GOT TO ALLOW LOCAL KURDISH BROADCASTS, UNDER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000099 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM OSCE TU SUBJECT: GOT TO ALLOW LOCAL KURDISH BROADCASTS, UNDER STRICT LIMITS REF: 05 ANKARA 1476 AND PREVIOUS Classified by Polcouns Janice G. Weiner; reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (U) Consulate Adana contributed to this report. ¶2. (C) Summary: Turkey's High Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) has announced that private, local stations will be allowed to broadcast in Kurdish and other minority languages for the first time, provided they complete their applications. The broadcasts will, however, be subject to strict time restrictions, among other limitations, that may doom efforts to attract an audience. RTUK claims none of the applicants has completed the required paperwork, though station managers tell us they have repeatedly submitted the documents. Given the restrictions, it appears unlikely that the local stations will be able to compete effectively with Roj TV, broadcasting in Kurdish from Copenhagen. End Summary. -------------- New Policy on Long-Delayed Reform -------------- ¶3. (SBU) RTUK President Zahid Akman announced December 28 that the agency will authorize local, private stations to broadcast in minority languages (i.e. Kurdish) by the end of January 2006, provided they have completed their applications. The announcement appeared to signal a possible end to more than three years of bureaucratic stalling on an EU-related GOT reform. However, it is not clear whether the new policy will make a lasting impact. The minority-language broadcasts will be tightly restricted in ways that may doom efforts to draw an audience. Moreover, it is not clear how many stations will be given permission to make the broadcasts. ¶4. (U) The Turkish Parliament in August 2002 adopted a reform measure allowing broadcasts in languages other than Turkish "used traditionally by Turkish citizens in their daily lives." Previously, broadcasts were permitted only in Turkish and languages relating to the "formation of universal culture and scientific works," which was interpreted as excluding Kurdish and other languages found in Anatolia while allowing many world languages. ¶5. (U) However, nationalist elements of the bureaucracy threw up obstacles to the reform, delaying implementation until June 2004 when, under intense EU pressure, the GOT instructed the state-owned TRT broadcasting company to begin minority-language broadcasts. The TRT broadcasts include programs in Kurdish and three other non-Turkish languages spoken in Anatolia. They comprise week-old news dubbed in minority languages and traditional music. Kurdish contacts tell us the Kurdish programs are not popular; there is virtually no demand for the other minority languages. To date, local stations have not been permitted to air their own minority-language programming. ¶6. (U) Sebnem Bilget, head of RTUK's International Relations Department, told us January 5 that 12 local TV and radio stations have applied for minority-language broadcasting. She said she did not know how many were applying to broadcast in Kurdish, but 10 of the stations are in Kurdish-dominated cities in the east and southeast, including three in Diyarbakir. -------------- Broadcasts Under Tight Restrictions -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Bilget averred that the local stations will have difficulty carrying out their plans for non-Turkish broadcasting, because "broadcasting is expensive" and the stations are "not very advanced." She conceded, however, that the complications and added expenses stem from the strict regulations RTUK places on non-Turkish programming. Under the minority-language regulations: -- TV broadcasts are limited to 45 minutes per day, 4 hours ANKARA 00000099 002 OF 003 per week; -- Radio broadcasts are limited to 60 minutes per day, 5 hours per week; -- TV broadcasts must include Turkish subtitles; radio broadcasts must be immediately followed by the same program in Turkish; -- Programming must be directed at adults, and may include news, music, and culture; children's programming is prohibited; -- Programming aimed at teaching minority languages is prohibited. ¶8. (SBU) Bilget said the local TV stations have never used subtitles and lack the necessary equipment, and the radio stations lack skilled interpreters to create matching Turkish-Kurdish scripts. She told us she hopes the new programming will succeed, and that the restrictions will eventually be lifted. But she averred that the minority-language broadcasts might suffer the fate of the private Kurdish language courses, most of which have closed due to lack of customers. (Kurdish rights activists say very few Kurds in the southeast can afford to pay the fees for private language classes.) ¶9. (C) Yusuf Alatas, president of the Human Rights Association, told us the local broadcasts might represent a positive first step, if they lead to a further loosening of restrictions. If local stations are given a free hand to develop programming, and compete, they should be able to offer something better than the insipid TRT broadcasts. But, he said, the GOT has a poor track record on implementing reforms in this area. Alatas predicts the broadcasts will face repeated legal challenges and suspensions. -------------- Applicants Have Received No Information -------------- ¶10. (U) Bilget said none of the 12 applicants have submitted all the paperwork required to begin the broadcasts. She claimed the missing documents are all easily obtainable. However, station managers have been telling us for months that they have submitted and re-submitted all the paperwork. Cemal Dogan, director of Gun TV in Diyarbakir, told Consulate Adana that he last re-submitted the application papers in August, but received no response from RTUK. Dogan said he contacted RTUK after the December 28 announcement to check on his station's application. He said a RTUK official told him the application was incomplete, but declined to specify which documents were missing. Contacts at Soz TV in Diyarbakir also told Consulate Adana they have received no information from RTUK about their application. -------------- No Competition for Roj TV -------------- ¶11. (C) If and when the local stations acquire permission for the broadcasts, they may not be able to attract much of an audience. Alatas laughed when we asked him whether the stations, under such tight restrictions, would be able to compete with Roj TV, broadcasting in Kurdish out of Copenhagen. Alatas said Roj, which the GOT is pressing the Danish Government to close, is the only station covering events in Turkey in the Kurdish language. Kurds in Turkey can tune into other Kurdish-language stations based abroad, but those are focused on events elsewhere. ¶12. (C) Alatas said Kurds in the southeast are fed up with the extreme pro-state bias of the coverage of events in the southeast provided by Turkish stations. On Turkish TV, he said, reporters refer to anyone killed by security forces in the region as a "PKK terrorist," even when the circumstances are suspicious. If a civilian is killed by a landmine, Turkish stations report that the PKK placed the mine, even ANKARA 00000099 003 OF 003 though Turkish security forces also lay mines. Alatas said Roj TV is also biased, but in a different way. Bilget agreed that the local Turkish stations will not be able to compete with Roj. -------------- --- Comment - A Limited Reform Will Not Serve Turkey -------------- --- ¶13. (C) To date, the GOT has avoided implementing Kurdish-language reforms in any meaningful way. Under EU pressure, it has grudgingly made limited steps. It appears likely that the baby steps taken toward implementing this latest measure will also fall short of outsid expectations, leading to both further EU criticism and skepticism about Turkey's readiness for EU membership. Permitting more comprehensive Kurdish-language broadcasting would, in fact, do more than please the EU. It would serve Turkey's interests to have its Kurds listening and watching local programming under RTUK control, rather than tuning into Roj TV. MCELDOWNEY