TIP IN TURKEY: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, June 16-30,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 13 ANKARA 003833

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, June 16-30,
2005


1. 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. Published by Hurriyet on Saturday, June 18:

BEGIN TEXT: Turkey in the past week evaluated all the
calls to the 157 hotline that was established jointly
by the Foreign Affairs and Interior Ministries.

In one week more than 3000 calls came to 157 but only
three of the callers were women from former East Bloc
countries asking for help. They asked for help and
gave necessary information (to those who answered the
calls).

The remaining 2997 callers were Turks who 'assumed the
duty of saving women who were dragged into
prostitution' and who were looking for a 'lady friend.'
They were Turkish citizens who were curious about the
hotline.

It was determined that Turks were interested in the
hotline also because they wanted to know how the
hotline 157 operated in Russian and Romanian aside from
Turkish. It is believed that many citizens who heard
Russian and Romanian on the phone thought that the
hotline 157 was a "900" number.

Despite this fact the officials believe that hotline
157 will play an important role in preventing foreign
women from being dragged into prostitution. END TEXT.


3. Published in Milliyet on Saturday, June 18 and
subsequently reported on NTV on June 27 and 28:

TITLE: Russian Girls React (to being called a) Natasha
(NOTE. "Natasha" has come to mean prostitute in Turkish
slang. END NOTE)

BEGIN TEXT: The group Spilki, consisting of four
Russian girls, was upset for being called "Natasha" and
recorded a song called "You are a Natasha."

The Russian group Spilki wrote a funny song called "You
are a Natasha" in reaction to Turkish men who call
Russian girls "Natasha." The video clip of the song is
now on the air on Russian TV stations. This song is
based on an incident the four girls experienced when
they were in Turkey. Varya from the group said that
when they traveled to Antalya last year Turkish men did
not leave them alone and constantly invited them to
places.

Varya said, "We had been warned, but still I didn't
expect this much." She told papers that she was really
surprised to see that those in charge of security, too,
were behaving the same way. The video clip was shot in
southern Cyprus. In the clip Varya responds back
saying, "You are a Natasha" when she felt fed up for
being called one. A dark complexioned Greek Cypriot
plays the Turk in the video.

Here are the lyrics to `You are a Natasha":

They live in south seas
They are very warm-blooded
They don't like their own girls and look at us
They call everyone a Natasha
They shout "Come here"
Never accept because it will be a disaster
You are a Natasha
Play with yourself on the beach
Make your own massage
END TEXT.


4. Reported by Kazakh Information Agency (Kazinform)
(www.inform.kz) on June 21:

TITLE: Experts to discuss political instability
factors in Central Asian Region

BEGIN TEXT: A role of US, China and Russian in Central
Asia is debated by the audience of the III
International Almaty conference on security and
regional cooperation.
It is initiated by Kazakhstan Institute of Strategic
Researches under the President of Kazakhstan along with
the Kazakhstan-Russian University, Foreign Ministry and
Information, Culture and Sport Ministry.

International experts from India, Turkey, Pakistan and
representatives of OSCE, NATO, UN European Economic
Commission, Carnegie Foundation for world peace and
other international organizations are taking part in
it.

Deputy Secretary of Security Council of Kazakhstan
Maulen Ashimbayev, head of the MFA's Chancellery of
Kazakhstan Agybai Smagulov, etc, shared their views on
the geopolitical situation in the region. In the
afterlight of the recent occurrences in Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan they stressed that the states of the region
are exerted a great influence from abroad.

By virtue of its odious interference, the US is
considered to be "neighbor of all countries worldwide."
China disquiets by an increase in nationalism,
especially among the youth. Russia had lost its former
position and has no substantial political influence in
the region. It would be useful for Central Asian
countries by now to work at political and psychological
trend of power structures. It is critical to pay
attention not to the opposition, but to the growing
flows of drug, weapon and human trafficking. These are
the very factors triggering off political instability
in the society. END TEXT.


5. Published by ADNKI (www.adnki.com) on Wednesday, June
22:

TITLE: Turkey: "Backdoor Constitution" Set for
Revision

BEGIN TEXT: Turkey's National Security Council (NSC),
a powerful advisory body on defence issues, has delayed
the release of its National Security Document which is
set to incorporate changes in Turkey's relations with
Greece and Kurdish controlled-northern Iraq. The NSC,
once a military-dominated panel that dictated Turkey's
security policy, was scheduled to discuss the revised
document-dubbed "the backdoor constitution" by the
media because of the influential nature of past
editions-at a meeting on Tuesday.

But the discussions were postponed until the next bi-
monthly meeting-the official reason being that cabinet
ministers had received a draft copy of the document too
late.

According to the Milliyet daily, the real reason for
the delay lies in the document's policy proposals on
Turkey's disputes with Cyprus and Greece that the
government does not want to discuss before the start of
Turkey's membership talks with the European Union on 3
October, since they are likely to rankle EU
negotiators.

In fact, the NSC document still firmly opposes any move
by Greece to extend its territorial waters in the
Aegean Sea from six to 12 miles, citing such action as
a "causus belli" or an act of war on the part of the
Greeks toward Turkey.

However, in a considerable shift from previous
editions, the document no longer lists Greece as an
"external threat" to Turkey.

Significantly, the revised document also no longer
regards the emergence of a "Kurdish State" in northern
Iraq as a "causus belli" requiring Turkish military
intervention. A development like the Iraqi Kurds'
growing autonomy is instead classified as a "potential
crisis".

The NSC was established in 1933, initially as a
military watchdog over the secular nature of the
Turkish state. In 2001 the council began losing its
sweeping power to implement military and security
decisions, and its membership was expanded to ensure
that the armed forces no longer dominated its
proceedings.

The reform process culminated in 2004 when the
previously secretive NSC first provided details of its
new structure and functions. The council meets twice a
month and comprises the president, the prime minister
and the ministers of foreign affairs, defence, interior
and justice, while the military component includes the
chief of staff as well as the commanders of the army,
navy, air force and gendarmerie.

Unlike past editions, which were 90-pages long and
contained detailed policy directives, the revised draft
of the National Security Document is slimmer; just 25
pages long, and focuses mainly on outlining major
security threats against Turkey.

Islamic fundamentalism, separatist activities, extreme
leftist movements, drug smuggling, illegal immigration
and human trafficking are listed under the heading
"asymmetric threats."

National unemployment, increases in unfair internal
income distribution and regional rivalries and
differences within Turkey are listed as growing
domestic threats. END TEXT


6. Reported by The Messenger, Georgia's English Language
Daily, on Friday, June 24:

TITLE: You are not for sale!

BEGIN TEXT: In an effort to raise public awareness
about human trafficking, Tagiss Arts-World Cultural
Integration together with the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) and Council of Europe
Information Office in Tblisi will present a concert
featuring Italian classical guitarist Aniello Desiderio
in Tblisi on June 24.

According to Ani Lagidze, founder and CEO of Tagiss
Arts, the project `World artists against human
trafficking' should "help raise public awareness of the
insidious problem of human trafficking" so that people
can take preventative measure to avoid become victims
of trafficking.

IOM has been implementing its Information Campaign to
Prevent Trafficking of Persons in Georgia since early
2002 and has been undertaking various activities,
including the staging and sponsoring of a number of
outdoor events including concerts in Kutaisi and Telavi
last year.

However, IOM Counter-Trafficking Program Officer Tblisi
Marc Hulst says "this is the first time that IOM in
Georgia has sponsored a third party to organize a
cultural event of this level with an internationally
renowned musician such as Desiderio." He added that
the message of the concert will be the same as previous
events-`You are not for sale."

According to IOM statistics from the Georgian General
Prosecutor's Office, thirty successful operations were
conducted against suspected traffickers from June 13,
2003 until March 18, 2005.

"The cases concerned a total of 66 victims of
trafficking, most of them citizen of Georgia, the
majority of whom (62 people) had been forced or were
intended to do some kind of sex work," Hulst told The
Messenger.

Among those 66 victims were 11 minors as well as one
man in a case of internal trafficking to Svaneti for
domestic slavery.

"By far the most important destination country is
Turkey, while the United Arab Emirates and Greece
follow with lower figures, Hulst said.
IOM has been assisting a number of other victims of
trafficking who have not cooperated with law
enforcement bodies and for that reason have not been
included in the statistics.

Hulst said in 2005 they have already assisted three
women-two Georgian women who returned with IOM
assistance from Turkey and one woman from Kyrgyzstan
forced into prostitution in Tblisi and assisted to
return back home.

In his message Aniello Desiderio calls human
trafficking a universal problem that continues to grow
and is one of the major concerns on the international
human rights agenda. "We, the artists of the world,
should declare loudly and more strongly than ever that
we are all members of the human family," he said
expressing his full support of the event organizers and
donors.

Desiderio has won eighteen international awards in both
national and international competitions in Italy, Cuba,
Japan, and Spain. His international career started in
1989 at an International Guitar Festival in Greece. He
is currently performing all over the world both as
soloist and with orchestras such as Vladimir Spivakov &
Moscow Virtuosos. In 2003 he co-founded the World
Guitar Ensemble uniting some of the most renowned
international guitarists. END TEXT.


7. Published by Zaman on Saturday, June 25:

TITLE: 157 helpline saved lives

BEGIN TEXT: Financed by the U.S.A. and coordinated by
the Turkish government, the 157 help line has saved
five foreign women who were smuggled. The
International Office of Migration (IOM),tied to the
United Nations (UN),operates the 157 help line which
opened for business last month. According to IOM
personnel, in one month's time they have come across 90
occurrences falling under the human smuggling blanket.
Of that amount action was taken for 12 of them and five
of them were saved by giving information to and
organizing with the Turkish police. One Ukrainian and
one Moldovan were returned to their countries. A house
in Ankara where 1w foreign women were being held was
identified and effort is being made to save the women.
IOM Turkey's Chief of Mission, Marielle Sander-
Lindstrom explained that work with the Turkish police
was harmonious and she thanked them. END TEXT.

8. Published by Newsday.com on Sunday, June 26:

TITLE: Crackdown impacts workforce in Israel

BEGIN TEXT: In a response to rising unemployment
numbers, government officials call for massive
deportation of foreign laborers. TEL AVIV-- - retrieve
drugs from his shoe and a large rat waddles across the
street.

The low rents of Tel Aviv's Neve Shaanan district draws
drug dealers, prostitutes and foreign workers, said a
man from Nigeria who identified himself only as David,
but the foreign workers are the only ones routinely
hunted by the police.

Since the early 1990s, when Israel reduced the number
of Palestinian workers it would allow in the country,
it has relied on large numbers of foreign workers from
developing nations and Eastern Europe to do manual
jobs. The workers come hoping for relatively high
wages, but many say they find their promised land
offers little more than exploitation and, according to
Israeli human rights activists, "slavery conditions."

And, in response to high unemployment rates in Israel
in 2002, the government of Ariel Sharon decided to send
home 263,000 foreign workers-10 percent of Israel's
workforce.

David watched nervously from a caf recently as a van
of immigrant police drove past. The two officers
normally stop suspicious people and demand their papers
and, if not satisfied, put them in a van and drive on
until it is full. At the police station, they verify
the identity of the detainees and let them go or deport
them.
40,000 entering annually

The majority of foreign workers arrived in the years
after the first intifada began in 1989, when
Palestinians were prevented from entering Israel to
work. By last year, with the help of 460 immigration
police-acting legally-Israel had repatriated 116,000
people.

Hanan Zohar, director of the foreign workers' pressure
group Kav LaOved, said: "In spite of this, there are
around 40,000 foreign workers entering the country per
year, coming from Eastern Europe, Turkey, Nepal, China,
the Philippines and other countries." The foreign
workers pay Israeli middlemen, who link them to an
employer and provide them with a visa. Zohar said the
Chinese pay $10,000 to come to Israel, while the Turks
pay only $2,000.

"It is a big business and the immigration police are
the servants of this business," she said. "They ensure
a constant cycle of workers."

Zohar believes the African community was particularly
targeted because they came to Israel independently
without paying a fee. This meant they were able to
choose where they worked. Their conditions were better
than other workers. Because they were not tied to
employers, they were not slaves," she said, referring
to the fact that most foreign workers are tied to
employers by the fees they have to pay, regardless of
how they are treated.

David, 35, says he is one of the few Africans to have
avoided detection. His wife and two children were
arrested and deported after a raid on their apartment
last year. "I will stay here until I have provided for
my children's education," he said. "That's why I am
here-to sustain my family. I can't sleep easy or walk
the streets normally, but what else can I do?"

David, not his real name, has a degree in drama and
philosophy from Nigeria but cleans houses in Israel for
$6.73 an hour. In a good month, he sends $570 to his
family in Nigeria.

Thriving commercial center

Aziz Diouf, 37, a now-legal immigrant from Senegal,
said the Neve Shaanan district was once a thriving
commercial center that catered to non-Jewish immigrants
from the Soviet Union, south Asia and Africa. "In this
area you could not move for Africans; now there are
virtually none. To have avoided detection, you have to
be invisible," he said.

The police have targeted Africans, Indians and South
Americans because they stand out from the crowd, he
said. "There are thousands of new illegal Russian
immigrants from the Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova. They
blend in. With other groups like Filipinos, if they
arrest 20, they might find one who is illegal so they
don't bother."

Diouf, who writes about foreign workers for an Israeli
weekly newspaper, said the police initially used heavy-
handed tactics, which encouraged people to volunteer
for deportation. Now, the authorities rely primarily
on informers who are themselves illegal immigrants.

The crackdown on immigrants has not been popular in
Israel. Even the right-wing Jerusalem Post described
it as a disgrace and cited the Jewish commandment from
the Book of Deuteronomy: "Thou shalt not oppress a
hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of
thy brethren or of they strangers that are in they land
within thy gates."

Israelis generally do not want the jobs the workers
do-care giving, agriculture and construction-and the
policy of expelling the foreigners is seen as state aid
for a people-trafficking industry that one former
interior minister said had a turnover of $1.5 billion.
A U.S. State Department report said immigrants can pay
as much as $10,000 for the privilege of going to
Israel. If the worker breaks a contract, or the
contract expires, the worker becomes illegal.
Meanwhile, new foreign workers are imported.
David's furtive life continues. Even his visits to
church are loaded with danger as police have been known
to arrest workers leaving a service. "Even when you
are praising your God, you have to look around you," he
said. END TEXT.


9. Published by the International Herald Tribune on Monday,
June 27:

TITLE: Turkey's sex trade entraps Slavic women

BEGIN TEXT: Trabzon, Turkey. The women arrive here by
ferry from across the Black Sea, sometimes dozens at a
time. Whatever their real names, they are known in
Turkey as Natashas, and often end up working as
prostitutes in this country's growing sex trade,
sometimes against their will.

Turkey, with its now booming economy and lax visa
requirements, is becoming the world's largest market
for Slavic women, one of the most visible exports of
the former Soviet Union's struggling new states.

"Think of many rivers flowing into one sea," said Allan
Freedman, who coordinates counter trafficking programs
at the Ankara bureau of the International Organization
for Migration, an independent body that works closely
with the United Nations. "That sea is Turkey."

Most of the women come of their own free will but many
end up as virtual slaves, sold from pimp to pimp
through a loosely organized criminal network that
stretches from Moscow to Istanbul and beyond.

Prostitution is legal in strictly secular Turkey where
the government licenses brothels, known as "general
houses," and issues prostitutes identity cards that
give them rights to some free medical care and other
social services. But women working in general
houses-there is usually one in each large city-tend to
be older, and the demand for young, slender women has
outstripped supply as Turkey's economy has improved.
Slavic women are meeting that need.

"Women are recruited at home with the promise of
employment," Freedman said. "But once they are across
the border their passports are taken away and they are
beaten and raped and forced into prostitution." The
women are typically kept locked in an apartment except
when they are taken out to customers.

The trade is not hard to find. Outside Istanbul's
general house, a collection of tiny brothels in a
warren of alleys behind a guarded metal gate, touts
accost visitors with whispered promises of beautiful
young Russian girls at not much more than the price of
the older Turkish women waiting for customers inside.

"I can bring you any kind of girl you want," promised
an eager man in a black shirt and pants with a gold-
faced watch, saying that his girls were kept in a
building in the city center.

Part of the reason Turkey has become a magnet is that
the more lucrative markets of Western Europe are
protected by increasingly strict visa requirements that
take weeks to work through, with only uncertain
results. A young woman from Moldova can be in Istanbul
in a day by paying just $10 for a month long visa at
the border.
Turkey is also becoming a staging area for illegal
migration elsewhere. "This is one of the reasons why
the EU is so worried about Turkey," said Freedman,
referring to European resistance to Turkey's quest to
join the bloc. "It's increasingly a migrant hub."
Turkey has been working over the past two years to stop
the trafficking and get off the U.S. government's
blacklist. In 2003, the State Department listed Turkey
in its report on trafficking as a "Tier 3" country,
meaning that it had taken no significant action to
eliminate the trade. The status jeopardized American
financial aid to Turkey and helped spur it to act.

In the State Department's most recent report, issued
this month, Turkey was moved up to "Tier 2," which
means it is making significant efforts but still falls
short of U.S. government expectations.

Turkey lists trafficking as a separate crime in its new
penal code, which took effect this month. A one-year,
$600,000 grant is being used to train police officers
to recognize trafficked women among the unlicensed
prostitutes they arrest.

The money is also paying for a hot line to help women
caught in a trafficker's grip. A campaign to publicize
the phone number includes billboards in the country's
international airports and inserts that immigration
officers slip into the passports of women arriving at
Turkish border crossings.

Freedman said the hot line led to the rescue of a
Moldovan woman in Antalya, a southern city, within days
of its inauguration this month. Her captor was
arrested.

Turkey's Interior Ministry has also enlisted
nongovernmental organizations to provide support for
women identified as victims.

Because of that support, Turkey's independent Human
Resources Development Fund opened the country's only
shelter for trafficked women last October in central
Istanbul. But the shelter, which has helped 74 women,
holds only 12 people.

"That's nothing when compared with the number of
victims," said Berna Eren, president of the
organization. More than 200 trafficked women were
identified in Turkey last year but the authorities said
they represented as little as 10 percent o the women
bought and sold during that time.

Most of the women Eren's organization has seen are from
Ukraine and Moldova, but the group has also helped
women from Russia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania,
Georgia and Iran.

"Some girls in the shelter say they have been sold more
than once," she said, but added that as the women are
sold "from city to city, the traffickers are hard to
trace."

Every victim identified by police is interviewed by a
psychologist and referred to a psychiatrist if needed.
Eren said that women living in the shelter were kept
under constant watch by a counselor and, when
eventually repatriated, were met by a protective
authority in their home country in an effort to keep
them from falling back into the hands of traffickers.

"In the past they were simply deported as a prostitute
and would arrive in their home countries with no
money," Eren said. "Traffickers would pick them up,
get them new passports and send them back."


10. The New York Times published the above story, but with
the following added, and the Taipei Times picked up the
story on June 30:

BEGIN TEXT: The most attractive women move on to
Istanbul or the tourist resorts of the country's
southern coast. At the Hotel Seranda in the Aksaray
district of Istanbul on a recent night, 50 women sat
crowded into booths while the basement ''disco'' filled
with men. The women periodically got up to dance on a
small dance floor, beckoning to the men seated around
it. Once they found a customer, they would lead him
upstairs.
Trabzon is one of four or five major centers of
trafficking in the country, according to the
International Organization for Migration. Kemal Uzun,
who owns a storefront shipping agency beside Trabzon's
small port, said hundreds of women arrived each week at
the height of the tourist season.
His business partner, Gokhan Yilmaz, said the trend
began shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union
when the so-called luggage trade flourished -- women
from the old Soviet states would travel to Turkey and
fill their suitcases with goods bought from wholesalers
for resale in Russia and neighboring countries. As
Turkey's economy improved, many of the women turned to
prostitution.
The men have watched the industry grow. Hotels acting
as illegal brothels have sprung up along the Black Sea
coast controlled, they said, by organized crime
networks. ''We've also heard about women brought here
by force,'' Mr. Yilmaz said.
The hotels are periodically raided and closed but
quickly reopen under new names. East of Trabzon, the
former Zirve Hotel has been renamed the Elegante. A
young Slavic woman sat in the dim lobby of the hotel
one afternoon this month staring at mottled goldfish
turning circles in an aquarium while half a dozen
middle-aged Turkish men waited in armchairs across the
room. One eventually got up and gave his identity card
to a clerk at the front desk. After a curt nod from a
man who appeared to be the boss, the woman rose and
followed the man into an elevator.
Despite the apparent transaction just witnessed, the
clerk denied to a reporter that there were any Russian
women there. ''You've been misinformed,'' he said.
Elena, a bottle blonde with frosted blue nails drinking
pale pink, cherry flavored water in a cafe next to the
rundown Ural Hotel in town, said she had also heard of
women who had been beaten and forced to work as
prostitutes. She counted herself lucky because, she
said, she had a boyfriend. Given the availability of
women, the practice of keeping paid mistresses has
blossomed anew.
But most of the women lead more desperate lives. At the
Dilek Cafe, a small storefront room decorated with
strings of colored lights in an area of Trabzon known
as the Russian Bazaar, a half-dozen garishly made up
women sat beckoning passers-by.
One woman in four-inch platform shoes agreed to talk to
a reporter, but her smile froze when asked about
trafficked women. A Turkish man approached, shooed her
back to her spot by the door and told the reporter to
leave. END TEXT.

11. Published by Aksam on Monday, June 27:
TITLE: The New York Times: Slavic Women Pour Into
Turkey
BEGIN TEXT: The American newspaper The New York Times
carried a long report on the "sex trade" in Turkey. In
the report entitled "Growing sex trade entraps many
Slavic women," it was stated that Slavic women, who are
called "Natashas" by the Turkish people, enter Turkey
from the Black Sea and many of them end up in brothels.
The New York Times noted that prostitution was legal in
secular Turkey and that Turkey, with its growing
economy and relaxed visa requirements, became the
largest market in the world for Slavic women, one of
the most prominent exports of the Newly Independent
States of the former Soviet Union. Allan Freedman, the
IOM representative in Ankara, made a general evaluation
on the sex trade and said, "Imagine many rivers pouring
into a sea. Turkey is that sea."
The report noted that brothels are licensed and
prostitutes have access to free health and social
security services. It went on to say that Turkey
turned into a magnet when western European countries
imposed strict visa requirements. It was said that a
Moldovan woman can arrive in Istanbul in one day by
paying $15 at the border. The paper noted that the
most attractive women go to Istanbul and the shores in
the South. Trabzon became one of the four or five
major immigration centers of the country. Allan
Freedman also noted that Turkey turned into an
immigration center and that this was one of the reasons
why Europe was so concerned about Turkey.
The New York Times wrote that in the last two years
Turkey has been working to stop human trafficking and
as a result it got a better rating in the most recent
Human Trafficking Report by the U.S. State Department.
But it added that these efforts fall far less than the
expectations of the U.S. administration.
The paper noted that the U.S. provided a $600,000 grant
to Turkey for training police and also for contributing
to the establishment of a hotline that helps victims of
human trafficking. The assistance of the Interior
Ministry and NGOs was also obtained, the paper wrote.
END TEXT.

12. Reported by Vatan on Monday, June 27:
TITLE: Women are sold at a market in Turkey
BEGIN TEXT: Craig Smith of the respected American
newspaper the New York Times looked into the woman
trade in Turkey. Smith traveled to Istanbul and
Trabzon to see with his own eyes the situation. He
wrote that the heart of the sector was in the Black
Sea. Here is his impression:
I went to Turkey to look into the woman trade. Here
prostitution is not banned. Indeed the government even
licenses brothels. I went to one of them in the
Karakoy district of Istanbul. But all of those working
there were old. I learned that the Slavs were covering
the "fresh blood" deficiency because as soon as I got
on the street, a man wearing black pants and shirt
approached me. Extending his hand with a gold
bracelet, he said, "We can find the type of girls you
want. We keep them all in a building here." I
accepted and followed him.
In the building 40 young girls were sitting in a room.
They were surrounded by men watching them. When those
men indicated to the boss which girl they wanted, they
were disappearing into rooms in the back. I learned
that most of these women were Slavic and the center of
the trade in women was Trabzon. When I traveled to
this Black Sea town, I realized that I was not wrong.
Women are being sold openly in many hotels and cafes.
These women wait at a caf called Russian Caf just
like in Istanbul and whoever likes one, takes her and
goes out with her.
The system is rather different at the hotels. When I
went to such a hotel, I saw that 40-50 women were
dancing together in a "disco." There were men standing
g
along the stage. They picked one from those who were
dancing and going upstairs to a room. Even if these
hotels are closed following a raid, in two weeks they
are in operation again. For example, "Zirve" hotel
shuts down and after a while "Elegante" hotel opens up
in the same place. When I tried to talk to some of the
women in these places, initially they agreed, but as
soon as I asked a question about women trafficking,
they were afraid and wanted me to leave because most of
these women are forced to work after they are brought
from the former Soviet republics.
The fast-growing economy and relaxed visa requirements
of Turkey have turned the country into one of the
biggest markets of the world for Slavic prostitutes.
The Slavic women sometimes sail through the Black Sea
in dozens on a boat. When getting a visa from another
country takes weeks, they need to pay only $15 at
customs to enter Turkey. But those who bring them here
take away their money and passport as soon as they step
on the soil. They beat and rape them. They also make
them work as prostitutes whether they like it or not.
They are not allowed to leave the house unless they are
going to a client. Actually, this tradition began with
the "suitcase trade" in the 1990s. Later it turned
into prostitution. END TEXT.

13. Published by Cumhuriyet on Monday, June 27:
TITLE: The New York Times: Turkey is a big
marketplace for Slavic women
BEGIN TEXT: The New York Times published an article
titled "Turkey's Growing Sex Trade Traps Many Slavic
Women." It was said, "the growing economy and relaxed
visa laws for Slavic women has made Turkey the biggest
market in the world" in the article. It was stated
that these women, called "Natasha" come to Turkey by
the Black Sea and mostly end up working in brothels.
It was reported that "in secular Turkey prostitution is
legal."
Allan Freedman with IOM in Ankara said, "Think of many
rivers emptying into a sea. That sea is Turkey."
Turkey became a magnet due to the stricter visa laws of
Western European countries. It was reported that "a
young Moldovan woman can, in one day, pay $15 and be in
Istanbul." END TEXT.

14. Published by Hurriyet on Tuesday, June 28:
TITLE: Is Turkey Pleased With Becoming a Market for
Women?

BEGIN TEXT: New York Times reporter Craig Smith
arrived in Turkey and conducted research.

The result of his research was terrible for Turkey,
"There is a market in Turkey where women are sold."

This is a well-known fact in Turkey and I wrote about
this scandal many times but could not obtain any
results. The NYT brought it to our attention from the
U.S.

Turkey unfortunately turned into a woman market with
"perestroika."

The incident initially was at a small scale, but in
recent years it has turned into a full "slave trade."

The prostitution sector reached even the remotest
Anatolian cities and took over some towns altogether,
mostly Trabzon, Istanbul and Antalya.

Things are totally out of hand in Istanbul. The night
clubs where Russian women are sold are packed. "Night
club" certainly is the "official" name. These places
are actually brothels. The most famous ones are in
Aksaray. Indeed one of them is 50 meters from the
police station.

When I ask how this can happen, I see sarcastic smiles.

Girls from Commonwealth of Independent States and
former Soviet Republics are brought (to Turkey) and
kept in groups in houses or are employed. The girls
receive very little money. The real money is earned by
those gangs who bring them here and employ them.

The situation is no different in Antalya. Ornekkoy in
Lara is almost under the occupation of these gangs.
Girls who do a good job are being sold and bought.
Indeed there are groups that kidnap girls and sell them
to other gangs. Guns are fired in Ornekkoy each night.
What is amusing is that the police station is only 100
meters from this site.

The situation in Trabzon is so bad that local women
staged a mass demonstration.

When all these things are happening, what does the TNP
do? As far as I can see, nothing, except a few so-
called operations.

I would say both sides of the trade (those who are sold
and those who are buyers) are happy, but that is not
the case because the incident has turned into a full
slave trade. Here are girls who commit suicide and who
are killed. Meanwhile, Turkey's image gets tarnished.

I don't have anything to say if those who govern this
country are pleased with this image of a country that
sells women. But I'm not pleased. END TEXT


15. Published by Sabah on Thursday, June 30:

TITLE: Sabah Series on Sex Trade

BEGIN TEXT: "Mass-appeal "Sabah" began a series on
Slavic sex slaves in Turkey.

PART 1 (June 30, 2005)

DURING DAYLIGHT "AKSARAY," AT NIGHT "PROSTITUTION
PALACE"
By Zulfikar Ali Aydin

I was given the assignment to feel the pulse of the
prostitution in Aksaray, where people pour into when
they find money. I called a friend who is experienced
with Aksaray and who lives in my district.

Using the premise of planning "a favor" for another
friend before he leaves to do his military service, I
decided to follow the women trafficked from Moldova,
Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan and Romania to
Turkish night clubs and discos.

We agreed to meet in front of the Malibu Disco Bar at
midnight. It was necessary to check the neighborhood
during daylight before going to the sites. These
buildings were from 1960s and now their ground floors
and basements are converted into night clubs. I wanted
to inquire how much I would pay at the bars from the
500 YTL (NOTE: approximately $360) I got for the
assignment. The first thing I learned was the names of
the night clubs that one should never step into.

I talked to a friend who has a clothing shop and he
told me the following on the night clubs that are on
the same street with the Fatih Sub-provincial Police
Station in Aksaray. "A week ago I got my shop painted.
The two painters came in late afternoon and said that
they were robbed. They went to a night club. They
were served alcohol, nuts and slices of melon and
watermelon. Then the bill came: 350 YTL ($250). When
they would not pay the bill, five waiters charged for
the two-hour entertainment by beating them up and
taking their credit cards and IDs. So don't enter the
clubs, except one, on the Mustafa Kemal Pasa Street,
where the Fatih Police Station is also located."

I arrived at Gabardi around 22:00 hrs along with the
friend who supposedly would go to do his military
service. At the door we were received with respect and
affection. This ended at the check point inside. A
man with a moustache and wearing a suit asked as he
checked out my cell phone and cigarettes, "Do you carry
a gun?" I responded, "No. We came for entertainment."
After the check, a waiter asked us to follow him. When
I tried to divert my path and not follow the waiter, I
was warned, "Where are you going? You are forbidden to
go there."

It reportedly is up to the waiter whether he gives you
a table closer to the women. As two friends we were
seated at a tiny table and we ordered two beers. Later
strawberries, watermelon, nuts and olives were brought
to our table. Around the dance floor there were mostly
middle-aged, bald men with moustaches and big bellies.
After a while Russian, Moldavian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian
and Kyrgyz women came in. They were all six-foot tall
and most of them were blond. They were between 17 and

25.

TOMORROW: Bargaining over sitting down and getting up
at the night club and maneuvering for bringing down the
price that starts at $100..

HOTLINE 157 ESTABLISHED FOR WOMEN FORCED INTO
PROSTITUTION

When one says "immigration" in Turkey, the first thing
that comes to mind is those who emigrated to Germany.
But after the collapse of the East Bloc, there has been
an influx from these countries to Turkey. The reason
for the influx is "woman trafficking." It was covered
by the New York Times the other week. Meanwhile,
Turkey is a Tier 2 country in the U.S. annual "Human
Trafficking" report. Turkey has established a 157
hotline for foreign prostitutes (to improve its image).
This line was established six months ago. The 157
Hotline served as a mediator for saving 14 women from
the prostitution sector until now.

IOM and the MFA Consular Affairs jointly carry out this
project and the goal is to help women who realize that
they were deceived and who are victims and to make
organized crime networks collapse.

Turkey, which is a destination country in human
trafficking, is very popular. Marielle Sander
Lindstrom, the Turkey rep of IOM, explained that this
was because of the two reasons: Turkey's economic
situation is much better compared to neighboring
countries and it is easier to obtain a visa. The
networks face difficulty in getting visas to European
countries so Turkey is an easy country for human
traffickers to enter. When networks in countries such
as Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Uzbekistan that sell
women receive a demand from Turkey, they sustain their
ties on both sides.

TOMORROW: Women who are saved through Hotline 157 speak
out..

BARGAINING CARRIED OUT ON THREE FRONTS

No matter which street you enter in Aksaray you see
foreign women. The bargaining over sex begins at mid-
day in Aksaray, the heart of the prostitution sector.
Such bargaining which used to be done freely on the
streets and under the bridges in Aksaray, now are
conducted mostly in covered areas.

Azeri prostitutes who cannot find a place in night
clubs in general stroll the streets where automobile
spare parts are sold in Aksaray. Azeris said that they
were using this method because there is not much demand
for them but they are aware of the tricks that are
played.

Aksaray is a prostitution paradise, but those who guide
the sector are always cautious. As a resident of
Aksaray put it, there are three types of prostitution:
One way, is taking women out of the night club. This
is the most expensive method.

Second option is the brothels that foreign women
established with 3-5 friends in Aksaray and adjacent
provinces.

The third is conducting the bargaining on the phone. A
prostitute gives away her cell phone number through her
clients. Thus, she determines her own clientele.
After nightfall the bargaining that was conducted in
secret places comes on the streets. END TEXT.


16. Published by Sabah on Thursday, June 30:

TITLE: IS THE CONSCIENCE CLEAR? by Ergun Babahan

BEGIN TEXT: The collapse of the Socialist Soviet
Republics made people enter a fight for existence.

Thousands of people with education and professions were
forced to do the jobs that they did not deserve.

As is the case during crisis periods, during this
period, too, those who paid the heaviest price were
again women. Tens of thousands of women from Russia to
the Ukraine were forced to sell their bodies in order
to make ends meet for their families that they left
behind.

Certainly there were those who selected the path to
earn easy money. Poverty and desperation were the main
reasons behind the booming prostitution in Turkey.

A human drama took place in front of our eyes. And it
is continuing. The human body is being sold as if it
is a commodity.

The sector is so big and the money involved is so
lucrative that it creates its own sub-sectors.

These women face no difficulty entering Turkey. In
Turkey people from Iraq, Pakistan and Africa who want
to go to Greece or Italy are captured, but women who
are brought on boats for prostitution cannot be
captured.

The city centers in Trabzon and Istanbul turn into a
"meat market" where women sometimes are forced to work,
and nobody turns around and looks (into the problem).

But there is a party in government that claims to be
conservative democrat. They, too, remain indifferent
to such a human drama.

Everybody discusses the turban, but nobody is
interested in this tragic incident that young women
from our neighboring countries suffer.

In fact we, as the media, are responsible on this
issue. As "Sabah" we were mobilized because of the
report in the "New York Times." Only then we felt like
looking into what was going on in the prostitution
sector.

Anybody with a conscience should oppose it and fight
against this human drama that we are facing. Also,
mostly the officials and ordinary people in the street
know what has been going on.

We are witnessing a woman trade that destroys the
values of society and human dignity, as well as all the
other values accumulated over the years and we are not
moved at all.

The report that our friend Ceren Akdag filed from
Ankara showed that Turkey was rated Tier 2 in human
trafficking. Turkey is preferred because its economy
is better compared to its neighbors and getting a visa
is easy.

Fifty percent of the women brought to Turkey are young
girls aged 19-25. A great majority of them come from
the Ukraine and Moldova. Also these young girls are
brought to Turkey with promises that they would serve
as nannies or household help but later are forced into
prostitution.

Their passports are being taken away. If they do not
want to be involved in prostitution, they are beaten
and subject to torture.

In short, scenes that would make us weep in a movie are
taking place in our country.

This is one of the gravest versions of human rights
violations. Time has come and even passing to open a
full-fledged war on this crime against humanity. END
TEXT.

MCELDOWNEY