BURSA: RESERVED FORMER OTTOMAN CAPITAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000653 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL TU SUBJECT: BURSA: RESERVED FORMER OTTOMAN CAPITAL REF: ISTANBUL 631 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Consulate Istanbul's final pre-election campaign visit was to Bursa, traveling aboard a new 75-minute car ferry from Istanbul to a dock just 25 miles from the town center, cutting the four-hour car trip to under two hours. Businessmen in their Mercedes joined vacationers to fill the available space. Bursa itself is experiencing rapid growth as Anatolians rush from the Black Sea mountains to find work in the automotive industry or commercial center. Our experience in the town presented a contrast to our visit 10 days before to laid back Tekirdag (Reftel). The Genc Party reps we met in Bursa were a generation younger than the GP officials we met in Tekirdag, informed and energized, but the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Acting Mayor's formality seemed more accurately to reflect the town's reserved character. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) Early in the day, we checked in with Deputy Governor Ali Kemil Basar who related that only 18% of the population was historically from Bursa. Many current residents' families hail from Bulgaria, Greece (as a result of population exchanges) and from Turkey's northeast. Employment and security so far have not been problematic, with the city's large automobile plants and growing tourist industry providing jobs for newcomers as well as long-time residents. Maintaining and expanding infrastructure and services, particularly transportation, have presented the greatest challenges. ¶3. (SBU) Our meeting with municipal leadership was held at the 19th century (now ceremonial) city hall immediately recognizable by its unusual open wood beam and brick construction. Acting Mayor Recai Ekmekci presented a more reserved persona than his counterparts in Tekirdag or in Istanbul. Ekmekci came to Bursa as a student - and stayed. The town, he said, was just over 100,000 people in the early 1970s; today it boasts 1.5 million people, growing by an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people a year. He counted area transportation the city's greatest challenge and AKP's best contribution to date, with a series of new highways facilitating traffic to, through and around town. A new subway/above ground light-rail system (built by U.S. company YapiKaiser) is still adding stations. He noted there is still much work to be done. Fortunately, he said, unemployment so far has not been a problem. Bursa's atmosphere of allows immigrants from various points on the compass to interact socially, intermarry and form business partnerships, he said. ¶4. (SBU) Ekmekci matter-of-factly related that the AKP received 41% of Bursa's vote in the 2002 national election in 2002, and 55% in 2004 local elections. AKP currently holds 12 of 16 district seats in parliament - main opposition Repbulican People's Party (CHP) has the balance. He predicted that if two parties cross the threshold in the July 22 elections, AKP would hold 13 of 16 seats but if three parties crossed the threshold, AKP would drop to 10 seats, CHP would get 4 and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 2 seats. He soberly noted that "nationalist rhetoric and terrorism" were the oppositions' strongest cards against the ruling party and "unfortunately, I have to say that we are not getting enough support from our allies on terrorism." ¶5. (SBU) The two Genc Party (GP) reps, Ceyhun Erturk, the local chairman in his early 40s, and Bulent Gokgoz, retired from the Justice Ministry, a 1990s IV grantee and number four on their candidate list, were alert and armed with facile answers to questions like, "If you cut the gasoline price by two-thirds as promised, how will you raise sufficent revenues for the state?" Answer: Cutting the price will diminish the gasoline black market and the revenues will be made up by actually collecting the tax on legitimate gasoline that is sold. Their enthusiastic and overtly friendly presentation proved the exception in our day of fairly formal and sometimes stiff meetings. They presented their local campaign, at least, as the anti-campaign in Turkey. For instance, when GP leader Cem Uzan campaigned in Bursa the week before, organizers did not prepare a giant rally of bussed-in faithful to fill television screens. Instead, Uzan rode a bus on a publicized route. Supporters and the interested lined the route. At points, Uzan jumped out to have "personal contact with the crowds," and answer questions. Erturk and Gokgoz said GP expected to do very well in the district, particularly among less well-off villagers in the more rural areas. ¶6. (SBU) At our last political party stop, we met with the local DP party chairman and a number of board members. Mumin Ekici repeated DP points about unemployment and AKP-created tension, and poured out charge after charge of purported perfidious behavior on the part of the U.S. toward its NATO ally Turkey. We managed to respond to a few questions regarding U.S.-Turkey relations before having to depart for our ferry. We were unable to meet with local CHP representatives, who were busy preparing for Deniz Baykal's rally that evening. OUDKIRK