TURKISH ELECTION: SOUTHEAST KURDISH VOTERS WILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001832 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2027 TAGS: PGOV PINR PTER TU SUBJECT: TURKISH ELECTION: SOUTHEAST KURDISH VOTERS WILL BACK DTP-ENDORSED INDEPENDENTS AND THE AKP REF: A. ADANA 78 ¶B. ISTANBUL 531 ¶C. ANKARA 1778 Classified By: Classified by Adana PO Eric Green for reasons 1.4 (b) an d (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. In Turkey's southeastern provinces the Kurdish issue will be the main determinant of voting patterns on July 22, giving the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and independent candidates endorsed by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) the bulk of the seats. Many DTP voters support the party despite, not because of its association with the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- they do not see another party willing to stand up for the Kurdish identity. The AKP draws strength both from being the ruling party and its victim status following recent confrontations with the Turkish military. AKP's conservative religious credentials and economic programs will also help its performance in the region. In the southeast, AKP will probably win 60-70 percent of the seats with the DTP-backed independents taking nearly all of the remainder. Nation-wide, DTP likely will win 19-24 seats; 20 slots will be sufficient to gain "group" status in the parliament. END SUMMARY. Two-Horse Race in the Southeast -------------- ¶2. (C) In the most heavily Kurdish provinces of the southeast, the ruling AKP and pro-Kurdish DTP-endorsed independent candidates are expected to dominate the voting. The most populous province, Diyarbakir, has ten seats: DTP is running four independents, all of whom are expected to win. AKP is likely to win five of the remaining six slots. This pattern is expected to repeat itself throughout the region, with DTP winning 30-40 percent of the seats. The big loser will be the Republic People's Party (CHP),which secured 14 seats from the southeast in 2002. Their total could diminish to as few as 3-4; they may even be shut out in predominantly Alevi Tunceli province, a traditional CHP stronghold which elected CHPers to both its seats in 2002. ¶3. (C) AKP and DTP are popular in the southeast because both are seen as standing up to the conservative, Kemalist forces in the state bureaucracy and the military. The April 27 "e-memorandum," which locals regarded as a blatant usurpation of the democratic processes by the Turkish General Staff (TGS),elevated AKP's status in this region as a bona fide victim of heavy-handed state interference. While there is consensus that an AKP government would be far preferable to a CHP-led coalition in terms of advancing democratization in Turkey, many Kurds remain wary of the AKP -- not for being pro-Islam, but for using the nationalistic rhetoric that has dominated this election campaign as a whole. ¶4. (C) DTP voters are united by their interest in pushing the government to take more action on the Kurdish issue. While some sympathize with the terrorist PKK, many others support the DTP by default, because there is no other viable pro-Kurdish party. Nurcan Baysal, the leader of a development NGO in Diyarbakir, said, "I'll vote DTP, not because I like them or because I approve of their platform, but because none of the other parties have any sympathy for the Kurdish issue. People don't approve of the violence, but they see that these people have the courage to stand up and proclaim their Kurdish identity, and so on election day -- if only for ONE day -- they vote for them so that they too can proclaim their identity." Secondary Factors: The Economy, Clans -------------- ¶5. (C) Though economic issues will play a secondary role, AKP leaders believe that the government's ambitious infrastructure expansion program (KoyDes, village infrastructure support) will yield dividends at the ballot box. Non-partisan governors in the southeast also frequently tout the success of this program, which in Diyarbakir has produced improvements on over 2,000 kilometers of roads and ANKARA 00001832 002 OF 002 asphalt for 345 kilometers. In addition, new water systems have benefited over 170,000 people. The AKP has also been active in building schools in villages and expanding access to HEALTH care for the urban poor. ¶6. (C) As is true elsewhere in Turkey, the AKP will do very well among religious conservatives. In Diyarbakir city, fundamentalist religious movements affiliated with the Saadet (Felicity) Party are trying to win the loyalty of slum-dwellers through hand-outs of food and other essentials, but are unlikely to persuade many voters to leave the AKP fold. ¶7. (C) The AKP's status as the current and presumptive party of government will also help woo tribal and religious leaders (aghas and sheiks) who retain residual influence on elections in a few pockets of the region. As the population has urbanized, the bonds of traditional clans have loosened, while those who remain in the villages are less isolated, thanks to technology and travel. The Democrat Party (DP), which has close affiliations with large landlords and the village guards, is the other likely beneficiary of residual clan-based voting. After July 22 -------------- ¶8. (C) Past election performances by pro-Kurdish parties suggest that DTP should win the majority of the seats in several southeastern provinces. In fact, a number of factors will limit DTP-endorsed candidates' success. First, running as independents will require the party to manage its votes carefully in multi-candidate districts (ref a). The vote for DTP candidates will also be limited by the difficulty that some illiterate voters will likely have understanding a long, complex ballot. In addition, in some remote areas, including a village we visited, the people will avoid voting for DTP candidates because they fear being labeled as PKK sympathizers and subjected to reprisals by state authorities. DTP and even AKP officials also told us they believe the authorities could use fraud to boost the CHP or MHP vote. ¶9. (C) The consensus among political observers, journalists and other politicians is that the DTP-endorsed independents will win 24-27 seats nation-wide. The optimist is Ahmet Birsin, a program director at Gun-TV in Diyarbakir, who claimed the DTP would win 30-35, which would require both masterful vote management throughout the southeast as well as better-than-expected performances in regions further west. DTP officials privately say that winning 25 seats would be a "big success." With 20 seats, these deputies will be able to form a parliamentary group, which would ensure that DTPers enjoy all the perqs of parliament: a place on all parliamentary committees; a member on the Speakership Board; a member on the agenda-setting Consultative Board; the ability to propose legislative drafts, submit a censure motion, ask for a parliamentary investigation, or apply to the Constitutional Court for annulment of legislation; access to a group room; and a share of parliament TV broadcasts. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON