TIP IN TURKEY: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, August 16-

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 005621 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 SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, August 16- 31, 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 Thursday, September 1: TITLE: They tricked us by saying we would be models BEGIN TEXT: Three Moldovan and Ukrainian university students who were brought to Turkey and taken to Mersin to be forced into prostitution were rescued in a sting operation after calling the 157 Human Trafficking Victim Rescue Line. A 23-year-old medical student from Moldova called the 157 Line from the Erdemli District (of Mersin),and reported that she and two of her friends had been forced into prostitution for 11 months in a Kizkalesi Township hotel. Upon notification, the police raided the Kizkalesi hotel. 5 Suspected Turks Arrested Teams, through four concurrent operations, rescued L.C. and Ukrainian university student Y.C. (21) and S.B. (21) from a prostitution ring. The operations netted in the arrests of C.B. (24),a hotel manager A.A. (42), N.D. (43),I.D. (30) and C.N. (37). The five suspects were remanded to the court and a bench warrant was issued for M.D. The three women claim to have been promised to be paid $2,500 each to work in the modeling and tourism sector in Turkey. After the necessary paperwork is completed, the three women who were forced into prostitution will be repatriated to their countries. END TEXT. ¶3. Published by Turkish Daily News on Thursday, September 1: TITLE: Police rescue three foreign girls from human traffickers BEGIN TEXT: Police rescued three female university students brought to Turkey from Moldova and Ukraine for sexual exploitation in the southern province of Mersin after they contracted the 157 hotline and requested help, reported the Dogan News Agency yesterday. Turkey is a destination for many women, mostly from the former Soviet republics, who are seeking better living standards and job opportunities. They are trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation. Twenty-three year-old L.C., a student from the School of Medicine in Moldova, reportedly dialed 157 and claimed she and her friends were forced into prostitution and sold to men for 11 months by unidentified traffickers at hotels in the Erdemli district of Mersin. Acting on the tip-off, the police rescued the girls from suspected human traffickers and arrested five, including a hotel manager. Police issued an arrest warrant for M.D., claimed to have links with human traffickers. Officials say the human traffickers in Mersin have connections in Ukraine since, according to a bank slip found in their possession, they sent money to that country. The foreign girls were brought to Turkey believing they would become top models and be paid $2,500 each. The three girls will be deported to their countries following the completion of legal procedures. END TEXT. ¶4. Published by Vatan on Tuesday, September 6, 2005: TITLE: Prostitution Mafia Kidnapped My Wife BEGIN TEXT: Suleyman Cali (26),who works as an acting teacher in Kagithane, Istanbul, met with the older sister of his student six years ago. Nural Cali (25), who recently divorced her former husband, became friends and later they fell in love with each other. When the families did not approve of this relationship, the two fled and got married. She gave birth to a daughter whom they named Sule Can. When Cali returned home from work about four months ago, he found Sule Can alone. When he looked for his wife and could not find her, he filed a report with the police. Cali claimed that his wife might have been kidnapped by the prostitution mafia. Cali claimed that after she disappeared, threat messages began to come to his unlisted cell phone number. Callers told me, "Leave your wife alone or else things will get bad." He filed a report with the Sisli Public Prosecutor's office. Cali said that he was still in love with his wife and added, "My daughter Sule Can is asking about her mother every day. She asked, `Dad, when will mom come back?' I filed reports in many places in vain. I'm concerned about my wife's life. If anyone knows her whereabouts, please inform me." END TEXT. ¶5. Published by TurkishPress.com on Thursday, September 8: TITLE: Aksu and Cicek Leave for Britain BEGIN TEXT: Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek left for Britain on Wednesday to attend the EU Interior and Justice Minister's informal meeting. Prior to their departure, Aksu told reporters at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul that fight against terrorism, organized crimes, human trafficking, illegal migration and drug smuggling would be discussed at the meeting. Aksu indicated that he would also hold bilateral talks during his visit to Britain. - "I'M PLEASED WITH THE DECISION OF GERMAN AUTHORITIES"- Stressing that he was pleased with the decision of German authorities to ban the Ozgur Politika (Free Politics) newspaper, (spreading news for terrorist organization PKK/KONGRA-GEL)Aksu indicated, "I appreciate the decision of the German government affirming that it is willing not to tolerate any kind of terrorist action and take measures to prevent them. I also sent a letter to German Interior Minister Otto Schily due to the decision of German authorities." END TEXT. ¶6. Published by Sabah on Friday, September 9: TITLE: When one pays careful attention to despotic love on a serial BEGIN TEXT: M.K. (32),who is involved in the wholesale business in the Fatih District, with the help of his consultant friend, Z.A. (45),recruited E.A. (21),a Turkmen citizen, to help him with the housework two months ago. According to allegations, M.K. fell in love with the woman and held her hostage for two months. E.A. could no longer stand the situation and she fled. She took shelter with another person. M.K. was detained. M.K. was detained along with F.K. (22) and Z.A. (45) who helped him to take her hostage, raping, being involved in human trafficking and restricting one's freedom. During his interrogation at the police station, M.K. said that he loved E.A. and that this was why he took her hostage. He denied the rape allegations. Police searched the home and office of M.K. and found two toy guns and a book with some pages carved out to accommodate a pistol. M.K. said that he cut the pages to hide a pistol in it and that he kept the toy guns to replace with the real one during a police search. He said that he did all this after he watched with admiration the movie The Godfather years ago and The Valley of Wolves TV series more recently. END TEXT. ¶7. Published by Vatan on Sunday, September 11: TITLE: The Police Search for Anastasia BEGIN TEXT: Six Kyrgyz women forced into prostitution were saved by a police sting operation. The women claimed that a Russian woman named Anastasia sold them by force and called for her capture. Six Kyrgyz women lured to Turkey under the guise of making $500 as childcare workers and then being forced into prostitution were saved in a police sting operation on a hotel in Fatih (Istanbul). The six women were taken to the police station to give their statements. The women, whose visas were expired, claimed that a Russian woman named "Anastasia" brought the women to Turkey, and hardly by the time they settled in a hotel, a person named K.K., with ties to her, started to sell them to men. The police, who have her photo, say that the name is an alias and have started an operation to capture her. END TEXT. ¶8. Published by Athens News Agency on Tuesday, September 13: TITLE: Greece: Thessalonica Police Disband Human Trafficking Ring BEGIN FBIS TRANSCRIBED TEXT: Thessalonica police disbanded one of the biggest human trafficking rings that smuggled illegal immigrants from Turkey to western European countries through Greece. Police arrested five suspects on Monday morning: a truck driver who was transporting 30 illegal immigrants, a driver who was riding ahead of the truck and is believed to be the ring leader, along with his wife; the driver of a second escort car; and a fifth suspect. According to the Thessalonica Police Chief Stergios Apostolidis, the illegal immigrants arrived from Turkey by boat and were met by the traffickers in Evros. The 30 immigrants had each paid $1,000 to two Turkish smugglers. Police believe that at least another 10 ring members from Greece, Turkey and Germany remain at large. END FBIS TRANSCRIBED TEXT. ¶9. Published by Milliyet on Wednesday, September 14. Hurriyet gave abbreviated coverage on the same day: TITLE: Escape from Death BEGIN TEXT: The police stopped a truck carrying 50 Bangladeshi and Pakistani illegal migrants in Gebze. Two illegal migrants, trying to escape from the police, were run over and killed. Yesterday morning there was a disaster in Gebze. A truck carrying 50 Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, who had made an agreement with human traffickers, heading to Eskihisar to take the ferry to Topcular to get to the Aegean Sea to make the cross onto a Greek island, arrived in Gebze at about 4:00 AM. In error, the driver of a truck with the plate number 34 AZ 9391 took Yenimahalle Road. 19 Escaped The driver realized that there was a police-controlled stop and stopped the vehicle on the side of the road. The illegal migrants, after being told what was happening by the driver, fled the scene. Police pursued the fleeing Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. Some escaped to side-streets, while others headed to the D100 Highway. Two illegal migrants who wanted to cross the highway were struck by two cars and killed. One of the automobiles had the plate number 54 TD 404, but one was a hit and run. Twenty-nine illegal migrants were arrested and taken to the Kocaeli Foreigners Branch. END TEXT. ¶10. Reported by ITAR-TASS on Wednesday, September 14: TITLE: Russia, USA aircraft build plane for Russia Far East BEGIN TEXT: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, September 14 (Itar- TAss) - The Russian Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association and Boeing in Seattle are working on a regional passenger plane for Russia. The announcement was made at the tenth session of the Russian-American Pacific Partnership, which ended here on Wednesday. This is the most vivid example of regional cooperation between Russia's Far East and the Western coast of the USA. Over 250 business executives, representatives of government and non-government organizations from Russia, the USA, China, Australia, Great Britain, Turkey, France and Japan participated in the forum. They listed oil-and-gas projects, cooperation in the customs sphere, the fight against terrorism and the spread of AIDS, as well as against illegal drug trafficking and human trade, among priority directions in regional cooperation. Russia's Far East and the Western coast of the USA have stated their intention to keep working on those problems in the future. American sources participating in the session and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Russian Minister for Economic Development and trade German Gref intend to develop a joint program of actions to improve the trade and investment climate in their countries. This may give a boost to regional cooperation between the Far East and the Western coast. END TEXT. MCELDOWNEY