TIP IN TURKEY: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, October 16-

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 ANKARA 006554

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, October 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 Monday, October 17:

TITLE: Six Sex Slaves, Including a Pregnant Woman,
Saved

BEGIN TEXT: Moldovan M.A. (26),who took refuge at the
Antalya Police Department, claimed that Sedat Ugurkan
(26) forced her and her two sisters into prostitution.
She explained that she fled the house that they were
kept in by tying a bed sheet to the balcony.

The police raided the house and detained Sedat Ugurkan
and saved O.F. (21),who is pregnant, and V.F. (19).

M.A. said that she was kidnapped in Izmir and brought
to Antalya. She added that she was subject to torture
with iron bars and forced into prostitution.

O.F. said, "He sold us and also forced us to be with
him. When they realized that I was pregnant, they
tried to sell me to other pimps for $3,000. They
decided not to buy me when they learned I was pregnant.
So they replaced me with a woman from another house."

In a raid on a second house, Ukrainian O.Y. (25) and
N.D. (22) and Georgian N.O. were saved. Metin Marasli
(43),Ramazan Celebi (46),Mehmet Turgut (44),Mehmet
Kabadayi (34),Selim Coman (26) and Moldovan Nino
Sarikaya were detained for forcing women into
prostitution. The gang members reportedly had a
criminal record on mediating for prostitution and human
trafficking. END TEXT.


3. Also reported by Hurriyet on Monday, October 17:

TITLE: Those who sleep with sex slaves are guilty of
rape

BEGIN TEXT: Men in England who are with women who are
either sex slaves or who have fallen in the hands of
prostitution gangs can be charged with rape. Ministry
of the Interior Tony McNulty told the Observer, "Even a
man without intention who has sex with such women are
guilty of rape." McNulty continued, "For example, a
woman who tells her customer that she is being forced
to prostitute and that customer having paid for the
services, without argument, is guilty of rape." The
Observer noted that the Minister's words do not imply a
change to the law, but rather there will be new
applications of the law. END TEXT.


4. Published by Vatan on Tuesday, October 18:

TITLE: Pimp Priest gets 2.5 years in prison

BEGIN TEXT: A 42-year-old priest assigned to Midilli
Island in Greece was found guilty of pimping and given
a sentence of 2.5 years and a fine of 2,000 Euros. The
priest, in response to the charges of pimping a 28-year-
old Russian woman and a 22-year-old Polish woman, said,
"I really felt sorry for these women because they were
not getting paid for sleeping with men. I was giving
the money I collected from customers to them. The
allegations are slanderous." It was noted that
relations with the military were good due to the fact
that the priest and the two pimped women went to the
barracks together. The priest's attorney, in defense
of his client, stated, "Everyone who lives here has
slept with these two women." The principal of the
regional high school was seen at the arraignment to
show his support for the priest. END TEXT.


5. Published the The Miami Herald (www.miami.com) on
Tuesday, October 18:

TITLE: Azerbaijan asks Dade how to fight slavery

BEGIN TEXT: With the threat of financial aid from the
United States being cut off, beset by public corruption
and plagued by sex slave trafficking, the former Soviet
republic of Azerbaijan needs help.

It found some this week in Miami.

On Monday, a group of prosecutors from Azerbaijan met
with their counterparts at the Miami-Dade state
attorney's office to learn how American prosecutors
handle sex crimes and help victims cope with the
trauma.

"Anytime we can assist prosecutors around the world
helping victims of sexual abuse get justice, it's in
the interest of our office," said Assistant State
Attorney Joshua Weintraub, head of the sexual battery
division.

The problems plaguing Azerbaijan are not uncommon to
former Soviet republics.

Tucked next to the Caspian Sea between Russia and Iran,
Azerbaijan has become a hub for trafficking in human
cargo: Women and children are sold as sex slaves to
countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan
and Turkey.

The U.S. State Department has called the country's
efforts to prosecute traffickers "anaemic." In 2004,
only 106 trafficking-related investigations were
reported, of which only 10 resulted in convictions -
down from the previous year.

In terms of monetary aid, the State Department lists
Azerbaijan on its "Tier 2 watch list." Tier 3
countries, such as Cuba, get no humanitarian aid from
the United States.

But progress is slowly being made, officials say.

Last year, the government outlined a national plan to
battle corruption and crime. This year, an
anticorruption law was passed, and antitrafficking
legislation is being drafted.

"We have the political will to create very effective
legislation to fight these types of crimes," Bahruz
Mahmudov, the head of human resources for the
Azerbaijan Prosecutor General's Office, said after
presenting a keepsake rug to Miami-Dade prosecutors as
a show of thanks.

Intertwined in that battle against human trafficking is
the prosecution of sexual abuse cases, which in many
developing countries often go unreported because of
apathy and cultural stigmas.

The idea to visit with the prosecutors sprang from Beth
Sreenan, a legal advisor at the U.S. Embassy in
Azerbaijan who once was a prosecutor in Miami.

On Monday, the visitors sat down with 10 prosecutors,
attorneys from the American Bar Association and several
representatives from nongovernmental agencies, such as
the Azerbaijan Association of Young Leaders, which play
a crucial role in advocating change in the former
republic.

Miami-Dade prosecutors explained how they meet with
victims of sexual assaults, interview suspects and
gather important forensic evidence.

They also talked about coordinating counseling for
victims and using task force methods to involve other
agencies in the cases.

"In Azerbaijan, we do not have the shelters. We do not
have the hot lines," Sreenan said. "What we are trying
to do is develop the institutional cooperation at all
levels and a larger level of trust between the NGOs and
the government." END TEXT.


6. Published by Tempo Magazine on Tuesday, October 18:

TITLE: Slave Market

BEGIN TEXT: Date: October 11, 2005. Place:
Umraniye, one of the modern shanty-towns of Istanbul.
We are in a first-floor office on the busiest street of
this sub-province. On its sign it says that they find
nannies, employees without children to work at villas,
and nurses. We are in the single-room office of a
consulting company.

The owner of the company wears a suit and he is middle-
aged. He did not want to talk to a tape recorder
because of security reasons, but he talked when I
turned off the recorder.
"There is slave market in Istanbul that is carried out
under the guise of a consultation company. I listen to
the foreign women who come here for work. There are
Ukrainian, Uzbek and Bulgarians who are raped and
beaten. I also know women who are taken from such
companies and sold for prostitution."

When I asked for an address or a contact person, he
refused to share this with a journalist because he was
afraid. The only result that I had was that I was on
the right path. I found myself in hot pursuit.

The information was that some consultation companies,
which were established under the guise of finding
nannies, nurses and servants, created an almost slave
market. Women are being rented from one company to
another without any guarantees or protection.

On the second day, I am again in Umraniye. I head down
a street right across from a modern and luxurious
residential area. I had called the company the day
before and told them that I was looking for a foreign
nanny. We set up an appointment for the next day.

When I walked into the building, I noticed the
humidity. I noticed a few women inside who looked
foreign. I asked for the owner, with whom I had talked
to on the phone. He came and we shook hands. He
invited me to his office. M.B. did not have a sign on
the door indicating that he had a company there. He
knew only my name, and without checking out who I was
and not asking who recommended me, acted eager to reach
a deal in this slave market. If I paid the money, I
could take a woman out right that moment. There is no
contract or agreement. Where do I take her? To whom
do I take her? Am I going to hurt her? There is no
answer to any of these questions. At least it is not
important for the company owner.

I could immediately take away a Bulgarian woman if I
paid the $350 monthly salary and the 60 million TL
leave expense, as well as the 70 percent commission to
the company. But my purpose was to collect
information. I kept bombarding him with questions that
a regular client would not think of asking. M.B.
responded, "I currently have one woman. There are
those who will arrive in three to four days. They
arrive by boat. But I do not know today how old they
are and what their specialties are. I have a woman
broker. She brings them."

M.B.: You will pay 350 USD monthly and pocket money
for her expenses on her days off. This is the lowest
price. We get 15 million TL per week for the day off.
They take one day off each week. They leave in the
morning and come back in the evening. This is the
monthly salary. For example, Bulgarians have to exit
every three months. We have women from 25 to 55 years
of age. I work mostly with Bulgarians and Uzbeks.

Q: How much do I pay you?

M.B.: We charge a 70 percent commission. For example,
if you are not pleased with her, we immediately replace
her.

Q: Would I be in a difficult position legally? It is
legally wrong?

M.B.: Legally speaking, they do not have work permits.
In short, it is illegal. But there are a lot of such
foreign women who are working. Everybody works like
this. Yes, they are illegal, but then there are many
workers in Turkey who are not enjoying social security.

Q: Do you pay tax?
M.B.: Companies have to obtain permission to employ
foreigners. So they work illegally, without
permission.

Q: Are we going to enter into a contract?
M.B. We do not need to sign a contract because there
is no legal aspect to it. If you like, I can give you
a receipt confirming that you made a payment for
consultation.

Q: If I talked to a young woman, what would be her
price?

M.B.: Young ones will not go for less than 500-600
USD.

Q: If the woman steals something and runs away, what
would I do?

M.B.: We keep the passports of these women. Trust is
very important and we guarantee the work. This has
happened to some of our clients in the past. In order
to prevent this, we keep their passports.

Q: For how long have you been involved in this
business?

M.B.: I have been doing this for seven months, but I
came a long way. I sent two people to Cyprus last week
to the house of a mother of a famous artist.

Q: How do women come to you? Is the Mafia involved?

M.B.: Foreigners come here and spend some money. They
pay a commission to those who bring them here. For
example, a woman brings them to me. In other words,
the Mafia is not involved. If they individually wanted
to come, they would not be able to. Where would they
go? They do not know where to go. But certainly there
are those who are involved in other businesses under
the guise of consultation.

I was encouraged with this chat that I had in the
consultation company. Look what is being experienced
in Istanbul: a slave market. As I delved deeper, I
noticed that these consultation companies were all over
town, from Kadikoy to Bostanci, Bakirkoy to Sisli, and
Besiktas to Umraniye. They established a slave market
under the guide of human resources.

On the third day, I called one company on the
recommendation of another. When I told them that I
wanted to interview them and the foreign nannies as a
"Tempo" reporter, I got the same response, "Hold on for
a minute," but I could not manage to talk to the
bosses. I was not given appointments either. Some of
them claimed, "We do not employ foreigners." So the
only remaining method was to pretend to be a client.

This time my appointment is in Sirkeci. I am facing a
broker who rents women either to clients or to such
companies. He gave me an appointment at a hotel that
he owns. It is on one of the side streets on the
Sultanahmet-Sirkeci tramline. I was surprised when I
saw the hotel. This four-story hotel was in very bad
shape. Inside looked like those in the old Turkish
movies where peasants coming to a big city go. In the
lobby there were five rows of very dirty armchairs.
There was an old television. I saw the person that I
talked to on the phone. He was in his 60s and spoke
with an East (Kurdish) accent and one of his feet was
on the coffee table in front of him.

His phones rang constantly. His conversations proved
that I was at the right address. Haggling over prices
. A new Georgian women's group . Problems with one
woman. Finally it is my turn. The 30-35 year-old-
looking man next to him is his son. He did not even
raise his head from the paper he was reading. The
father immediately asked, "How did you find me? Who
gave you a reference?" I responded in general terms,
"A friend of mine recommended you." He did not look
satisfied. He asked me what type of service I needed
and how much I was willing to pay. He told me that he
had women from Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan and
Bulgaria. Indeed, women who are waiting for clients
stay at his hotel. This hotel owner in Sirkeci is
involved in an illegal business, without establishing a
legitimate company and without paying tax.

He asked for one billion TL per month for a young
woman. He said he would take 60 percent and the woman
40 percent. But he also said he would personally
deliver the woman. He decided to use such a method
after some incidents. A client who employed her as a
servant made indecent proposals and the woman
complained to him about the client. They immediately
took away the Ukrainian woman from that man.

As we were speaking, his son said, "If you are pleased
and if the woman is happy, then there is no problem.
It is between the two of you." He noted that he could
show me a woman right away, but that 2-3 days later a
new group would be coming and that I would have a
better selection. He added, "I wanted to meet you
personally because I cannot make such arrangements
immediately following the first encounter." I told him
I would come back after the new group arrives. He
asked for a phone number to call me. I told him that I
would call him and left.

The slave market works like this: women from the
Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria and Moldova are sent to
Turkey by brokers who have contacts here. These women
first pay a commission to the brokers. Later the
brokers in Turkey meet with them. They rent these
women and keep their passports. Women are sent to
houses to work, as if they are the property of these
brokers or consultation companies. Nothing is legal in
this business. Neither do the women have work permits,
nor do they have any social security. They do not pay
taxes either.

Following my three-day research, I see the inhuman
implementations. In some of those consultation
companies, there are rooms for these women. They live
all together in these single rooms until the clients
leave. Some women are covered in bruises, and others
are dirty. A client walks into those rooms and picks
one. I could not get permission, as a "Tempo" writer,
to take pictures of these rooms.

Certainly working women and men do need to have
domestic help, and there are those companies which are
involved in legal work. One of the legal businesswomen
is Gulseren Aktuna, who told us how the slave market
operates in Istanbul.

Aktuna, who is the owner of such a company, said,
"There is almost a slave market established. The
number of those who are exploiting this profession are
more than those that work legally. It is time to say
`Stop' to this."

Nietzsche, who was an enemy of women, used to say, "If
you are going to be with a woman, do not forget your
whip," and "Men who would receive lessons on war and
women should entertain men." Hegel had comments on
slavery. In the Istanbul of the 21st century, there is
a slave market. There is fear. Neither the battered
women speak, nor do those with a conscience and who do
not approve of what is going on. But still a woman
spoke to "Tempo" and gives the entire picture. Aktuna
said, "There are consultation companies that are
involved in prostitution in some of the villas in
Zekeriyakoy."

Interview with Gulseren Aktuna, owner of a consultation
company. There are women who are tortured and raped.
There is a very ugly market established in Turkey for
this. For example: Laleli. There is almost a human
market there. Women coming from Ukraine, Moldova,
Azerbaijan and other Turkic Republics and who speak
some Turkish are brought here and a slave market is
created. They are exposing people. People go there
and pick one and take her home for household help. But
it is not clear where these women go. There are women
who go to houses where they are tortured and raped.
There is no responsibility taken by the broker. He
disappears after he takes the money. On the other
hand, people who genuinely look for household help,
too, go to these markets. But there are those who are
subject to harassment or theft by those who come into
the house.

When you look at such companies, you can see that
companies who are exploiting this business are more
than those who do regular work. There are those who
are involved in prostitution in villas in Zekeriyakoy
under the guise of a consultation company. But then
there are very serious institutions that have been
involved in serious work. There are those who employ
people from Bulgaria and Moldova with no ties to their
countries, and such companies broker for them. The
consultation company must also provide social security.
If the employing family covers those charges, the price
goes up further.

These women are in the position of illegal workers.
There is nothing legal about it. Such companies must
be paying their tax differently.

In the past we had our mothers and neighbors take care
of our children. Now the young people look for people
who have a good education and who can take care of
their children. We all work. People have only Sunday
off and should they spare that day to clean the house?
Others employ a person who can look after their
children around the clock.

In general, we give our employees to people with a
certain economic background. It is not easy to employ
a person. In the slave market, people work for 200-300
USD or 350 million TL. Our company charges 500-600
million TL for an untrained employee. For babies, we
employ a person for a few months before the baby is
born and she is responsible for the baby until it is
one and half years old. Her rate is 1500-2000 YTL.
The price changes for twins. The only work the nanny
does is with the baby - nothing else. But they have
training and experience in this field. This section
has good sides and wrongs sides as well. END TEXT.


7. Published by The Turkish Daily News on Wednesday,
October 19:

TITLE: Police recover babies sold to childless couples

BEGIN TEXT: French investigators of human trafficking
have recovered five babies allegedly sold for 5,000
euros-6,000 euros (5,970-7,160 USD) by their mothers to
couples without children, police said. Police said the
babies, aged about 1, were in good health and had not
been mistreated. Several couples were in custody.
Investigators from a police office against human
trafficking recovered the infants in sweeps on Tuesday
in the Paris region and in Brittany in northwest
France. END TEXT.


8. Published by TurkishPress.com on Wednesday, October 19:

TITLE: Turkish Police Arrest 557 Illegal Migrants in
Istanbul

BEGIN TEXT: Turkish police arrested 557 illegal
migrants who entered Turkey illegally, in their
operations in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul in the
last week, sources said on Friday.

Sources told an A.A. correspondent that the majority of
the detainees were of Pakistani origin.
According to these sources, the illegal migrants wanted
to sneak into European countries via Turkey, and paid
3,000-8,000 USD per person to those who aided and
abetted them.
Police had been searching for five people in connection
with human trafficking, said the same sources.

They added that the illegal migrants would be deported
after legal proceedings. END TEXT.

9. Published by Minsk Belapan on Wednesday, October 19:

TITLE: Belarusian Police Arrest Suspected Human
Trafficker

BEGIN FBIS TRANSLATED TEXT: Criminal proceedings have
been launched against a 28-year-old female resident of
Kobryn [Brest Region] who is suspected of human
trafficking.

The department of information and public relations of
the Brest regional police directorate told Belapan that
the criminal case was launched under Article 181 Part 2
of the Penal Code (trafficking in people) on 18
October. The proceedings were instituted on the basis
of material received from the regional police
directorate's department for combating illicit drug
trafficking and vice-related crimes. The district
centre resident is suspected of trafficking a 23-year-
old female resident of Brest to Turkey and selling her
to an unidentified individual for 500 dollars for
sexual exploitation in November 2003.

Police officers in the Brest Region closed off 13
channels for trafficking women abroad for sexual
exploitation [in January-September 2005]. END FBIS
TRANSLATED TEXT.


10. Reported by UzReport.com on Tuesday, October 25:

TITLE: Conference Addresses Human Trafficking Issues

BEGIN TEXT: A two-day conference entitled "Combating
trafficking in persons" opened in Tashkent on 25
October.

The Istiqbolli Avlod Youth-Information Center, in
cooperation with the Interior Ministry of Uzbekistan,
organized the event. Istiqbolli directs its activity
to fight human trafficking and inform people about it.

Representatives of the Uzbek government and
international organizations, as well as neighboring
countries and Russia, are participating in the event.

Nadira Karimov, regional coordinator of the project
"Prevention of Human Trafficking" of the International
Office for Migration said that 562 cases of illegal
recruitment of people to work abroad were registered in
Tashkent and 302 in Samarkand. She said that 1,465
cases of human trafficking were registered in
Uzbekistan last year. The main destination countries
for human trafficking are Israel, the UAE, Turkey,
Russia, Kazakhstan and Thailand.

Ilkhom Abdulhuseynov, head of the consulate department
of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry, said that recently there
have been cases where Uzbek citizens obtained passports
of neighboring countries and put themselves in
difficult situations when they lost their passports
abroad. He said that the Uzbek consulate issued
certificates to allow Uzbek citizens to return home.
END TEXT.


11. Published by newKerala.com on Wednesday, October 26:

TITLE: Illegal Asian immigrants seek asylum in KOSOVO

BEGIN TEXT: Pristina: A group of illegal immigrants
from Asian countries have sought asylum in KOSOVO after
they were detained by the airport police here.
"Of the 13 immigrants, ten are from Bangladesh, two
from Pakistan and one from India," said Helvise Gallet,
protection officer of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
They have not been interviewed yet because UNHCR was so
far unable to find translators, Gallet said. The
immigrants arrived on a flight from Istanbul.

It was the second group of asylum seekers within 10
days to arrive in KOSOVO from Turkey.

Six Bangladeshis detained earlier this month are still
waiting for the UN mission in KOSOVO to decide their
fate, with deportation to Turkey remaining a
possibility.

With its porous borders, KOSOVO, administered by the UN
for the last six years, has become a Balkan hub for
international human trafficking.

In August, UN police arrested three Pakistani police
officers under suspicion of involvement in the
lucrative business of transferring immigrants from
KOSOVO into Serbia and Montenegro. They were later
released due to lack of evidence. END TEXT.


12. Published by Regnum News Agency (Moscow) on Wednesday,
October 26 and the Kazakh information agency (Kazinform) on
Thursday, October 27:

TITLE: About 1,500 cases of human trafficking spotted
in Uzbekistan last year

BEGIN TEXT: According to Nadira Karimova, coordinator
of the "Counteraction to human trafficking in Central
Asia and Uzbekistan" project, since the beginning of
2005 there have been 1465 cases of human trafficking
reported, as a Regnum correspondent reports from
"Counteraction to human trafficking" conference, which
ended on October 26 in Tashkent.

Karimova said that only in Tashkent and Samarkand
(Uzbekistan's two largest cities),762 cases of illegal
recruiting of people to work abroad have been
identified. Mostly Uzbekistani citizens go illegally
to Israel, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates,
"and we must remember it when granting visas to the so-
called `tourist groups' heading towards these
countries," stressed Karimova.

The head of the Uzbekistani ministry of foreign affairs
consulate department Ilham Abdulkhuseinov stated that
there was an increase of cases, when Uzbekistani
citizens leave the country with passports of
neighboring states that they received illegally. "And
such workers are ideal for all employers because they
are absolutely deprived of civil rights," said
Abdulkhuseinov.

The "Counteraction to human trafficking in Central Asia
and Uzbekistan" project has been created to help such
people come back to their home countries, providing
psychological, legal and medical help.

The founders of the project are "Istikbolly avlod"
Youth Information Center and the Interior Ministry of
Uzbekistan.

Representatives of various ministries, state
prosecution, women's committees of Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia and foreign
foundations participated in the conference. END TEXT.


13. Published by Aksam on Friday, October 28:

TITLE: I was sold for 1300 dollars

BEGIN TEXT: Kidnapped Russian tour guide Glena
Turovlena said, "I was taken to a villa in Izmir and
found out that I was sold for 1300 dollars. When they
heard that my father is a colonel in the Russian Army,
they let me go."

The Russian guide, who was allegedly kidnapped by
people dressed as policemen three days ago in Antalya,
was liberated.
Glena Turovlena (22) claimed that she was sold to a
trafficker in Izmir and recounted her horrible days to
Aksam.

Turovlena noted that she had lived through horrible
hours during the kidnapping and added, "On the day of
the incident, we were working on a transfer (airport).
A car stopped. Two policemen came down and showed
their IDs. Later they asked for my ID and invited me
to the police station. I informed my friend about the
situation and got into the car (of the so-called
policemen). When my friend called the police and
noticed that the policeman was not aware of the
incident, she called me. When I told them that the
policeman was not informed, they took away my phone and
then I realized that I had been kidnapped."

She noted that her kidnappers were driving towards
Alanya. "They took me and three other girls to a villa
where I learned that we had been sold for 1300 USD
each. When I told them that I was involved in tourism
and that my father was a colonel in the Russian army,
they were intimidated. They told me that they would
release me. Later they put a bus ticket in my pocket
along with a five million lira bill. They put me on
the Antalya bus and told me that I should not tell
anyone what happened," she said.

As soon as she arrived in Antalya, she went to the
police to testify. The police are now searching for a
person known as "Scorpio."

Caption under photo: Yevgenya Koroglu, who shares a
home with the young Russian woman, said, "I am very
glad to see my friend. This incident was a lesson for
us. We will be more cautious from now on." END TEXT.


14. Published by Sabah on Monday, October 31:

TITLE: 198 women saved with one phone call

BEGIN TEXT: The 157 hotline, set up to serve women
brought to Turkey from abroad with great expectations,
but who find themselves as victims, has been
operational since May. Selin Unal, Project Assistant
for IOM, said that mostly women brought to Turkey from
Ukraine, Moldova and Russia call this line. Unal said,
"Twenty-six percent of those who call the 157 hotline
and give information are the victims themselves;
seventy-four percent are either a friend or a client of
the victim."

She went on, "Women who are forced into prostitution
are so frightened and scared to call us." She
summarized their (the hotline's) duty as, "Our mission
is to serve as a bridge between law enforcement and
victims."

Unal noted that they have been working with experts who
speak five languages and that for those who call 157
and get saved are sent to a shelter. She noted,
"Currently there is a shelter in Istanbul in connection
with the fight against human trafficking. A second
shelter will soon be operational in Ankara."

A Moldovan who received help from the 157 hotline, but
who wanted to remain anonymous, told of her experience
and liberation as "My country was in an economic
hardship. A friend told me that I would earn good
money if I served as a dancer in Turkey. He arranged
my plane ticket and passport. But those who greeted me
in Antalya took away my passport and told me that I was
brought to serve as a prostitute. They said that I did
not have an alternative and that if I objected I would
be killed. I called an NGO in Moldova at the first
opportunity. They asked me to call the 157 hotline in
Turkey. I called 157 and told the operator about my
situation and location. The Antalya police saved me
from the hotel."
TITLE: From ages 19-25.

Selin Unal, Project Assistant for the International
Office for Migration said that the average age of women
brought to Turkey is from 19 to 25. Twenty-six percent
of the calls to 157 are from victims and 74 percent are
from friends or customers of victims. END TEXT.


15. Published in Aksam on Monday, October 31:

TITLE: Girl runs away from orphanage and is dragged
into prostitution

BEGIN TEXT: 16-year-old N.G., who ran away from the
orphanage in Gaziantep's Nizip district, was caught
practicing prostitution in a minibus with two other
women. The girl was conned into escaping for the
orphanage with a promise of marriage and fell into the
hands of a prostitution ring. It was discovered that
N.G. was forced into prostitution. "My friend D's step
mother, Z.T., was going to marry me off to 21-year-old
I.G. She promised me. I believed it and escaped from
the orphanage. I understood later that she lied to me.
When I resisted, I was beaten up and threatened with my
life. Because I was afraid, I did what she wanted,"
N.G. said in her statement to police.

As a result of N.G.'s statement, step-mother Z.T. and
her imam nikahli spouse (a marriage sanctioned by an
imam, but not by the government) M.T. were arrested.
Mehmet Merkepcioglu, Director of the Kilis Social
Services, said that he notified police when N.G. ran
away from the orphanage. END TEXT.

MCELDOWNEY