TURKEY: ADANA ELECTIONS: THE GLOVES COME OFF AS AKP VIES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000015 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: ADANA ELECTIONS: THE GLOVES COME OFF AS AKP VIES TO UNSEAT INCUMBENT MAYOR AYTAC DURAK REF: A: Adana 0012 Ref. B: 08 Adana 0050 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The Adana mayoral race is heating up as AKP seeks new attack angles to unseat incumbent Aytac Durak, who only months ago jumped ship (while being pushed off) from AKP to join MHP. Sidestepping its own candidate, AKP's party apparatus is using bigger guns - parliamentarian Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat and the minister of health -- to strike at Durak's credibility. While poll numbers still show Durak in the lead, the once comfortable margin is diminishing. Durak's rivals hope to further damage the mayor's support base by using his poorly executed light rail project, his controversial decision to bottle Adana's water for commercial export, and his son's television channel as target areas. In the end, however, the cunning political chameleon Durak will likely come out on top as he has successfully established bases of support in each of Adana's four population groups - Turks, Arabs, Kurds and Alevis - over four terms in office. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Adana residents are unable to escape the theatrics of local election campaigning - motorcades zooming over the cityscape, blaring music and campaign slogans; posters, banners and billboards pasted everywhere; and even gimmicks like skydivers using parachutes decorated in party colors. In the final weeks, the tone is turning ugly as AKP goes negative in an attempt to undercut AKP-turned-MHP incumbent and four-term mayor Aytac Durak, who leads at 41% in the latest polls (see ref A). -------------- -------------- AKP GOES FOR THE POWER JUGULAR -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Durak's Achilles heel heading into the elections was a thoroughly botched light-rail metro project that should have taken three years to complete but instead has dragged on since 1997 amid persistent rumors of graft and ineptitude. Not surprisingly, by early March the mayor's political team was racing furiously to launch the transportation line amid splashy headlines promising free rides for the first weeks of operation. Only days before the March 18 inauguration, with AKP rather transparently behind the scenes, a controversy erupted with TEDAS, the state-owned local electricity authority. TEDAS announced it would not provide the power source to operate the line based on a contractual disagreement over the wattage required. The feud immediately became public, with Adana's AKP Parliamentarian Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, former deputy chairman of AKP, defending TEDAS' stance by asserting municipality officials had not submitted a formal application to switch from "construction mode" wattage to operational wattage. After all the handwringing, Durak did preside over a delayed opening ceremony, but not before Firat squeezed in one more jab: he very publically refused to go on the inaugural ride with other protocol members, suggesting that "sand bags" vice people would be more appropriate since the metro's safety standards were unproven. Firat praised Adana's achievement of building a metro, but lamented the project was still incomplete with only 8.5 kilometers of the 14-km line actually operational. -------------- WATER WATER EVERYWHERE -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In early March, the Adana Municipality announced the opening of a 1 million Euro potable-water bottling facility to sell water from the city's Catalan Dam to Europe and the Middle East. The press printed positive reviews of the project, which the municipality promised would boost revenues for city services and infrastructure. A smiling Durak posed with Catalan bottles and promised voters the first exports would be bound for Jordan, Syria, Iraq and the UK by April. It wasn't long before the legality of the project was challenged by AKP, with Firat in particular claiming it was unlawful to bottle and sell surface water, and challenging the authority of the agreement signed with the State Water Works department. During a visit to Adana, Minister of Health Recep Akdag announced Durak was cheating city dwellers by stealing water from the Catalan reservoir, and backed up Firat's legal argument that in Turkey only underground spring water may be bottled. Akdag also claimed the health department would not issue a license for the enterprise. The local health inspector had in fact issued the licence earlier; he was duly fired. -------------- ON THE WRONG FREQUENCY -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Aytac Durak's son, Gokhan, is the major stakeholder in one of Adana's most competitive local television stations, Cukurova TV, which was purchased by the elder Durak in the mid 1990s. Without question, the station has been a boon to Durak's political success and longevity. The pro-Durak mouthpiece was muzzled last week, however, in what some are calling AKP's ADANA 00000015 002 OF 002 continuing censorship of the media. RTUK, the State Higher Board of Television and Radio, shut down Cukurova TV's UHF broadcast based on claims the channel was using an unassigned frequency, sent them a warning through the provincial Security Directorate, and initiated legal action against the station. While it's true that Cukurova TV has been broadcasting on two frequencies - one unlicensed but allegedly under verbal authorization -- it has done so for over seven months now and with open advertisement. Local free press advocates are crying foul play about the timing of RTUK's move, citing dirty politics. In a counter power-play, Durak's attorney's appealed to a local Administrative Court, which overturned RTUK's prosecution allowing Cukurova TV to resuming broadcasts on March ¶25. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) AKP mayoral candidate Mehmet Ali Bilici has also been on the offensive where Durak is concerned, but in a more benign way than out-and-out sabotage. As AKP is in real danger of losing this major municipality (when it could have been avoided by simply renominating Durak),the party's current strategy may be to keep Bilici out of the dirty fray and instead use the major players to damage Durak's substantial support base. Informal discussions with contacts and everyday folks around town support the latest poll figures pointing to a fifth victory for Durak. In a revealing commentary on local politics, at least ten people we know have invoked old expressions that "he who has already stuffed his pockets can stuff no more" and "the devil that you know~" when explaining their support for Durak vice the other candidates. Without argument, the famous and infamous Durak has worked his popularity with Adana's disparate ethnic populations and, despite having migrated to MHP, even has the endorsement of local pro-Kurdish newspapers. The AKP's shenanigans smack of desperation. END COMMENT. GREEN