FORMER ISTANBUL MAYOR GURTUNA PLANS TO RE-ENTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISTANBUL 001845

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2016
TAGS: PGOV
SUBJECT: FORMER ISTANBUL MAYOR GURTUNA PLANS TO RE-ENTER
POLITICAL LIFE


Classified By: Acting Principal Officer Sandra Oudkirk for Reasons 1.5
b and d


1. (SBU) Summary. On October 5, we met former Istanbul
mayor Ali Mufit Gurtuna at his request to discuss his planned
return to political life and founding of an as yet unnamed
new political party. Gurtuna, a former member of AKP
precursor parties Refah and Fazilet, claimed to know Prime
Minister Erdogan's team well and expressed disappointment
that the AKP government had "failed to at least accomplish
the basics." He predicted that tension created by
"government inaction" would increase in the economy, society,
internal politics and foreign affairs. End Summary.


2. (C) In an October 5 meeting with us, former Istanbul mayor
Ali Gurtuna voiced a litany of complaints against the ruling
AK Party. On the economic side, Gurtuna accused the current
government of lacking a serious approach to agriculture and
animal husbandry, of failing to support the textile sector in
its efforts to compete with China, and of ignoring
unemployment. He also argued that the AKP has exacerbated a
secular/religious divide and failed to "coordinate among
government institutions." (Note: We took this comment as a
criticism of relations between the Prime Ministry and the
arch-secularist judiciary and military. End note.) In terms
of foreign relations, Gurtuna criticized Erdogan's approach
to both the EU and the United States. Gurtuna argued that
the AKP came in to office espousing support for the drive for
EU membership and then worked hard to begin the accession
process. However, once the process began AKP leaders acted
as if they were "no longer interested in the EU." This
caused a
credibility problem both domestically and with the EU. He
argued that the approach to the relationship with the United
States was plagued by similar problems, with the government
sending both positive and negative signals.


3. (SBU) Gurtuna has a vision of Turkey as a "trustworthy,
stable and credible country" involved in the world and
capable of standing on its own vis-a-vis the international
community. In an implicit criticism of AKP overtures to
Middle Eastern countries, Gurtuna argued that Turkey's future
is with the West and that Turkey should clearly demonstrate
that it is a western country with close relations with the
United States. Gurtuna's economic vision, although espousing
support for increased efficiency including within the
state-owned sector, harkens back to the non-market-based,
statist strictures of the past. Gurtuna would like to see
"support" for production, more attention paid to employment
policies and a "plan" to sell what is produced.


4. (C) Gurtuna explained that he plans to announce a new
party with a centrist orientation within the next month. The
theme of this as yet unnamed party will be "peace and unity."
He is working with teams throughout the country to prepare
the ground to launch his new party. He claims the new party,
by being open members from both the center left and center
right, will fill a void in Turkish politics. He declined to
provide names of prospective members and supporters; however,
dissatisfied with CHP leader Deniz Baykal, Sisli district
mayor, Mustafa Sarigul (CHP),recently told us he might be
interested in joining Gurtuna's new party.


5. (C) Comment: Gurtuna intends to travel to Washington in
the near future (week of October 9) and is seeking
appointments in Washington. We understand an associate of
his is trying to set up meetings with officials at the
Department and other Washington agencies. We recommend that
time permitting EUR/SE agree to meet with Ali Gurtuna. End
Comment.


6. (C) Bio notes: Gurtuna was born in 1952. He worked as a
reported and attorney before entering politics. Gurtuna was
elected to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Assembly in
1984 and served as deputy chairman for five years. After
several years in private life, he was again elected to the
Istanbul Municipal Assembly in 1994 and became deputy chair.
He was a Refah party member and Deputy Mayor when Mayor
Erdogan resigned in 1998. He was selected to serve out
Erdogan's term. He won his own 5-year term as mayor on April
18, 1999 as candidate for the Virtue Party (Fazilet Partisi).
His relationship with Erdogan is reportedly rocky. Gurtuna
reportedly cooperated with the public prosecutor
investigating Erdogan on corruption charges instead of
destroying records as directed by Erdogan according to press
reports. The corruption investigation was dropped when
Erdogan became Prime Minister.
OUDKIRK