Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ANKARA273
2009-02-20 14:45:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

TURKEY: 9TH ANNUAL TIP REPORT: TIP SITUATION,

Tags:  KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB 
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RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAK #0273/01 0511445
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201445Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8838
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEATRS/TREASURY DEPT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ANKARA 000273 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR: G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EUR/SE, EUR/PGI; DEPT
FOR USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: 9TH ANNUAL TIP REPORT: TIP SITUATION,
SETTING THE SCENE, PREVENTION

REF: A. 08 SECSTATE 132759

B. ANKARA 98

C. 08 ANKARA 2194

D. 08 ANKARA 1709

E. 08 ANKARA 610

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ANKARA 000273

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR: G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EUR/SE, EUR/PGI; DEPT
FOR USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: 9TH ANNUAL TIP REPORT: TIP SITUATION,
SETTING THE SCENE, PREVENTION

REF: A. 08 SECSTATE 132759

B. ANKARA 98

C. 08 ANKARA 2194

D. 08 ANKARA 1709

E. 08 ANKARA 610


1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.


2. (U) Post's responses are keyed to ref A questions. This
is part 1 of 3 (septels). Embassy point of contact is
Anthony Renzulli, telephone 90-312-457-7178, fax
90-312-468-4775. Renzulli (FS-03) spent approximately 90
hours in preparation of this report. Deputy Political
Counselor Chris Krafft (FS-02),Political Counselor Daniel
O'Grady (FS-01),and DCM Douglas Silliman (FE-OC) each spent
approximately two hours reviewing this report.

TURKEY'S TIP SITUATION
--------------


A. (SBU) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),Turkish
National Police (TNP),Jandarma, Ministry of Justice (MOJ),
Ministry of Labor (MOL),IOM, and the two organizations
operating the Istanbul and Ankara TIP shelters -- Human
Resources Development Foundation (HRDF) and Foundation for
Women's Solidarity (FWS),respectively -- are our primary
sources of TIP information; these sources and their data are
reliable. We also maintain close contacts with researchers,
academics and other experts following this issue. Turkey's
interagency taskforce on TIP has made significant strides in
improving the documentation of trafficking. Last year the
GOT issued a second comprehensive annual report on combating
TIP in Turkey. The GOT in 2008 improved considerably the
quality of its data collection and reporting on the
investigation, prosecution and conviction of traffickers,
including security officials.


B. (SBU) Turkey is a destination country for women
trafficked internationally for the purpose of sexual
exploitation and, to a lesser degree, forced labor. Nearly
all victims are trafficked from the former Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(MFA) reported 118 victims rescued in 2008. The source

countries were: Uzbekistan (30),Turkmenistan (25),Moldova
(22),Kyrgyzstan (7),Georgia (7),Russia (7),Azerbaijan
(6),Ukraine (5),Romania (3),Bulgaria (2),Kazakhstan (1),
Belarus (1),Indonesia (1),Morocco (1). Men are much more
rarely trafficked to Turkey; there were no such incidents
reported last year. Of the 78 victims whose repatriation IOM
assisted in 2008, four were under the age of 18. Of this
IOM-assisted group, 70 were trafficked for purposes sexual
exploitation, two for labor exploitation, four for both, and
two were cases of attempted exploitation. The principal
Turkish destinations for trafficked victims are Istanbul,
Antalya, Izmir, Tekirdag (Thrace),and Trabzon. There is a
continued trend toward victims being trafficked to Turkey
from Central Asian states, namely Uzbekistan and
Turkmenistan. The number of reported victims from Russia
decreased over the reporting period, but sources report that
the number of women victimized for sexual exploitation or
otherwise engaged in the commercial sex industry from Russia
remains substantial (see ref B).

No Turkish territory is outside the government's control.
The reported incidence of internal trafficking is rare
compared to international trafficking. Social conditions in
parts of rural Turkey -- poverty, illiteracy, domestic
violence, and internal migration to urban areas -- are
similar to those faced in source countries, suggesting that
internal trafficking could still emerge as a problem in
Turkey. Nevertheless, the demand for trafficked victims --
for both sexual and labor exploitation -- is overwhelmingly
for foreign victims, according to local experts.


C. (SBU) According to local experts, trafficking victims are
generally trafficked into illegal brothels or are "leased" by
clients and kept in private residences or hotels for a period
of time. The number of victims trafficked into Turkey's
legal brothels is believed to be very small. As in other
countries, it is reported that traffickers have increasingly
utilized less physically coercive means to exploit victims,
i.e., paying small salaries or permitting victims to return
home in exchange for new recruits (see TIP Situation, para E,

ANKARA 00000273 002 OF 005


below). Turkish newspapers, however, reported physical abuse
committed by traffickers against victims during the reporting
period.


D. (U) Most victims are remedially-educated women aged
18-30. Most are believed to travel to Turkey voluntarily
seeking employment in prostitution; a smaller percentage of
victims are believed to arrive in Turkey for purposes of
legal employment, tourism or marriage. Some victims arrive
in Turkey with the knowledge they will work legally or
illegally as domestic servants; some of these victims are
ultimately exploited for purposes of sexual exploitation.
About forty percent of IOM-assisted victims during the rating
period were mothers.


E. (SBU) The large majority of traffickers are Turkish (85
percent of the apprehensions of suspected traffickers in
2008, according to MFA data),though many recruiters are from
source countries. Women are instrumental in recruiting
victims; boyfriends and phony employment agencies also play a
role. Force, passport capture/counterfeiting, and debt
bondage for travel costs are trafficker methods TNP has
identified. TIP is primarily carried out by small networks
of traffickers in Turkey and the source countries. Turkish
law enforcement authorities believe TIP is closely associated
with organized and other transnational crime; law enforcement
agencies represented at post (DEA and FBI) agree with that
assessment but have not identified a particularly strong link
between TIP and, for example, narco-trafficking in Turkey.
Turkey has a liberal visa regime, making it relatively easy
to traffic victims to Turkey or for at-risk women to enter
Turkey. In an effort to boost commercial ties in the region,
Turkey unilaterally exempts Turkmen, and Uzbek nationals from
visa requirements for visits to Turkey of thirty days or
less. Turkey waives, mutually, tourist visa requirements
with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Nationals from other source countries, like Russia and
Ukraine, can obtain visas easily upon arrival at a Turkish
port of entry.

SETTING THE SCENE FOR THE
GOVERNMENT'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS
--------------


A. (SBU) The GOT takes TIP seriously and has taken
significant measures during the rating period to prevent
trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute traffickers.


B. (SBU) MFA, Ministry of Interior (MOI -- includes TNP and
Jandarma),and MOJ are the principal government agencies
involved in anti-trafficking efforts. The Ministry of Health
(MOH) provides free health care to victims, and the Ankara
municipal government furnishes space for the Ankara TIP
shelter free of charge. The interagency taskforce met every
other month during the rating period (up from quarterly in
previous years) and is led by Ambassador Kemal Gur, MFA
Director General for Consular Affairs. Numerous agencies,
municipalities, IOM, the shelter administrators, and the
European Commission (EC) participate in taskforce meetings
(see Prevention, para C, below). Our EC contacts tell us the
GOT's interagency and NGO cooperation on TIP is at a high
level, exceeding Turkish performance in other EU accession
areas pertaining to justice and rule of law.


C. (SBU) Turkey is a developing country with a median GDP
comparable to many source countries, situated at the
crossroads of major East-West and North-South migration
flows. In 2008, over 25 million tourists visited Turkey, a
13 percent increase over 2007. At the same time, Turkey
continues to face a serious cross-border (PKK) terrorism
problem originating from northern Iraq, which resulted in the
death of nearly 200 Turkish civilians and security officials
in 2008. The fight against terrorism commands a huge share
of Turkey's law enforcement and prosecutorial resources.
Despite these challenges, Turkey has mustered impressive
organizational and financial resources to combat TIP -- far
in excess, it argues, of neighboring source countries.

One particular challenge the GOT faces in maintaining TIP
statistics is the peculiar division of responsibility between
TNP and Jandarma. In Turkey, municipal law enforcement and
ports of entry are TNP's responsibility, while rural areas,
including most borders, are policed by the Jandarma. Both
agencies report to the Minister of Interior, but the TNP

ANKARA 00000273 003 OF 005


Foreigners Department retains the sole responsibility for
victim identification. Also, judicial data collection can be
a problem, since statistics on prosecutions, convictions and
sentencing must be collected from local courts in 81
provinces. As a general rule, judicial proceedings in Turkey
are painfully slow. Another challenge the GOT faces is how
to efficiently and effectively utilize the significant
foreign assistance it receives as an EU candidate state from
European donors. The GOT must ensure long-term resource gaps
do not emerge as it implements short-term European-funded
anti-TIP projects.

Overall, corruption is not a problem in the fight against
TIP. However, the current economic crisis has hit Turkey
particularly hard; the fiscal restraint Turkey is forced to
impose in order to maintain economic stability is not
conducive to expanding resources to combat TIP or to address
other social and law enforcement problems. Already the
Istanbul governor informed the Istanbul municipality that it
is no longer authorized to cover rental expenses for the NGO
operating the Istanbul shelter, despite a protocol between
the NGO operating the shelter (HRDF) and the city. (The
shelter continues to operate, with the rent funded directly
by HRDF.) Despite this atmosphere of fiscal restraint, the
overall expense of, for example, ensuring adequate shelter
for TIP victims is relatively small, estimated at about
$400,000 per annum. We believe the GOT has the resources to
carry out this important task, but has been bureaucratically
hamstrung (see ref C and Protection and Assistance to
Victims, para B, septel).


D. (U) As noted above, in 2008 the GOT published a domestic,
interagency, 2007 TIP report. Both publicly and privately,
including through active regional engagement, the GOT
frequently and candidly shares with us and other countries
and international organizations its assessment of domestic
anti-trafficking efforts.

PREVENTION
--------------


A. (U) The government conducted an anti-trafficking
information campaign during the reporting period (ref D).
The nationwide campaign sought to increase awareness of the
worldwide TIP scourge, including the labor exploitation
component, and Turkey's efforts to combat it. The campaign
is ongoing and includes posters at airports and other
transport hubs as well as television spots provided at no
cost by private and state-run channels. The campaign targets
victims and potential victims by advertising prominently the
"157" helpline. It only targets indirectly the demand for
trafficking.


B. (SBU) The TNP monitors legal and illegal air, sea and
land-based migration patterns for evidence of trafficking.
Jandarma officers stationed along Turkey's borders are
trained to detect TIP. Law enforcement has specialized,
anti-TIP trained-teams operating at all border crossings.
GOT officials do not have the authority to refuse visa
applicants or turn away travelers crossing the border from
known source countries simply because they are at risk of
becoming victimized when they arrive in Turkey, i.e., are
young, single women. As noted in Turkey's TIP Situation,
para E, above, Turkey has a liberal visa regime.


C. (SBU) As noted, there is an interagency GOT taskforce led
by MFA Director General for Consular Affairs Ambassador Kemal
Gur. Gur expanded the taskforce in 2008 and directed that it
meet every other month. (It met quarterly during the
previous reporting period. The taskforce includes the
following agencies, IGO and NGOs:


1. MFA -- Chair of the National Taskforce

2. MOJ - EU Directorate

3. MOJ - Legislative Directorate

4. MOJ - Penal Affairs Directorate

5. MOJ - Criminal Registration and Statistics Directorate

6. MOJ - Training Department

7. MOJ - International Law and Foreign Relations Directorate

8. Court of Cassation Presidency (Supreme Court)

9. The Court of Appeals Presidency

10. MOI - Jandarma General Command, Human Smuggling Crimes
Department

11. MOI - Coast Guard Command

ANKARA 00000273 004 OF 005



12. MOI - Foreign Relations and EU Coordination Department

13. MOI - TNP, Foreigners, Borders and Asylum Department

14. MOI - TNP, Public Order Department

15. MOI - TNP, Smuggling and Organized Crime Department

16. MOI - General Directorate of Local Administrations

17. MOF - Budget and Financial Control Directorate

18. MOF - Council to Investigate Financial Crimes

19. MOH - Treatment Services Directorate

20. MOH - Foreign Relations Department and Services for
Workers Abroad

21. MOL - Labor Directorate

22. MOL - Foreign Relations and Worker Services Abroad
Directorate

23. The Council of Higher Education

24. Radio and Television Supreme Council

25. EU Secretariat General - Political Affairs Department

26. State Planning Organization Under Secretariat (Prime
Ministry)

27. Social Services and Child Protection Directorate (State
Ministry)

28. Status of Women Directorate (State Ministry)

29. Social Assistance and Solidarity Fund (Prime Ministry)

30. Human Rights Directorate (Prime Ministry)

31. Turkish Statistics Institute

32. Turkish Bar Associations

23. Cankaya (Ankara) Sub-Governor - Social Assistance and
Solidarity Foundation

34. Ankara Metropolitan Municipality

35. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

36. Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality

37. Antalya Metropolitan Municipality

38. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality

39. Artvin Municipality

40. Igdir Municipality

41. European Commission Turkey Representative

42. IOM Turkey Representative

43. Human Resources Development Foundation (HRDF)

44. Foundation for Women's Solidarity (FWS)

Other municipalities and agencies, industry and professional
associations, chambers of commerce, academics, etc., are
often invited to taskforce meetings, depending on the agenda.


D. (SBU) The GOT has a national action plan to address TIP.
The taskforce-participating agencies, NGOs, and IOM were
involved in developing it. It mandates close NGO, IGO and
interagency cooperation. The same agencies have drafted a
new national action plan, currently awaiting the Interior
Minister's signature and Prime Ministry-approval. The new
action plan will complement the ongoing two-year, 3 million
Euro EU project aimed at shoring up sustainability in the
fight against trafficking (ref E).


E. (SBU) The GOT commissioned a study of demand in Turkey
(ref B),though the report has not yet been publicized. The
number of legal brothels operating is down under the current
national government, the part of which also governs most of
Turkey's large cities, including Istanbul. However, our
sources tell us that legal brothels do not contribute
significantly to TIP.


F. (U) We have no evidence indicating Turkish nationals
participate actively in international child sex tourism.


G. (SBU) Turkish military personnel participate in NATO
Partnership for Peace (PfP) training, hosted by the
Ankara-based PfP Training Center, on the fight against TIP.
The training, also made available to other NATO and PfP
country personnel, many from source countries, focuses on the
differences between human smuggling and TIP, victim
identification, intelligence and data collection, database
management, investigation techniques, as well as the role of
NGOs, international organizations and civil society, and NATO
policy on human trafficking. In addition, the PfP Training
Center provides an annual one week course on TIP to Turkish
unit command assigned to peacekeeping operations. ***Post
will report the number of Turkish military officials
receiving the PfP training and the unit command training
during the reporting period in a supplemental cable, septel.
TIP training for forty NATO and PfP military officials is
scheduled to take place at the Ankara Training Center during
the last week of February 2009.***

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

ANKARA 00000273 005 OF 005


http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey

Jeffrey