TIP IN TURKEY: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, Feb 11-15,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ANKARA 000903

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE
DEPARTMENT FOR VALERIE KWOK USAID E&E/ECA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF TU TIP IN TURKEY
SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, Feb 11-15,
2005


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


2. (U) Published Sunday, February 13 by the Turkish Daily
News; http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/:

TITLE: Turkey eyes 'model' success in human trafficking
fight; By Fatma Demirelli

BEGIN TEXT: ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

On Jan. 11, Turkish newspapers published the appalling
story of a 21-year-old Ukrainian woman, identified as
Tatyana Litvinenko, who was rescued in a police raid on
an Istanbul brothel, where she was forced into
prostitution. The woman, reported the newspapers, came
to Turkey in July of last year when she was seven
months pregnant in hope of working as a babysitter
before she ended up in the hands of a transnational
human trafficking gang operating the brothel. Her
captors were not moved by her plea that she could not
have sex because of her pregnancy. A week after she
gave birth to her baby, one of the captors pushed
chewing gum into the baby's mouth and killed it because
the mother was spending too much time taking care of
the kid, rather than the clients.

Tatyana is one of dozens of desperate women, mostly
from former Soviet bloc countries, where unemployment
is high and opportunities are few, coming to Turkey in
hope of changing their lives for the better but
eventually ending up being trafficked by crime gangs
primarily for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Over
the last few years, trafficking in persons, women in
particular, has grown at an alarming rate in the region
and Turkey, as a preferred destination, has had its
share from the surging crime.

Vast economic opportunities that are further increasing
in parallel to growing prospects for eventual European
Union membership and ensuing stability, geographic
proximity and a liberal visa regime have attracted
increasingly many would-be migrants from Eastern Europe
and former Soviet bloc countries in search of better
living conditions to Turkey over the past years. This
situation, in turn, is heavily exploited by human
traffickers, who sometimes lure young women with
promises of regular employment but which ultimately
results in forced prostitution, debt and various forms
of abuse including forced confinement, control of
personal documents and passports and threats.

Estimates of how many people are being trafficked in
Turkey are difficult to locate. A total of 262 people
were identified as victims of trafficking by the
Turkish police and gendarmerie in 2004, a figure that
officials say is only the "tip of the iceberg."

Ready to take the challenge: Turkish authorities say
they are aware of the problem and are prepared to
accept the challenge to make Turkey the country dealing
most effectively with the problem of human trafficking
in the region. Pressure on Ankara to improve anti-
trafficking efforts has increased in recent years in
connection with its bid to join the European Union.
Ankara admits international pressure but says its
growing efforts are guided by a desire to combat one of
the worst forms of human trafficking rather than simply
to respond to an outside demand.

"We, as Turkey, are aiming at becoming a model country
in the Caucasus, the Balkans and the Middle East in
terms of combating human trafficking," taking the most
advanced measures among the countries of the region,
said Ambassador Murat Ersavci, the director-general for
consular affairs at the Foreign Ministry, who also
heads a national task force in charge of coordinating
anti-trafficking efforts. "Our efforts towards this
goal are very serious."

In an annual report examining the situation in world
countries in the fight against human trafficking, the
U.S. State Department placed Turkey in Tier 3, the
worst category of countries that do not comply with the
minimum standards and are not making significant
efforts to do so in its report in 2003. That assessment
improved in the 2004 report, which placed Turkey on the
Tier 2 watch list for its determination to make
significant efforts at combating trafficking, waiting
to see implementation of the pledged steps for a
possible upgrade to Tier 2.

Ersavci said Turkey hoped to be moved to Tier 2 in the
2005 report, expected to be released in the coming
months, with the eventual goal of joining the Tier 1
countries.

The Organization for International Migration (IOM),
which Turkey joined as a full member in November 2004,
is hopeful that Turkey is set for a better assessment
after all the progress it has recently achieved.

Commending the increasing efficiency of Turkish law
enforcement authorities in identifying and referring
victims of human trafficking to the IOM for assistance,
Marielle Sander-Lindstrom, chief of mission of IOM's
Turkey office, said Turkey's efforts are "fantastic."

"To me, it proves what I thought at the beginning, that
Turkey has so much capacity and potential to actually
have a significant impact on human trafficking, that if
we can support Turkey now, when we have that window of
opportunity, then we can do something positive for the
entire region," she said.

Over the last couple of years Turkey has amended its
penal code, the Law on Work Permits for Foreigners and
the Citizenship Law, introducing a stronger legal basis
to fight trafficking. The new Turkish Penal Code (TCK),
which will become effective as of April of this year,
introduces heavier punishment for traffickers, up to 12
years in prison and a fine. Changes in the Citizenship
Law make passage of a provisional period of three years
compulsory before a foreigner can request Turkish
citizenship for being married to a Turk, a step taking
aim at the trafficking of women through false
marriages. Through the changes in the Law on Work
Permits, foreigners can be legally employed in some
additional categories, including domestic service.

In another legal step to make the fight against human
trafficking more effective, the Interior Ministry has
allowed a humanitarian visa for identified victims of
human trafficking if they do not want to return home
immediately or if they agree to testify against
traffickers in court.

Turkish authorities, working in cooperation with the
IOM, have also organized a number of training sessions
for law enforcement officers, the police and
gendarmerie, and judicial personnel to raise awareness
on trafficking and give them skills to identify a
victim of human trafficking, the very first step in
dealing with the problem.

Sander-Lindstrom said the number of victims referred to
IOM for assistance went up to 62 in 2004, a dramatic
increase from only two in 2002, a sign of the success
of the training. The heightened awareness among law
enforcement personnel will also hopefully save
trafficking victims from being "dumped" at the borders
of the source countries as any irregular migrant, a
practice, according to both the U.S. State Department
and the IOM, that would leave victims vulnerable to re-
trafficking.

Hotline 111 for victims:

On the more practical side, an NGO-managed shelter
facility for victims of trafficking was set up in
Istanbul in November, following a high-profile ceremony
for the signing of a protocol on the establishment of
the facility held in June and attended by then U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell and Turkish Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul. A similar facility is planned to
soon be operational in Ankara.
A telephone hotline, starting with 0 800, has been put
into service for help calls from victims of human
trafficking. A toll-free, three-digit number, 111, will
soon be operational to receive calls from across
Turkey.
The Turkish government is also in touch with those
regional countries which most of the victims of
trafficking come from, including Ukraine, Moldova,
Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The
interior ministries of Turkey and Belarus signed a
memorandum of understanding on cooperation in July

2004.

The cost of catching up:

Despite the progress, the level of awareness among law
enforcement bodies and the judiciary remains weak, and
public awareness is even weaker. The "fine line"
between forced prostitution as a victim of trafficking
and prostitution as such is for the most part blurred
in the eyes of the public. Victims also often lack
access to assistance they need, such as legal and
psychological counseling, shelter, medical assistance,
because they are lumped together with illegal
immigrants for not having the proper legal documents
and in some cases dumped at the border, only to be
reinserted into the trafficking cycle by traffickers.

Implementation of the legal steps taken to raise
awareness is a task that needs further effort and
requires more financial resources. And allocating more
money to fight against human trafficking is difficult
for a country like Turkey, which not only faces
trafficking but also must have enough resources to deal
with dramatic flows of illegal migrants from Asia, the
Middle East and Africa.

Assisting the victims is also a huge task with a heavy
financial cost. The IOM's advice is to build up the
ability of NGOs to provide assistance for victims,
including shelter, and to involve civil society in
providing protection and health and legal assistance.

"It's a lot to ask of Turkey," said Sander-Lindstrom,
adding, "But Turkey is taking its responsibility as a
destination country." END TEXT.


3. (U) Published Sunday, February 13 by the Turkish Daily
News; http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/:

TITLE: Campaign aims to build anti-trafficking
capability

BEGIN TEXT: In an attempt to boost efforts and
capabilities for combating human trafficking through
information and stepped-up law enforcement, the
government last week launched the "Counter-Trafficking
Now!" campaign. The $700,000 project is funded by the
U.S. government and will be implemented by the
International Organization for Migration (IOM).

As part of the project some 100,000 women and girls
aged 15-45 from source countries in the former Soviet
bloc will receive leaflets with information about human
trafficking and the number of a three-digit telephone
hotline for emergency assistance. The leaflets will be
in the form of passport inserts obtained upon arrival
in Turkey.

The project envisages providing training to 150 police
and gendarmerie personnel on the realities and causes
of human trafficking as well as on key laws dealing
with the issue. Some 150 victims will also receive
shelter and medical and other assistance as part of the
one-year project. END TEXT.


4. (U) Published Sunday, February 13 by the Turkish Daily
News; http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/:

TITLE: 'Modern-day slavery' preys on the vulnerable
BEGIN TEXT: ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

Although its geographic location heavily exposes Turkey
to the trafficking of persons from surrounding
countries, it is by no means the only country suffering
from this growing problem. The U.S. State Department
estimates that between 600,000-800,000 men, women and
children are trafficked across international borders as
modern-day slaves for forced prostitution, working in
quarries and sweatshops and in general involuntary
servitude. Millions more are trafficked within their
home countries.

Economic hardship, political instability and civil war
at home are driving forces behind the 21st century
slave trade. The trade, in turn, feeds a global demand
for cheap and vulnerable labor. Women and children are
particularly vulnerable. Estimates show that of the
600,000-800,000 people trafficked across borders each
year, 70 percent are female and 50 percent are
children. Traders' ploys are creative and ruthless,
ranging from promises of marriage to regular employment
or just a `vacation' in another country. END TEXT.


5. (U) Published Sunday, February 13 by the Turkish Daily
News; http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/:

TITLE: Set to work against human trafficking

BEGIN TEXT: ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

Responding to a pressing need to develop better ways of
coping with one of the worst forms of human rights
violations as well as to growing outside pressure from
the European Union and the United States to improve its
poor standards for dealing with the problem, Turkey is
modifying its legislation and implementing practical
measures to combat the growing trafficking of women
from former Soviet countries in its territory by means
of a nationwide undertaking.

As the latest step in a series of efforts over the last
couple of years, the government has launched a campaign
to help victims of human trafficking through measures
such as the setting up of an emergency telephone
hotline and the distribution of leaflets to some
100,000 women and girls aged 15-45 from former Soviet
countries that include information about human
trafficking. The leaflets will be in the form of
passport inserts obtained upon arrival in Turkey.

According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, which
coordinates implementation of a national Action Plan to
fight against human trafficking, Turkey will soon
become a "model country" in the vast region covering
the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus for its
high efficiency in the fight against the trading of
women, men and children for sexual and labor
exploitation, a reproduction in the modern day of old-
world slavery. END TEXT.


6. (U) Published Saturday, February 12 by the Turkish Daily
News; http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/:

TITLE: Turkey launches campaign for trafficking victims

BEGIN TEXT: The Turkish government yesterday launched a
campaign to help victims of human trafficking by
setting up an emergency telephone hotline and
distributing leaflets to some 100,000 women and girls
aged 15-45 from former Soviet countries that include
information about human trafficking. The leaflets will
be in the form of passport inserts obtained upon
arrival in Turkey.

The $700,000 project is funded by the U.S. government
and implemented by the International Organization for
Migration (IOM),officials told a press conference. The
111 line will operate 24 hours a day and will be
staffed mainly by Russian speakers for women who are
forced into prostitution in Turkey by organized
trafficking gangs.

The project is the latest in a series of steps Turkey
has taken to improve its efforts to combat trafficking
after it was placed on a special watch list by the U.S.
State Department last year. The number of victims of
trafficking were 239 in 2004 according to official
data, but the figures may be far from reflecting the
real situation.

The "Counter-Trafficking Now!" campaign also includes
plans to train Turkish law enforcement officers on the
realities of human trafficking.

Many women from the ex-Soviet Union, notably from Black
Sea states such as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, work
as prostitutes in Turkey, especially in Istanbul and
the coastal resorts.

The lucrative trade in women and children for sexual
purposes by criminal gangs has become a major problem
across Europe in recent years. END TEXT.


7. (U) Published Friday, February 11 by Reuters:

BEGIN TEXT: ANKARA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Turkey will set
up a telephone hotline to help victims of human
trafficking, mostly women from the former Soviet Union,
officials said on Friday.

The hotline will be staffed mainly by Russian speakers
for the women who are brought to Turkey by criminal
gangs and forced into prostitution.

Language problems are believed to be a major obstacle
that prevents victims from going to the police. The
project for the "111" line, which will operate 24-hours
a day, was funded mainly by the United States.

Murat Ersavci of the Foreign Ministry told reporters
the line would provide medical and psychological help.
Official figures show 239 women were victims of
trafficking in Turkey in 2004, up from 102 the previous
year. But officials say they suspect these figures are
the tip of the iceberg.

Many women from the ex-Soviet Union, notably from Black
Sea states such as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, work
as prostitutes in Turkey, especially in Istanbul and
the coastal resorts.

The lucrative trade in women and children for sexual
purposes by criminal gangs has become a major problem
across Europe in recent years. END TEXT.


8. (U) Published Friday, February 11 by Radikal; By Hilal
Koylu; http://www.radikal.com.tr/:

BEGIN TEXT: Turkey, which was presented as one of the
countries that "does not exert efforts" for prevention
of human trafficking in the yearly report of the US
State Department, will start a special campaign against
human traffickers. The campaign will be publicized
with the slogan "end to modern slavery."

The campaign will be conducted under the coordination
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its priority
goal shall be saving women taking "refuge" from the
hands of human traffickers. Within the framework of
the campaign, new shelters in Ankara, Izmir and Antalya
will be added to the one operating in Istanbul.

An "emergency-help" telephone hotline to give service
in Russian and Turkish will be activated. The "111"
hotline number may be used by all victims. The IOM
shall closely follow the campaign. The IOM officials
said "we will conduct the campaign with the MFA. It is
very important to develop a special goal and
understanding vis-a-vis the women who suffer." The MFA
also said that this campaign is very important and that
"this time all units of the state have been put into
action."
Turkey is viewed by both the US and the EU as good in
"legal arrangements and protection" in the fight
against human trafficking, but in order to eliminate
the mishaps faced in practice it will introduce such
campaigns frequently.
Promising "I will improve further," Turkey prepared the
following report card for itself in the fight against
human trafficking:

-Turkey is a signatory of UN Children Rights Charter.
-The TGNA approved the UN Convention Against
Transborder Organized Crime and Protocol on Human
Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling.
-Article 80 of the new Penal Code, which will enter
into effect on April 1, defined human trafficking. The
punishment for human trafficking will be an 8-12 year
jail sentence.
-The Law on Working Permits for Foreigners has entered
into effect.
-In order to prevent fake marriages for the purpose of
obtaining foreigners' work permits, a rule was
introduced requiring five years continuous residence in
Turkey for foreign spouses and children to be able to
work.
-The National Task Force to Struggle Against Human
Trafficking was established. The organization rescued
more than 60 women from traffickers and it established
a shelter where victims can get legal, psychological
and medical counsel.
--Within the Interior Ministry a Branch Directorate on
Human Movements was established. END TEXT.


9. (U) Published Friday, February 11 by Milliyet; By Utku
Cakirozer; http://www.milliyet.com.tr/:

BEGIN TEXT: With the financial support of the US
administration, a project for the prevention of human
trafficking and sex slavery will be started. According
to the project which will be publicized today, an
"emergency assistance hotline" that women who are
brought to Turkey from former Eastern Bloc countries
and forced to work in the prostitution sector can call
will be created. In addition, shelters will be
established for the rehabilitation of victims. In the
US State Department's latest human trafficking report
in 2004, Turkey was put in the group of countries that
are "under monitoring." END TEXT.

EDELMAN