TIP IN TURKEY: MEDIA ATTENTION, OCTOBER 7-14, 2004

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 ANKARA 005860 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, OCTOBER 7-14, 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 October 14, 2004 by the Anatolian News Agency: TITLE: Smuggling Operation in Edirne BEGIN TEXT: Jandarma stopped a car license plate 59 LC 306 in the high security military zone of Saricaali Village of Ipsala, Edirne. Driver Tamer T. and six Iraqis he tried to take illegally to Greece were captured. The foreigners were sent to the Edirne Passport and Foreigners Division of the Turkish National Police for deportation. Tamer T. remains in custody. ¶3. (U) Published October 14, 2004 by the Turkish language Cumhuriyet News: BEGIN TEXT: 157 illegal immigrants were captured in the last two days in Edirne. They told the Jandarma that they wanted to go to European countries. END TEXT. ¶4. (U) Published October 14, 2004 by the Turkish language Yeni Safak News: BEGIN TEXT: Jandarma searched a truck in Siran, Gumushane, and discovered 62 foreign illegal immigrants, including 5 Afghanis, 44 Pakistanis and 13 Bengalis. The driver reportedly fled. The foreigners will be deported after they see a judge. Meanwhile, three Turks and 18 illegal immigrants were captured in Kusadasi, Aydin. END TEXT. ¶5. (U) Published October 14, 2004 by Frontline: Turkey's new aspiration BISWAJIT CHOUDHURY Turkey reforms a 78-year-old penal code and shelves a controversial move to reimpose a ban on adultery in a bid to enter the European Union. RACING against time, the Turkish Parliament met in an emergency session on September 26 to approve a new penal code for the country. The urgency of the action betrayed Turkey's keenness to join the European Union because the European Commission is due to present a report in early October on whether talks can begin on Turkey's bid for E.U. membership. The penal reform bill was the last in a series of reforms Turkey has undertaken in recent years to comply with the various criteria for E.U. membership. The changes in law are designed essentially to bring the country in line with the human rights laws in Europe. The reform of the 78-year-old criminal code is a clear pointer to the kind of changes that are being sought within Turkey. The new law prescribes tougher penalties for perpetrators of torture. Torture in police stations and prisons would attract a 12-year jail term. The citizen's privacy is to be protected by restricting the interception of telephone calls and gathering of personal information. The police are liable for punishment if they enter homes without compelling reasons. Corruption in government is to be handled more firmly. The statute of limitations for major corruption cases, particularly those involving government and business, is to be abolished. For the first time, major crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and trafficking in people and human organs find a mention in the Turkish penal code. All laws will have to be in accordance with the international agreements that Turkey has entered into. A notable aspect of this extensive overhaul of legislation is that it seeks to improve the situation of women in Turkey. Discrimination on religious, ethnic and sexual grounds is made a crime. Specifically, punishments for assaults on women have been made stiffer. Rape within marriage has been recognised as a crime and there would be no leniency for rapists who marry their victims. The new legislation stipulates life sentence for those indulging in "honour" killings of women accused of dishonouring the family through illicit affairs. Provocation will no longer be a defence in "honour" killings. The societal code of "honour" had once been part of the Turkish legal code and attacks on women were regarded as attacks on the family or as creating social disorder. Henceforth these are to be legally treated as attacks on individuals. THE new penal code came near to being still-born. Its eventual passage came in dramatic circumstances, and required an emergency session of the Turkish Parliament. The government's earlier proposal of a clause criminalising adultery had brought the entire package of reforms under threat. The move to reintroduce the ban on adultery, which had been repealed in 1998, and make it punishable with either a fine or imprisonment provoked a wave of protest both within Turkey and across Europe. Faced with the E.U.'s ultimatum to choose "either adultery or Europe" as the Turkish daily Cumhurriet described it, Turkey's leadership backed down. Voting on the penal code was suspended and the government withdrew the entire bill from Parliament after it became evident that a group of deputies of hardline Islamic orientation, including members from the ruling Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi or AKP) were planning to press forward with the clause to criminalise adultery. The issue continued to create a massive stir in Turkey for many weeks before the E.U. deadline. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan travelled to Brussels for a meeting with the E.U.'s Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen in the third week of September. "No item which is not already included in the draft of the Turkish criminal code will be included and I mean by that the issue of adultery," Erdogan clarified in Brussels. From the E.U.'s part, Commissioner Verheugen declared that there were no hurdles to beginning talks on Turkey's membership, thus indicating the drift of his forthcoming report on Turkey. "We have been able to find solutions to the remaining outstanding problems," Verheugen said, and added that "there are no further conditions which Turkey must fulfil". It is unclear why the adultery issue was raised in the first place. It is more of a mystery given that Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul have assiduously worked to further the cause of Turkey's E.U. membership. Many important reforms have been initiated over the past 18 months in the attempt to fulfil the political, economic and legal criteria for E.U. membership. These include a ban on the death penalty, changes to the courts, the Constitution and the civil code, the treatment of minorities and the military's role in government. The Turkish military highcommand constitutes an independent centre of decision-making and the E.U. has been insisting on a much greater political control over the military. The timing of the adultery controversy, just when Turkey was on the point of getting an E.U. approval, has puzzled many observers. Turkey has been granted E.U.'s candidate-member status since 1999. Turkish newspapers speculating on the issue highlighted the Prime Minister's dilemma in an almost entirely Muslim country which looks to a future in Europe. Cumhurriet said that Erdogan was attempting to consolidate the conservative support base of the Justice Party. According to the daily Posta, the Prime Minister would have to perform a difficult balancing act to retain the support of hardline Muslim groups after backing down on the adultery issue. THE AKP was started just three years ago. The party's roots are Islamic and it came to power in November 2002 amidst fears that Erdogan, its founder, intended to impose an Islamisation programme on the country. Erdogan himself could not be a candidate in that election because of a 1999 conviction on charges of attempting to undermine the foundations of the Turkish Republic. Since that time, the AKP can be said to have learnt much from the experience of another Turkish Islamic party, Refah, which was in power for a year under Necmettin Erbakan, who was forced by the military to resign in 1997. The military remains a powerful factor in Turkish politics. It has seized power on three occasions since the 1960s in order to uphold the secular Kemalist state. The military regards itself as the guarantor of the secular republic founded early in the 20th century by Kemal Ataturk. It exercises power through the National Security Council (MGK),which includes the President, the Prime Minister and five senior Generals. The AKP enjoys a big majority in Turkey's Parliament. Its extraordinary performance was for the most part a result of the economic crisis of 2001, which affected even the middle classes for the first time, and was in keeping with the revival of Islamic parties in the country stemming from the economic crises of the mid- 1990s. It was a time when the affirmation of religious values accompanied the general disillusionment with the corruption and bankruptcy of the old system. Erdogan is viewed as belonging to that generation of politicians that has moved a long way from its Islamic roots. Deposed Prime Minister Erbakan was once his mentor, but the 1990s had a moderating influence on Erdogan when Turkey entered the era of the free market. Abdullah Gul, a close associate of Erdogan, describes the AKP as a "conservative and democratic party". Erdogan himself has declared that the reforms being undertaken by the AKP are necessary not only for entering the E.U. but also for Turkey's own democratisation. The AKP fared very well in local elections in March this year, taking nearly 43 per cent of the votes. Moreover, it was the only party to have registered a sizable presence across the country. However, it continues to face opposition from the secular establishment, namely, the military, the judiciary and the bureaucracy. The party's plans to reform the higher education system, for instance, faces stiff opposition from the Council for Higher Education. The party now has a stronger and wider mandate across the country, thus effectively becoming the representative of the country's Anatolian majority, which accounts for 90 per cent of the country's population. The conservatives, with their roots in Anatolia, have become bolder in recent years and wear religious symbols like the headscarf. On the other hand, a ban dating back to the founding of the modern Turkish state prohibits state employees from wearing the headscarf or turban. In fact, some women leaders of the AKP could not contest the elections because they cover their heads. The party's core voters are expected to put more pressure on Erdogan on the headscarf issue. The Prime Minister will face more vigorous pressure on the issue from militant Islamic groups like the Milli Gorus, as had happened during the recent debate over the adultery issue. ¶6. (U) Published October 14, 2004 by the United Nations: TITLE: ON TWENTH-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION, COMMITTEE NOTES PROGRESS, BUT FULL EQUALITY STILL TO BE ACHIEVED BEGIN TEXT. The twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was observed at the United Nations Headquarters on 13 October at an event attended by a number of persons involved in the issue over the years. In a statement to mark the anniversary, the committee, which elaborated the convention notes that, twenty-five years earlier, no countries in the world has achieved full equality for women both in law and in practice. Actual implementation of its principles remains inconsistent with commitments, and reservations by States Parties to key parts of the Convention continue to undermine its effectiveness. "Discriminatory laws are still on the statute books of many States parties" ,according to the committee. Many women continue to have unequal legal status with regard to marriage, divorce, property inheritance and access to economic resources. For example, some countries maintain discriminatory laws governing ownership and inheritance of land, or access to loans and credits. Discrimination against women also persists in some nationality laws, preventing women from passing on their nationality to their children. "The co-existence of multiple legal systems, with customary and religious laws governing personal status and private life and prevailing over positive law and even constitutional provisions of equality, remains a source of great concern", the Committee statement continues. The scourge of trafficking of women and girls and the persistence or escalation of violence against women has been noted with concern by the Committee when monitoring the implementation of the Convention in both developed and developing countries. "Although violence against women -- a form of discrimination that seriously inhibits women's ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a basis of equality with men -- is now widely recognized as a public concern, it remains pervasive in all societies and is aggravated in situations of conflict and other forms of social upheaval such as economic and political crises", the Committee adds. The Convention calls for the elimination of discrimination against women in political and public life, yet women remain underrepresented, or even absent, from legislative or executive bodies in many countries. The persistence of traditions and customs which discriminate against women and continuing stereotypical attitudes towards the role of women and men in society are major impediments to equality and women's enjoyment of human rights. Such social and cultural factors take various forms in different countries and societies, including acceptance of polygamy, forced or early marriage, maltreatment of widows, denial of equal education or employment opportunities and lack of access to reproductive health care for women and girls. The Convention, which advocates equality between women and men, was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 and is one of the most highly ratified international human rights conventions. Yet a significant number of the 178 States parties continue to hold reservations to key articles of the Convention. Although the number of reservations to the Convention remains a concern, some 20 States parties -- among them France, Iceland, Lesotho and Mauritius -- have withdrawn their reservations to the treaty in full or in part since the Fourth World Conference on Women in ¶1995. Even those States expressing reservations are brought within the monitoring system of the treaty, and their commitment to promoting equality for women is subject to international scrutiny. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which examines reports from State parties on their implementation of the Convention, recently took action on the first individual complaint and concluded its first inquiry under the Optional Protocol. (The Optional Protocol, which came into force in 2000, enables individual women or groups of women to submit claims of violations of rights protected under the Convention to the Committee. It also allows the Committee to initiate inquiries into situations of grave or systematic violations of women's rights.) Many States parties have taken concrete steps to promote equality and eliminate discrimination against women, including recently: -- Bangladesh has amended its Constitution to increase the number of reserved seats for women in the national parliament from 30 to 45; -- legal reform in Latvia now prohibits discrimination against women in the area of employment; -- a new national ministry in Angola has been created for the promotion and development of women; -- in Kyrgyzstan, gender studies centres in higher educational institutions have been opened; -- in Ethiopia, there are now educational scholarship programmes for girls and at least 30 per cent of the total number of university seats are allocated to female students; and -- in Argentina, two women judges have been appointed to the Supreme Court of Justice. Among those who were to take part in today's commemorative event were Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette and present and past Committee chairpersons and members Feride Acar (Turkey); Dame Sylvia Rose Cartwright, the first female High Court Judge and the current Governor-General in New Zealand, Ivanka Corti (Italy); Salma Khan (Bangladesh); Aida Gonzalez Martinez (Mexico); and Charlotte Abaka (Ghana). NOTE: (Please address) Renata Sivacolundhu, UN Department of Public Information, tel.: +1 212 963 2932, fax: +1 212 963 1186, e-mail: mediainfo@un.org. For the full text of the Committee's statement, visit www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw. For more information on the Convention including States parties, reservations, and concluding comments of the Committee, visit www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw. END TEXT. ¶7. (U) Published October 7, 2004 by the Reuters: TITLE: EU Commission says 'yes, but' to Turkey talks BEGIN TEXT: The European Commission gave a green light yesterday for Turkey to open membership negotiations with the EU, a watershed decision after 40 years of on- again, off-again talks. But the recommendation by the 30-member EU executive carried several conditions, including the possibility of suspending talks if Ankara backtracks on democracy and human rights. "The Commission's response today is yes. That is to say, its response as regards compliance with the criteria is positive, and it recommends opening negotiations," Commission President Romano Prodi told the European Parliament. "However, it is a qualified yes that is accompanied by a large number of recommendations on following up and monitoring the situation in Turkey, and some specific recommendations on the conduct of negotiations." A strong Europe had nothing to fear from Turkish accession, he said. The start of talks was conditional on Turkey bringing into force outstanding legal reforms, notably of the penal code and the code of criminal procedure, which are in the works. Accession talks would be "an open-ended process whose outcome cannot be guaranteed beforehand", the Commission said. It proposed no start date, leaving final decisions on whether and when to EU leaders at a December 17 summit. In Ankara, Mehmet Dulger, head of the parliamentary foreign affairs commission, said: "We're very pleased, we were expecting it. Justice has been done. We hope the rest will come." The prospect of Turkish membership, giving the EU borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran, is controversial across Europe. Public opinion is divided on whether to accept a large, poor and mainly Muslim nation of 70 million with a patchy record on human rights into what has been a "Christian Club" up to now. Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, whose country is president of the 25-nation bloc, said he expected talks to start in the second half of 2005. The EU executive said Turkey had made substantial progress in political reforms but must improve implementation, notably in the fight against torture, and expand freedom of expression and religion, and rights for women, trade unions and minorities. "The Commission will recommend the suspension of the negotiations in the case of a serious and persistent breach of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms on which the Union is based," it said. EU ministers would then decide by qualified majority. Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told parliament the recommendation was adopted by a very wide consensus. Commission sources said only two members voiced misgivings Dutchman Frits Bolkestein and France's Pascal Lamy. Speaking to Reuters on the eve of his outgoing executive's last major decision, Prodi played down the novelty of introducing such an explicit "emergency brake", saying it had been implicit in earlier enlargement talks, notably with the 10 ex-communist east European countries that joined in May. The Commission made clear Turkey could not join the EU before 2015 at the earliest, saying the EU would have to agree its budget for the period from 2014 before concluding the talks. Turkey's accession would be "different from previous enlargements", it said, because of the combined impact of Turkey's population, size, geographical location, economic, security and military potential. It recommended that the EU consider permanent safeguards on free movement of workers from Turkey with long transition periods and "specific arrangements" before Ankara benefits fully from EU farm subsidies. Accession - key points of study Accession of Turkey to the European Union would be challenging both for the EU and Turkey. If well managed, it would offer important opportunities for both. Ankara's accession would be different from previous EU enlargements because of Turkey's population, size, geographical location and its economic, security and military potential. Turkey would be an important model of a country with a majority Muslim population adhering to such fundamental principles as liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. The economic impact of Turkish accession would be positive but relatively small as its economic integration is already well advanced. Turkish gross domestic product is expected to grow faster than the EU average. Turkey to qualify for EU funds over a long period. A number of regions In present member states could lose funding. Integration of Turkey into the EU's internal market will be beneficial. Agriculture, accounting for half of Turkey's territory and one-third of its workforce, will be eligible for special support. Turkish accession would help secure better energy supply routes for the EU. A planned pipeline route carrying oil from huge reserves around the Caspian Sea runs to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. EU's external borders to become longer, needing significant investment. Managing migration, asylum, fighting organised crime, terrorism, human trafficking, drugs and arms smuggling to be eased by closer cooperation. Budgetary impact of accession can only be assessed later. Turkey's membership would significantly affect allocation of seats in European Parliament. Turkey to have important voice in EU decision-making given its population share (now 70 million). EDELMAN