TURKEY: COURT MULLS CLOSURE OF KURDISH PARTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001743 SIPDIS BAGHDAD PLEASE PASS TO RRT ERBIL AND PRT NINEWA E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PTER PINR TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: COURT MULLS CLOSURE OF KURDISH PARTY REF: A. ANKARA 1656 ¶B. 08 ANKARA 1546 Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady, reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Constitutional Court today begins its deliberations over the closure of the Democratic Society Party (DTP). A ruling may not be issued for weeks but could come much sooner, and is likely to have a major impact on the government's National Unity Project (also formerly known as the "Kurdish Opening," then the "Democratic Opening"). Within DTP, hardliners appear to have gained the upper hand. DTP members' recent increased willingness to resort to violence to promote their objectives makes the party's closure more likely, a result party officials seem to accept. A PKK attack on a military base in Tokat, killing seven soldiers, dominates Turkish front pages today -- an inauspicious start for the court deliberations. Still, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has made clear that it intends to continue with its democratization agenda regardless of the court case outcome. END SUMMARY. DTP Seems Eager to be Banned -------------- ¶2. (C) The Constitutional Court takes up the DTP closure case today. The Court begins its deliberations on whether to ban the DTP for supporting the Kurdish nationalist terrorist organization, PKK. The Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor presented his indictment to the Court on the closure of the DTP on November 16, 2007. According to the Constitution, in order to shut down a political party at least seven of the eleven members of the Constitutional Court must vote in favor of closure. The court may also choose to fine the party or limit its state funding, instead of banning it. The prosecutors in the case have also asked for a five-year political ban on 219 party members, eight of whom are currently sitting members of parliament. ¶3. (C) Much of the evidence against DTP had been mitigated by the government's National Unity Project. Using Kurdish in political rallies and calling for greater cultural rights for the Kurdish people are no longer crimes. However, the DTP has become more extreme in its public actions and has increasingly focused its attention on former PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The DTP organized a protest on December 5 in support of freeing PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, currently serving a life sentence. During the protest, 2,000 DTP members marched to the offices of a Turkish nationalist organization, and then threw rocks, fireworks, and molotov cocktails at the building and surrounding businesses. Three weeks ago, a DTP supporter attacked a bus in Istanbul with fire bombs, fatally wounding a young girl. Attacks against military bases by the PKK have also increased, the most recent occurring on December 7 in the province of Tokat, killing seven soldiers. DTP members' increased use of violence and the coincidental increase in PKK attacks have underscored the shadowy link between the DTP and the PKK and have called into question the DTP's stated commitment to peace and democracy. DTP's Priority: Ocalan or Kurds? -------------- ¶4. (C) DTP's comments in private are not reassuring. We met December 7 with Evren Cevik, a representative of the DTP's hard-line wing, concerning the change in the DTP's public stance and its possible impact on the trial. Cevik was unapologetic for the DTP's tactical approach. He insisted that the voters who support DTP consider Ocalan to be their leader and expect him to be the interlocutor for them with the government. Though he insisted that the party does not support the use of violence, he was not bothered by DTP members using violence during protests. When asked if he thought the DTP would be closed in light of recent events, Cevik responded "olsun" (let it be). He continued, saying that the DTP's grassroots would expect its MPs to resign from parliament if the party were closed. This point of view has been shared by co-chairmen Ahmet Turk and Emine Ayna in press announcements. Cevik also insisted that the condition of ANKARA 00001743 002 OF 003 Abdullah Ocalan is of prime importance because he is -- according to Cevik and other DTP members -- the natural leader of the Kurds. He stated that the government is addressing all of the Kurds' demands except treating Ocalan as an interlocutor and leader for the Kurds. With or Without DTP, the AKP Marches On -------------- ¶5. (C) In a separate conversation, Abdurrahman Kurt, an AKP MP from Diyarbakir, told us he was concerned about the DTP's turn for the worse, but insisted that the AKP would continue the National Unity Project without them. He said that the DTP's demands concerning Ocalan are unrealistic. He noted that previously, the DTP had asked for improvements to Ocalan's prison conditions. Now the DTP is complaining about the new conditions -- which are standard for Turkish prisons and are better than the EU requirements -- and insists that the government negotiate with him, a political impossibility. Referring to the Istanbul bomb attack, he stated that the DTP has blood on their hands. Although the AKP generally disapproves of party closures, Kurt said in this case the DTP ought to be closed in accordance with the law. Nevertheless, Kurt said that some legislation in the context of the National Unity Project may have to be re-examined but that the initiative would have to continue. As an example, he pointed to a draft law that would treat children throwing stones at security forces not as terrorists but instead under juvenile law. He said that seeing DTP supporting PKK on television, he can no longer call such children "stone throwers" but "victims of terrorist exploitation." He also noted that the opposition parties object to allowing re-trials of previously convicted stone throwers. They are concerned that allowing retrials could open a loophole that would allow Ocalan himself to apply for a re-trial. Possible By-Elections Loom -------------- ¶6. (C) The DTP announced that their 20 members of parliament will resign if the DTP is closed. Since Turkish law states that if 5 percent of parliament's 550 seats are vacant there must be by-elections to fill them, and 6 seats are currently vacant, such a mass resignation could force by-elections for all vacant seats in the parliament. DTP Leader Turk told the press that (potentially former) DTP members would not participate in by-elections, because the closure case would make DTP's participation in democracy "meaningless." Kurt added that the DTP would not be able to win those elections anyway, because voters in the Southeast would likely vote for the AKP in support of the National Unity Project. A handful of vacant seats are also found in other parts of the country where nationalist sentiments are running high. In those races, the AKP could expect strong competition from the main opposition parties. Still, in Kurt's assessment, the by-elections would be a net gain for the AKP. Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) The DTP is more likely to be banned today than ever before. Its open support for violent protests in favor of Abdullah Ocalan provides ample evidence to support the prosecutors' indictment. The hard-line wing of the DTP, which is closely tied to the PKK, may fear that the success of the government's National Unity Project could make the need for a Kurdish party obsolete. The DTP has already begun to form a new Kurdish party, in the event that the current one is banned. Whatever the court's decision, the impact on the National Unity Project will be significant. If the DTP is banned, AKP will stand as the only force driving the project. On one hand, there will be fewer votes supporting new laws. On the other hand, opposition concerns about making concessions to the Kurds may carry less weight. If the DTP is not banned, its harsh rhetoric and support for violence could harden already growing resistance to the National Unity Project. ¶8. (C) Comment (cont.): There has been some speculation recently that the GOT will call early general elections, ANKARA 00001743 003 OF 003 before they are scheduled in 2011. An automatic requirement for by-elections would offer PM Erdogan a facile justification for calling general elections. Although the GOT consistently denies that there will be early elections, a worsening economy and polarizing debate over the National Unity Project may lead the ruling AKP to decide that to call elections before 2011 would be wise as their electoral prospects may worsen with time. Silliman "Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"