crime is a universal concept. It does not have nationality, religion, race or border. Fight against drug smuggling should also be universal. Success achieved in this area should be perceived as a success of international community. Countries should support each other," he stressed. Aksu said that Turkish government supported coordination between Turkish security department and departments of other countries, noting that they expected other countries to assume a similar approach. Noting that Turkey's International Academy against Drugs and Organized Crime (TADOC) was established with the cooperation of the UN, Aksu said that Turkey shared its information and experience in fight against illicit drug trafficking and organized crimes with regional countries through TADOC. Aksu said that Turkish police confiscated 5 tons of heroin in 2003 and 6.8 tons of heroin in 2004, noting that the increase in the amount of heroin seized by the police demonstrates efforts deployed by Turkish security forces and high tech techniques used against drug smugglers. -CONFERENCE- Nearly 100 people from Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Britain, the United States and Uzbekistan are attending the conference. (E-ULG) 28.09.2004 END TEXT. ¶3. (U) Published September 26, 2004 by Bloomberg News Agency: TITLE: Turkey Approves Penal Code in Step Towards EU Talks (Update1) BEGIN TEXT: Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey's parliament passed a revamped penal code that widens freedom of speech and stiffens punishment for torture, a step the European Commission said was needed to win membership talks with the European Union. The code, delayed amid a fight between lawmakers over a proposed ban on adultery, means the commission can recommend on Oct. 6 that talks with Turkey start. The EU will make the final decision at a summit in December. ``The penal code is of the greatest importance, because it strengthens the rights of our citizens and the nation's case for becoming a member of the European Union,'' Justice Minister Cemil Cicek told parliament after the law was approved. Turkey, whose population of 70 million is almost 100 percent Muslim, says the start of membership talks will draw in foreign investment and help it tackle $208 billion in debt, equivalent to about 70 percent of its economic output. The new code was approved by a show of hands, parliament speaker Bulent Arinc said in televised comments to the 550-seat assembly. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan three days ago called on lawmakers to complete the legislation after a meeting in Brussels with EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen. Verheugen declared there were ``no more obstacles'' to Turkey starting membership talks after Erdogan promised to press ahead with the penal code and drop plans to outlaw extramarital affairs, a measure the EU said didn't meet its standards for human rights and individual freedoms. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer must approve the legislation before it becomes law. Heavier Sentences The penal code introduces heavier sentences for torture and life imprisonment for ``honor killings,'' a feudal system of punishment for women considered to have blackened the name of their families through unvirtuous acts. It also reduces restrictions on freedom of speech, including the criticism of state institutions. The law will bring longer jail terms for drug smuggling and human trafficking. It also strengthens equality of the sexes, increases jail terms for child molesting and will make polluting the environment a crime punishable by imprisonment. Politicians including British Prime Minister Tony Blair say the EU mustn't turn its back on a nation that's both Muslim and democratic. Germany's main opposition Christian Democrats oppose Turkey's membership, saying the nation isn't sufficiently European in terms of culture, history and geography. Turkey, which borders Iraq, Iran and Syria, became a candidate for membership of the EU in 1999. EU leaders including French President Jacques Chirac say it may be 15 years before Turkey joins the 25-nation bloc. Law Critics The European Union has asked Turkey to reform its judicial system, which it says is under-funded and often based on outdated legislation. The original penal code was copied from Benito Mussolini's Italy in 1926. Critics of the new penal code say it doesn't do enough to strengthen women's rights and leaves some curbs on freedom of expression, including measures restricting press freedom. It also punishes sex between minors with jail sentences and doesn't mention homosexuality at all, critics say. The penal code will enter force on April 1, barring a few articles on illegal housing and the environment, which will become law either earlier or later than April. The EU and the U.S. praised Turkey after it scaled back the army's role in political life, expanded cultural rights for its 12 million Kurds and backed an abortive United Nations plan to reunite Cyprus. Opposition Within EU Turkey faces pockets of opposition to its membership in the EU, which is struggling with the costs of admitting 10 countries including seven ex-Soviet satellites this year. Once the talks are over, any one country could still vote to keep Turkey out. Due to Turkey's higher birthrate, Turkey would end up with 20 percent of the votes on EU laws by 2025, ahead of Germany's 14 percent and France's 12 percent, Jacques Toubon, a leader of the conservative group in the European Parliament, said this week. About 71 percent of Turks support EU membership, a higher proportion of the population than in candidates Bulgaria and Romania, the Eurobarometer survey, a regular poll of public opinion published by the European Commission, said in May. To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Bentley in Ankara at mbentley3@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Catherine Hickley at chickley@bloomberg.net. END TEXT. ¶4. (U) Published September 24, 2004 by the Anatolian News Agency: TITLE: Trafficking, Calls On Nations To Do More BEGIN TEXT: HELSINKI, Sept 24 (AFP) - An OSCE-sponsored conference on improving human rights protection for trafficking victims concluded here Friday by calling on governments around the world to do more to stop the smuggling and exploitation of people. "All countries can do more. It's different from country to country. Every country has its own specific situation, but there is not one country that could not do more," said Christian Strohal, director of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)'s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. According to OSCE estimates, hundreds of thousands of people, most of them women and girls, are trafficked in Europe every year in what is a billion-euro (dollar) illegal industry. "It is important that we realize that the reality of trafficking changes constantly and that we react to it," said Madeleine Rees, Head of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' office in Bosnia Herzegovina. The two-day meeting, which was hosted by the Finnish government, concluded on Friday with a list of recommendations to OSCE member countries. The 55 states should respect their obligations to protect the human rights of trafficking victims and should broaden the cooperation between authorities, organizations and civil society to better assist them, the organization said. "We need the necessary legislation, we need the necessary capacity, and law enforcement agencies have to realize that they are dealing with a victim and not a criminal," Strohal told AFP in an interview. During the meeting, representatives of governments and international organizations highlighted the need to better identify trafficking victims and to offer those victims more protection and easier social integration. In addition, gender equality and the fight against prejudice needed to be strengthened around the world, they said. In short, countries need to create a social safety net for the victims, as well as witness protection programs for victims who choose to testify against the traffickers, Strohal said. "What we have learned here is that there is no contradiction between law enforcement and protecting the human rights of victims of trafficking. On the contrary, they strengthen each other," said Johanna Suurpaeae, director of human rights affairs at the Finnish foreign ministry. Only through protecting the victims is it possible to produce witnesses willing to testify against the traffickers, Baerbel Uhl, an OSCE expert on the issue, said. The conference, which gathered 150 international experts and national representatives, was part of an ongoing OSCE campaign to strengthen the protection of trafficking victims. END TEXT. ¶5. (U) Published September 24, 2004 by the Associated Press: TITLE: Western Balkan countries strengthen institutional cooperation in fighting organized crime BEGIN TEXT: TIRANA, Albania - Western Balkan countries agreed Friday to step up and institutionalize their cooperation in the fight against organized crime and corruption. A resolution adopted at the one-day meeting also attended by Western delegates committed the seven participating Balkan governments "to facilitate operational cooperation and data coordination" and to promote effective cooperation between police, customs, judges and prosecutors in the countries concerned. Albania's Justice Minister Fatmir Xhafaj, the conference host, said there was broad agreement that "organized crime has a transnational character" and the fight against it calls for bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Justice ministers and other officials from Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania were joined by senior officials from Italy, Greece, Austria, Turkey and delegates from the United Nations mission in Kosovo, the Council of Europe and the European Union. Participants agreed to reinforce cooperation and develop strategies to better combat organized crime and corruption, including adoption of laws on the extradition of suspects and confiscation of their property, improvement of prison conditions and cooperation with EU bodies, the resolution said. The resolution did not specify how exactly the regional system of crime prevention would work or give a timetable for it to be institutionalized. Lutz Salzmann, head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Tirana, said the conference was another step in the Balkans nations' fight against organized crime and corruption _ "two persistent phenomena that so much hamper not just their process of integration into the EU, but their overall social and economic development and their own citizens' well-being." Speaking of a new regional partnership to fight organized crime and corruption, he said the western Balkan countries showed "their political commitment to eradicate these extremely harmful phenomena from their societies and economies." The Balkans have seen a rise in organized crime, including human, weapons and drug trafficking, resulting from recent wars, porous borders and a lack of law and order during the post-communist period. END TEXT. EDELMAN