COMPETITION FOR EXCELLENCE IN ISTANBUL MUNICIPAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ISTANBUL 001475

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2016
TAGS: PGOV TU
SUBJECT: COMPETITION FOR EXCELLENCE IN ISTANBUL MUNICIPAL
DISTRICTS

REF: A. ISTANBUL 419

B. 05 ANKARA 7215

C. 04 ISTANBUL 1837

Classified By: ACTING PRINICIPAL OFFICER SANDRA OUDKIRK FOR REASONS 1.4
(B AND D.)


1. (C) Summary. Turkey,s ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) continues to challenge politics as usual through
a successful mixture of energetic, grass roots-based
politicking and a problem-solving approach to local issues.
AKP came to power riding a crest of anger and dissatisfaction
at traditional party corruption and sloth/indolence. They
have held steady in the polls and in 2004 won a convincing
plurality of municipalities across Turkey. At least one
inside observer says their success is not because of
adherence to an Islamist agenda but because AKP leaders rise
above their own differences and adhere to the principle of
improving life for their constituents. End Summary.

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AKP ) WE,RE HERE TO BETTER LIVES
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2. (SBU) Looking at the accomplishments -- not to mention
web sites -- of Istanbul,s district municipality offices one
may conclude that mayors and other political leaders court
disaster if they rest on past accomplishments. While AKP may
have stunned the establishment with a convincing national win
in 2002 over the decomposing corpse of corruption-plagued
traditional parties, AKP,s emphasis on services and
improvements for daily life aims to decisively answer the
perennial constituent question, "What have you done for me
lately?" Just ask Kagithane AKP Mayor Fazli Kilic.


3. (SBU) Kagithane includes territory where the Golden Horn
diminishes to a trickle. Once a recreation area for the
Ottomans, it degenerated into an industrial zone, rife with
unlicensed construction including gecekondus (illegal housing
ranging from shanties to apartment blocks). The Kagithane
Municipality is tearing down buildings that stood for decades
and replacing them with parks and transportation
improvements, including highways. New flats are built to
replace lost housing. Social welfare in the district is a
high priority for community-minded and socially-conscious AKP
members, one of the common elements within AKP (REF B).
Kilic told us Kagithane soup kitchens feed 500 persons each
day. One thousand school uniforms are delivered to needy
children each year. The municipality encourages charity
thrift centers and solicits donations for scholarships to
enable some Kagithane students to attend school outside of
Istanbul. Social welfare projects extend to the organization
of a mass party planned for the late summer for boys
circumcised at the traditional ages of 6-10. Projects of
this kind are outside the responsibilities of an elected
mayor, according to Kilic, who said funding comes from
charitable sources.


4. (SBU) Kagithane also actively solicits major
tax-supported projects. One engineering project, perhaps
rivaling ancient Byzantine water delivery in the city, will
keep the Kagithane River flowing by delivering sea water from
the Bosphorus several miles, and hills, away. Road tunnel
construction will ease traffic between Kagithane and the
Dolmabahce Palace area. And restoration of a 90-year old
railway line to the Black Sea with the addition of a zoo
should attract tourists. Mayor Kilic's secret weapon for
initiating and completing these projects? Excellent
relations with Istanbul's AKP Mayor Topbas and AKP Istanbul
Chairman Muezzinoglu. The tunnels, water and train line are
all funded by the Greater Istanbul Municipality. (Note: The
Greater Istanbul Municipality was the creation of then Prime
Minister Turgut Ozal in the mid-1980s when Bedrettin Dalan
was ANAP mayor of Istanbul. It formalized district
boundaries of old neighborhoods and established district
mayors elected by popular vote. End note.) Comment: Kilic's
focus on social welfare / constituent services and tax-payer
funded public works projects are hallmarks of AKP's grass
roots orientation. End comment.

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. . . AND IN ONCE COSMOPOLITAN BEYOGLU
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5. (SBU) While Kagithane represents a traditional Istanbul
district, Beyoglu, though more famous with tourists, is in
many ways a much greater challenge for its AKP mayor. Mayor
Ahmet Misbah Demircan works hard to serve his constituents
with innovative and ambitious projects -- but with possibly

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less financial backing from the AKP-dominated Greater
Istanbul Municipality than his colleague in Kagithane. By
contrast, Demircan also projects a pragmatic, possibly
secular, outlook. Forty or more years ago, Beyoglu was home
to a by-and-large wealthy and cosmopolitan community. The
dramatic growth and development of the last 10 years in
greater Istanbul largely bypassed Beyoglu. The wealthy moved
to newer and more modern residences and poor families from
Anatolia replaced them. While Beyoglu still hints at a
cosmopolitan lineage, the battle to maintain its
sophisticated heritage has not been entirely successful.


6. (SBU) Fighting to retain and even attract wealthier
residents, Demircan is undertaking a number of important
projects. Three priorities are: lighting to provide
attractive and safe streets at night; renovation of historic
(and not so historic) buildings and residences (5000 so far);
and, wholesale urban renewal of certain neighborhoods. Three
of 10 Beyoglu neighborhoods slated for renewal are complete.
In order to monitor the progress, plan for additional renewal
and track residential complaints, Demircan has installed a
custom-designed computer program cataloging each resident's
name and address, and family size as well as municipal
documents related to the family, including property titles
and billing records. The program includes photograph(s) of
buildings and local street shots, providing specific
locations a sense of the immediate neighborhood at the
desktop.


7. (SBU) The engaging Demircan grew up in Beyoglu, where he
learned to appreciate the tapestry of Beyoglu's cultural,
ethnic and religious traditions. Demircan notes with pride
that synogogues (including Neve Shalom, site of terrorist
attacks in 1986 and 2003),churches and mosques and their
worshippers exist in close proximity to one another within
the district. He also reflected on the challenges presented
when citizens have diverse visions of life. Demircan works
to expose neighborhood youth to the cultural richness he
associates with this Istanbul district. Five thousand of the
district,s 39,000 students attend a municipality-sponsored
summer camp where the arts, music, theater and sports are
stressed. In a parallel comment to Kilic,s observation,
Demircan said most of these activities are beyond the scope
and responsibility of a normal municipality.


8. (C) The two AKP mayors presented contrasts to one
another. In Beyoglu, Demircan demonstrated an apparent ease
and comfort with his American visitors. We asked about his
place and role within the AKP. He joined the party because
the traditional parties had become "ossified." (We have
heard about opportunity within AKP from other, sometimes
former, AKP activists.) Asked if different AKP wings (REF B)
feel comfortable with each other, Demircan demurred but then
said the factions had no choice but to "work together and
avoid side questions and debates that would otherwise divide
us." It was obvious, he said, that if AKP departed even
slightly from this focus, they would lose support at the
polls in present day Turkey. Comment. The Demircan and
Kilic meetings help illustrate some differences within AKP.
Debonair Demircan presents a stark contrast to the reserved
Kilic. An aide best described as a bodyguard, never
introduced, stood within our line of sight during the Kilic
interview. It became abundantly clear that Kilic had no
intention to brook questions about party outlook and
philosophy. End comment.

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BUYUKCEKMECE -- ANAP STRONGHOLD -- AND HOW IT STACKS UP
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9. (SBU) The Buyukcekmece municipality in Istanbul offers a
comparative glimpse at one of only six non-AKP (out of 32)
districts in Greater Istanbul. Buyukcekmece,s ANAP Mayor
Dr. Hasan Akgun, first elected in 1994, showed us the master
plan for the city prepared by a U.S. firm. The plan protects
the district's sandy beaches and water access by prohibiting
development within one hundred meters of the shoreline.
Local papers say the beaches drew one million Stambulus on a
recent steamy weekend. The plan reserves the next 200 meters
from the shore for recreational facilities including athletic
fields and clubs. Rare for Istanbul, electric lines and
other utilities are buried. Mixed housing options also
abound in the plan. The municipality takes advantage of a
recent law permitting localities to support local schools by
using local tax base to build additional school buildings;
the schools in Buyukcekmece meet European standards for
classroom size (21 students per classroom) and feature a full
day of classes (most schools in Turkey are forced to
accommodate a minimum 30 or more students per classroom and

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use split shifts in order to make full use of existing
classroom space.) The mayor claims a policy of solid support
for NGOs who run a variety of social services, but the city
does not financially contribute to these programs.


10. (SBU) On the remote edge of town is an industrial park,
lost to a neighboring AKP-led municipality after elections in
March 2004 (REF C). Buyukcekmece has challenged the redrawn
boundary line in court and Akgun anticipates a favorable
ruling sometime this fall. If so, it would restore
significant tax base. Since 1994, Akgun has continued to win
his elections and says AKP has tried to co-opt him, noting
that other opposition party district mayors have changed
party affiliation to avoid the politically-driven economic
pressures. A man of ambition, Akgun aspires to becoming
mayor of Greater Istanbul one day.


11. (SBU) Philosophically, Akgun championed the secular
state in the tradition of Ataturk and Ozal. Of the municipal
officials we visited since outbreak of the hostilities in
Lebanon/Israel, Akgun was the only one to ask direct
questions about U.S. foreign policy. He said that in
anticipation of next year,s presidential election, we would
begin to see more political maneuvering by ANAP and other
opposition parties. Signaling dissatisfaction with ANAP
party leader Erkan Mumcu, he predicted we'd be seeing a lot
more of former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz in the days ahead.


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TURKEY,S POLITICAL MILIEU
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12. (C) Comment. AKP members and activists place a premium
on a civil society defined within the Islamic family of
faith, perhaps regardless of their group identification
within the party itself. Civic works to help those less
fortunate, high on the AK Party agenda and its Islamist
forerunners in Turkey, appear to be a natural byproduct of
traditional Muslim culture and practice and are easily
incorporated into AKP structure. AKP leadership freely refer
to these good deed values and mechanisms in terms of
electoral advantage (REF A). In an article published in
Al-Ahram Weekly, Erdogan advisor Dr. Ahmet Davutoglu wrote in
2004 that any mechanism that furthers the core values of
Islam is legitimate. Core values include protection of life,
protection of intellect, protection of the next generation,
protection of religion, protection of property and the
realization of justice. While the values are unchanging, the
mechanisms, such as political systems, are transient. It is
clear that these philosophical underpinnings have translated
into a viable political strategy that wins votes while
forcing politicians from other parties to focus more closely
on social welfare projects than might otherwise be their
inclination. End comment.













SSOUDKIRK