INROADS SLOW FOR LIBERTARIAN THINK TANK IN TURKEY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000258 SIPDIS TREASURY FOR JONATHAN ROSE SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PHUM KPAO SOCI TU SUBJECT: INROADS SLOW FOR LIBERTARIAN THINK TANK IN TURKEY ANKARA 00000258 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. The Association for Liberal Thinking (ALT),is an Ankara-based think tank established in 1994 to promote classical liberal (i.e. libertarian) thought in Turkey. In an effort to maintain autonomy, ALT has no direct links to any political party or movement, receives minimal funding from discreet sources, and boasts no formal membership. With arguably limited influence among mainstream academics and politicos in Turkey, ALT received substantial press recently when its President Atilla Yayla drew harsh criticism, as well as a suspension from teaching at Gazi University, for allegedly insulting Ataturk during a panel discussion at an academic conference in Izmir. Yayla is now under investigation for potentially violating Turkey's law against "insulting Ataturk." ALT says the lukewarm reception from the business community to its philosophy of economic freedom and prosperity through free trade, limited government, and liberal democracy owes to the statist mentality prevalent in economic and political circles in Turkey. End Summary. -------------- PROMOTING FREE TRADE AND LIBERAL DEMOCRACY -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Located in cramped office space with minimal decor in Ankara's low rent district, ALT's connections to the Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, and Canada's Fraser Institute seemed implausible at first glance. In discussing their organization's goals and mission, however, ALT's Vice President Bican Sahin and General Coordinator Ozlem Yilmaz, underscored their desire to sustain a network of academicians in Turkey and abroad to promote the benefits of a free market economy and limited government. Insisting that ALT is not an "activist think tank," Yilmaz explained to Econoffs during a recent meeting that ALT seeks to maintain relations with all Turkish political parties without being an extension of any single one. ¶3. (SBU) Lacking formal membership, ALT relies on support from like-minded intellectuals, many of whom are professors and economists. According to Yilmaz, Erdal Turkan, a retired economist and chairman of the Association for Competition in Turkey, and Mustafa Erdogan, a newspaper columnist and constitutional law professor at Ankara's Hacettepe University, are two of ALT's biggest supporters. Stressing the importance of maintaining autonomy, Yilmaz described the organization's funding as "small amounts from varied sources," including individual donations, revenues from publications, and contributions from some Turkish companies. ¶4. (SBU) ALT's mainstay for promoting liberal values in Turkey is through the publication of three quarterly journals and more than 150 translaed books from foreign authors on political, social, and economic issues. ALT President AtillaYayla edited the organization's single Englis publication in 1999, "Islam, Civil Society and Market Economy." In addition to publications, ALT partners with other organizations to sponsor workshops, seminars and symposiums throughout Turkey. Most recently, ALT organized a workshop in Ankara with Muslim and non-Muslim participants to discuss in a relaxed forum how different social groups could live in harmony under a system of limited government. Last year, ALT partnered with the National Endowment for Democracy to train civil society organizations in the Southeastern city of Diyarbakir. -------------- EMBATTLED PRESIDENT SPEAKS OUT -------------- ¶5. (SBU) As an advocate of liberal democracy, ALT strongly supports the EU accession process as a tool for strengthening freedom of expression and freedom of religion in Turkey. (The prospect of bureaucratic and regulatory control from Brussels once Turkey joins does, however, give them pause.) Yayla, a professor of political philosophy and political economy at Gazi University, came under attack for statements he made during a panel discussion on "Social Influence of the Relations between EU and Turkey" on November 18, 2006 in Izmir. Branded a "traitor" by one newspaper for his alleged remarks about Ataturk (see below),Yayla was suspended from teaching at Gazi University, a public institution in Ankara, pending the outcome of the rector's investigation. In addition, though no formal charges have been filed against Yayla (Note: Yayla is not accused, for example, of violating Turkey's controversial Article 301 law on insulting Turkishness under which the late Hrant Dink was convicted),the Izmir prosecutor has opened a file to investigate whether Yayla's remarks constitute an "insult to Ataturk's memory," which is prohibited under another section of Turkish law. Dismissal from his position at Gazi would likely be justified under an article in Turkish law requiring academicians "to educate Turkish students in accordance with Ataturk's principles." ¶6. (SBU) Yayla penned an eloquent and thoughtful response in the ANKARA 00000258 002.2 OF 002 International Herald Tribune on December 6, 2006 to the brouhaha his statements engendered. Based on his own experience, he argued that freedom of expression marked the "defining line between a civilized and uncivilized country." Explaining the context of his remarks in Izmir, Yayla reiterated his statement that despite official propaganda to the contrary, "the single party era from 1925-1945, headed mainly by Ataturk, was not as progressive as it is claimed and was, in some respects, backward." The gist of his response trumpets the importance of freedom of expression for everyone, but especially for academics whose job it is to question, criticize and evaluate. For his criticism of Kemalism to an audience of 37 participants in Izmir, Yayla must now secure his personal safety through the services of a bodyguard the authorities are providing. -------------- BUSINESS COMMUNITY'S STATIST MENTALITY -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Yilmaz lamented Turkish entrepreneurs' failure to embrace limited government, free speech and free trade to promote economic prosperity and freedom. The Turkish business community, she explained, instead of supporting free and open trade and competition tends to look to big government as a source of protection and subsidies. In particular, she singled out the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) as being very statist-minded despite being one of the most influential non-governmental organizations comprised of Turkey's most prominent business people, like the Koc and Sabanci families. She offered MUSIAD, a counterpart to TUSIAD established in 1990, as an example of industrialists and businessmen more open to the idea of limited government. MUSIAD's 8000 members belong to small to mid-sized companies, tend to be more conservative and religious, supporting Muslim business values and building strong trade ties with the Muslim world. Yet, ALT felt even MUSIAD's commitment to competition was skin-deep. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (SBU) ALT's ability to reach and influence a wider cross-section of Turkish intellectuals, politicians and business circles is hampered by its lack of formal membership and lack of significant benefactors to fund its message of limited government, free trade, and civil liberties. More academic than activist, even if it were to shore up members and substantially increase funding, ALT's influence would likely still be limited because the organizations' officers appear more focused on offering up abstract ideas than proposing concrete solutions. Nonetheless, through its networks of contacts, ALT coul possibly pull together a diverse audience o attend events at which issues varying from freedom of expression and religion to free trade, property rights, and accountable government could be discussed. ¶9. (SBU) Though Turkey is changing and the business community is more open to free-market thinking than it was a decade or two ago, Turkey's long tradition of state intervention in the economy, including protected markets and state-owned enterprises, dies hard. The fact that ALT remains independent of all political parties is a reflection of the fact that none of the political parties supports a free-market, small-government philosophy, although AK Party comes closest. MUSIAD's smaller-scale, more religious membership of "outsiders" is more sympathetic to these ideas than the corporate elite at TUSIAD. This may help explain AK Party's greater openness to pro-market thinking, since MUSIAD is more representative of AK Party's base, but as Yilmaz pointed out, the AKP and MUSIAD are not free of populist tendencies. Indeed, many secularists see AKP and MUSIAD as just another special interest group using the cover of pro-market policies to seek government benefits. Wilson