SE TURKISH GOVERNORS TONE DEAF ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002585

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2015
TAGS: KIRF PHUM PREL PGOV ETRD CASC TU
SUBJECT: SE TURKISH GOVERNORS TONE DEAF ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

REF: A. ADANA 0095


B. ADANA 0090

Classified By: POL Counselor John W. Kunstadter for reasons 1.4 (b) & (
d).

THIS CABLE IS FROM AMCONSUL ADANA.

1.(C) SUMMARY: The Adana and Gaziantep governors have
demonstrated a lack of interest in religious freedom issues
when raised by AMCON ADANA PO in recent discussions. In
these discussions these same officials also have tried to
shift discussion of religious freedom into recitals of
shopworn GoT policy on the PKK and the lack of legitimacy for
the cultural rights agenda of Turkey's Kurdish citizens.
Lower level Turkish municipal and police officials, however,
continue to respond to Christian concerns, albeit in an
as-yet inconclusive fashion. End Summary.
ADANA GOVERNOR RULES OUT POTENTIAL FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
ISSUES, DEFLECT DISCUSSION
2.(C) AMCON ADANA PO met 4/28 with Adana governor Cahit
Kirac, raising the problems of the Adana Catholic Church's
blocked access to the street (Adana 0095). Kirac discounted
the issue as a property dispute for the municipality to
handle, said that he had seen press reports that AK Mayor
Aytac Durak wanted to engage on the issue and that the
Turkish constitution provided for freedom of religion, and
therefore Christians could not, by definition, have freedom
of worship issues in Adana. PO said that many Christians in
Adana would differ with his assessment and that the small
Protestant community here would be interested in finding a
place to open a sanctuary. Kirac shrugged the issue off as
little concern of his. (Note: Subsequent more constructive
engagement with municipal officials in ref. A).
3.(C) Kirac deflected the discussion to focus on regional
issues and his experience in southeast (SE) Turkey, where he
also did not see a religious freedom issue. He talked of
being a former sub-governor in northern Diyarbakir province
and sub-governor in Sirnak during the conflict-ridden 1990's.
Asked his assessment of where SE regional issues stood in
the Turkish-EU pre-accession dialogue, Kirac, as an Elazig
province native who even may be Kurdish, said that the
problems in the SE were "all development related, nothing
else." He rejected out of hand any need to discuss potential
inclusion of Kurdish in future Turkish school curriculums,
such as an elective subject, asserting that Kurdish is an
"unscientific language" and therefore inappropriate for
academic usage.
CHRISTIAN ISSUES IN GAZIANTEP BELOW GOVERNOR'S RADAR
4.(C) On 4/29 AMCON ADANA PO approached Gaziantep governor
Lutfullah Bilgin, mentioning U.S. appreciation for the
Turkish National Police (TNP's) investigation of the April
2005 incidents (Adana 90). Bilgin initially reacted to the
comment in a way clearly indicating that he had no prior
knowledge of the issue, but recovered to say that he would
mention our appreciation to the Security Director, whom he
would see later in the day. He assured the PO that there
could be no problem for Christians in Gaziantep based on
constitutional provisions for religious freedom in Turkey and
the GoT's control of city security. He asserted in addition
that Turkey has no religious freedom problems and has proven
this by construction of a non-Muslim religious center in
Antalya. He was referring to the tourist/foreigners church
which PM Erdogan opened last Fall (note: which the EU
diplomatic group in Ankara sees as merely for show. End
note). PO reminded him of the November 2005 violent incident
involving an AMCIT and the string of April 2005 incidents and
said that the U.S. could not share his confidence, but again
expressed appreciation for continuing TNP attention to these
issues.
5.(C) Bilgin then shifted gears, saying that he thought that
the recent Prof. Ceaser anti-Americanism public diplomacy
presentation in Gaziantep had gone over well, welcoming
further similar U.S. outreach. He then offered the "friendly
observation" that much anti-Americanism in Gaziantep and SE
Turkey would "evaporate quickly" if the U.S. "just would
attack the PKK in northern Iraq." He offered analogies of
hungry people forgetting their past hunger once they have
eaten. He also said that Gaziantep's internal migrants (read:
ethnic Kurdish citizens) literally were hungry and really
just wanted jobs and better family welfare which the U.S. and
others (read: the EU) "really could help if you bring
business and welfare assistance directly here. That is the
real answer."
6.(SBU) In continuation, Bilgin also said that Gaziantep was
southern Turkey's economic center and that it "deserved to
have the consulate bring American business to it." PO
described the perception of a lack of transparency in the
Turkish judiciary, shifting tax system vis-a-vis
international business and lack of protection for
intellectual property rights which dampens U.S. investor
enthusiasm for Turkey. This seemed news to the governor and
he talked about Italian interest in investing in Gaziantep.
(Note: an Italian trade minister visited Gaziantep in late

2004. End Note.)

7. (SBU) In closing, Bilgin made a passionate appeal for the
Packard Humanities Institute to get re-involved with the
Zeugma archeological project (Packard withdrew in 2004 after
being grossly mistreated by local nationalist bigots, who
prefer to keep the mosaics in poor condition rather than let
them be decently restored by foreign specialists and lent on
exhibit elsewhere). He said that new Culture Minister
Attilla Koc just had visited Gaziantep and had said that
Zeugma was one of his highest priorities. He said that the
Culture Ministry would give the museum project another USD
three million. He hoped that the new museum extension, which
PO also visited and found interesting yet incomplete, would
open in mid-June 2005. Another consulate contact, who also
saw the Culture Minister that day, said that PM Erdogan had
told the new Minister that Zeugma was to be one his top three
national priorities.

EDELMAN