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.


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New Policy on Long-Delayed Reform
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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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