ISTANBUL'S CHP KADIKOY MAYOR: SAFE, SATISFIED,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001511

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2016
TAGS: PGOV TU
SUBJECT: ISTANBUL'S CHP KADIKOY MAYOR: SAFE, SATISFIED,
STATIST

REF: A. ISTANBUL 1475


B. ISTANBUL 419

C. 05 ISTANBUL 1734

Classified By: ACTING PRINCIPAL OFFICER SANDRA S. OUDKIRK FOR REASONS 1
.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (SBU) Summary. Republican People,s Party (CHP) mayor of
Istanbul's Kadikoy district, Selami Ozturk, represents a
wealthy constituency on the Asian side of Istanbul.
Political activism is not the byword for this area where
secular verities of the Turkish Republic remain more
important to voters than works programs and soup kitchens.
The mayor appears to be a solid supporter of the CHP leader
Deniz Baykal, but laments Baykal,s late start in organizing
the mass political rallies associated with electoral
campaigns in Turkey and criticizes the press for ignoring the
CHP message. End summary.

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POLITY
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2. (SBU) Situated on the Asian side of the Bosphorus,
Kadikoy is an ancient city with evidence of habitation dating
to 3000 B.C. Inhabitants of Chalcedon (modern Kadikoy) were
mocked as "blind men" when the great city of Byzantium was
founded on the more defensible peninsula across the Bosphorus
and Sea of Marmara. Kadikoy, itself home to an historic
terminus station for trains reaching Istanbul from the east,
is one of the wealthiest sections of Greater Istanbul.
Upscale residential areas stretch south from The European
Highway (TEM) to the shoreline and house the majority of
Kadikoy's population. However, an area north of the TEM
caters to an influx of Anatolian migrants who bring with them
traditional ways and village customs. The city ministers to
this group, now largely stabilized in population, with a
variety of public works projects dubbed "integration centers"
that teach city etiquette, jobs skills and provide for
limited social services. The mayor claims these projects are
important to avoid "ruralizing" Kadikoy. According to
Ozturk, Kadikoy's population of approximately one million
doubles on weekends with an influx of Stambulus in search of
high-end shopping, theaters, restaurants, bars and other
entertainment.

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POLITICS
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3. (SBU) CHP Mayor Ozturk won his first election by a slim
margin in 1994. Five years later, when the general election
coincided with local elections, CHP did not pass the 10%
national threshold, but Ozturk widened his margin of victory.
In 2004, Ozturk won by 10,000 votes garnering 53% of the
vote. Ozturk says his focus is on local issues. However,
his definition of local issues is different from that
espoused by pro-Islam Justice and Development Party (AKP)
mayors and CHP colleagues in poorer districts. Other than
integration centers designed to cater to the urban poor,
Kadikoy does not engage in the type of social welfare efforts
common in other municipal districts (Ref A). Instead,
suffering from what it claims is a lack of financial support
from the AKP-controlled Greater Istanbul Municipality,
Kadikoy maintains all its streets and main arteries, a job
the city abandoned before Ozturk became mayor. More irksome
is an announced plan of the Greater Municipality to build a
mosque in one of the district,s largest parks (Ref C). The
Kadikoy municipality opposes the plan and has appealed to the
courts. A decision is expected in October; if Kadikoy loses,
they plan an appeal to the Council of State (Danistay - the
administration appeals court.) According to Ozturk,
AKP-dominated state agencies also harass the city with
frequent compliance inspections. However, Ozturk sniffs that
inspections just make services in his district better.


4. (SBU) Asked about local AKP influence through its large
and well-organized grassroots party apparatus and precinct
captains (refs A and B),Ozturk was dismissive. The citizens
of Kadikoy were more educated than average Turks and had no
confidence in the competence of the Justice and Development
Party to meet their particular needs, he claimed. His is a
constituency mostly moderate, liberal and interested in world
affairs.

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PROGNOSTICATION
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ISTANBUL 00001511 002 OF 002



5. (SBU) Ozturk predicted a coalition government would
emerge from the elections expected in November 2007. Baykal,
he said, had been late in rallying the masses around the
country and with the press "biased against him," there was a
blackout on press coverage of party events. Nonetheless,
Ozturk said he thought it would be hard to replace Baykal as
CHP Chairman. However, he said AKP had shown itself to be
erratic while in power -- at times stumbling through its
responsibilities. He compared the 2007 election with the
1989 result, when CHP, like AKP today, held most mayoral
positions in the country and yet lost the national poll.


6. (SBU) The performance of the government in power was key
to winning and losing elections in Turkey and Ozturk viewed
AKP,s biggest vulnerability as the economy. (Note: Most
observers cite economic reform and fiscal policy as strong
points for the current government, which is widely viewed as
pro-business and pro-growth. End Note.) Claiming that
despite good macroeconomic results the economy was suffering,
Ozturk pointed to the income gap and employment as problem
areas. Ozturk,s remedy is old school CHP statism. He
claimed that the AKP had not taken advantage of opportunities
afforded by the privatization of large state-owned companies
to "force job creation." He said AKP missed the chance to
obligate job creation by the new private owners and had
instead allowed the new owners to determine work force
dimensions without reference to the social contract. Ozturk
claimed that in the coming electoral campaign, CHP would
explain to voters how they would mandate job growth.


7. (C) Comment. In the wealthy district of Kadikoy, appeals
to the primacy of the secular state have currency with the
educated professionals who account for many of Ozturk,s
constituents. Though the mayor reaches out to Anatolian
migrants through the city,s integration centers, his target
audience inhabits established upscale neighborhoods and
expensive new apartment towers. However, if all Ozturk and
CHP can offer in terms of economic policy is an electoral
appeal based on the statist economic policies of the past,
they will find hard going among AKP's natural small-business
and tradesman constituency.
OUDKIRK