TIP IN TURKEY: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, March 1-15,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002094

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: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, March 1-15,
2005



1. (U) In response to G/TIP inquiries, national and
international media sources published the following news
articles about TIP in Turkey. Text of articles
originally published in Turkish is provided through
unofficial local FSN translation.


2. (U) Published in the weekly journal Tempo, dated March 2-
8.:

TITLE: The Purple Roof of Sex Slaves; by Berrin
Karakas.

BEGIN TEXT: The HRDF has worked on the issue of human
trafficking issue since 2003 and continues to develop
new projects. The latest project is a shelter that has
been active for four months. When we heard that the
Foundation opened a shelter, we wanted to go there and
listen to their story from themselves. But the
Foundation keeps the address of the shelter like a
state secret. Even the police that they work with do
not know where this shelter is located. The reason is
of course security. A recent example was a person
calling the shelter and claiming that he was the
attorney of the girls but actually he was the lawyer of
the person who was marketing the girls. Under such
circumstances the names of the girls and the address of
the shelter are kept as a secret. The situation must
be quite serious because even the HRDF employees are
worried that something might happen to them.

Even if we could enter the shelter, the residents won't
have the strength to talk and tell us what had
happened. Some already committed suicide and others
are going through severe trauma. Naturally they don't
what to remember what had happened.

Although there are many such victims, the HRDF shelter
is a tiny place where only ten people can stay. The
HRDF officials said that they have not yet received a
victim younger than 18. They added that the
approximate age was around 20-25. The main goal of the
shelter is to provide a home environment to victims who
would have normally stayed at a police detention center
and to ensure their safe return home. There is also
the physical and mental treatment of these women and
this is not easy task because of bureaucratic issues.

Victims can stay at the shelter for 4-5 weeks. They,
along with the police, are also implementing a new
regulation that allows these women to stay up to six
months in Turkey on a humanitarian visa. The HRDF works
along with the local NGOs in the other country for
ensuring a safe return home for these women. They
accompany these women to the airport and in their own
country they are met by the NGOs there and taken under
protection.

The program on the protection of human trafficking
victims, conducted jointly by the Interior, Health and
Foreign Affairs Ministries and the police, is brand new
and needs support. The biggest problem of the
foundation is the necessary funds for a larger shelter.
Accordingly, they want support from other NGOs and
associations.

In the shelter the women learn about a standard
domestic life. They watch TV a lot and in particular
the Russian stations. They cook. They do the laundry.
But it is important that they don't consider this place
home and they should make their future plans
accordingly. So they have to regard this place not as
a home but as a shelter.

Most of the residents of the shelter are women from the
Ukraine and Moldova. The HRDF encountered only a
single Iranian who was forced into prostitution.

Speaking of Iran, we asked the Foundation officials
whether they also deal with other fugitives. They said
that one should differentiate between human trafficking
and human smuggling. They noted that most of the
Iranians were those who got hurt because of human
smuggling. Meanwhile, human trafficking means that one
makes another person stay by force. The HRDF wants to
realize other projects in the future, including
establishing a special telephone line. This will be a
simple, three-digit hotline that will be hung on the
walls at the airports and ports for the girls who were
deceived to see. Thus the victims will know where to
call for help. Most of the women in the shelter are
women who were released after police raids. There are
also those who came to the shelter with the help of
their "client."

Before we go on telling you the story of M., a resident
of the shelter, who came to the HRDF to talk to us,
lets refer to "Lilya 4 Ever," a Swiss-Danish joint
movie that was released last year. M. watched this
movie three times at the shelter. She said that all
women were covered with tears as they watched it. The
residents of the shelter lived through things very
similar to Lilya's story. In the movie Lilya's mother
deserted her and left for the U.S. with her lover.
Lilya, like all young girls had nice dreams. After she
was forced into prostitution, Lilya committed suicide.

The Turkey adventure of M., too, is very similar to
Lilya's story. A classmate recommended that she work
as a waitress or barmaid in Turkey. They got a
passport and a plane ticket for M., and as soon as she
arrived, she was taken to Silivri (Istanbul),where she
was given two options: "You will either serve as a
caretaker or a bar escort." Since she did not speak a
foreign language it was impossible for her to work as a
caretaker. When M. objected, those at the house said,
"You will be forced to do it. We will beat you to do
it." Then they said, "Take a shower. Eat something
and sleep. You will go to work tomorrow." While M.,
told us all this, sometimes she bowed her head (in
embarrassment) but she smiles almost all the time.


M. worked for a month at a house in Silivri and when
the police raided the house she was first taken into
police custody and later put in the shelter. We asked
her whether she did not go out (of the house) at all
for one month. She did not and said that the girls who
got along well with the bosses went out all the time
and did shopping at the market. They also were paid
but those who resisted were treated badly.

When asked whether she did not think of calling her
family, M. said that she did not have the means. She
also added that her family thought that she was serving
as a servant here. It is highly unlikely that girls
would run away even when they went out because the
bosses tell the clients to make sure that they do not
flee. Those who manage to escape are brought back by
taxi drivers who are in agreement with bosses.

The greatest hope of M. is her lover C., whom she met
at the house in Silivri. She said, "C. was supposed to
take me out of there on January 5 and send me home but
the police raided the house on January 6." M. does not
want to go back to the Ukraine. She dreams of marrying
C., working and having a nice home in Istanbul. M. has
been in Turkey for three months. When we asked her
about Turkey, she said that she liked it a lot. Her
eyes sparkle when she says these words. Then with the
help of her interpreter she asked HRDF officials how
they can find C., after she shared his telephone number
with them. She does not want to return to the Ukraine
because she said, "If I do, they will sell me again or
I'll be unemployed. I won't have a calm life there."
When we asked, "Why Turkey?" she said, "I never left
the Ukraine before. If my friend had suggested another
place, I would have gone there." END TEXT.


3. Published on Saturday, March 12, 2005 by Turkish Daily
News, http://www.tdn.com.tr:

TITLE: 157 Hotline for Human Trafficking Victims
BEGIN TEXT: ANK - Turkish Daily News
A hotline "157" that has been allocated for the victims
of human trafficking in Turkey will be operational
nationwide as of April 15, the Foreign Ministry said
yesterday in a statement.
"Turkey attaches great importance to combating human
trafficking," said the Foreign Ministry describing
human trafficking as "modern day slavery."
The statement reminded of Ankara's earlier efforts
against human trafficking as a "National Task Force"
has been established under the chairmanship of the
Foreign Ministry and an "Action Plan" prepared by the
Task Force and approved by the Prime Ministry has been
implemented.
The hotline that has been allocated within the
framework of these efforts will be staffed by Russian,
Romanian and Turkish speaking personnel. "The emergency
calls from victims or third persons received will be
conveyed to the security authorities for their
immediate action," the statement said. END TEXT.


EDELMAN