ANTALYA: THE SUN ALWAYS RISES FOR TOURISM, BUT NOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000303 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2020 TAGS: PGOV PREL ELAB ECON TU IS SUBJECT: ANTALYA: THE SUN ALWAYS RISES FOR TOURISM, BUT NOT FOR LABOR UNIONS REF: 09 ANKARA 509 Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady, for reasons 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Turkey's premier tourist destination, Antalya has seen 10 percent economic growth annually over the past six years and remains a magnet for young Turks seeking jobs. Some 11 million tourists (most of them foreigners) came to Antalya in 2009, although there was a sharp drop in Israeli visitors after PM Erdogan's Davos outburst. Not surprisingly, the service sector dominates the local economy, but labor unions complain that they have made few breakthroughs in organizing despite numerous appeals from workers. Unemployment rates are significantly below the national average. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost the mayor's seat to the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in March 2009. AKP's demise in Antalya is blamed on bad advice at the national level that led the mayor to incur debts for a poorly planned light rail contract that immobilized the city center. The new mayor is rescheduling the debt and struggling to pay his employees. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Antalya is Turkey's tourism powerhouse. Along the province's 600-kilometer Mediterranean coastline lie five resort cities, and in 2009 an estimated 11 million tourists (8.2 million of them foreigners) spent their holidays in Antalya. Ministry of Culture and Tourism statistics show only Istanbul gets more visitors each year, although the Turkish Federation of Hoteliers (TUROFED) points to tourist overnight stays -- an average of 10 nights in Antalya versus 2 nights in Istanbul -- as proof that Antalya is the premier tourist destination. ¶3. (U) When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in Turkey in November 2002 it did not win a majority in Antalya, where the Republican People's Party (CHP) held 8 of the 13 seats. But when the AKP won the local elections in Antalya in 2004 with increasing tourism as one plank in its election platform, it dramatically increased investment by the federal government into Antalya's infrastructure. From 2004 to 2009, the AKP built new roads and airports to bring more local and international tourists to Antalya, and according to TUROFED the province's income grew by an average 10 percent a year. Tramway that Railroaded the Mayor -------------- ¶4. (U) Menderes Turel, Antalya's former (AKP) mayor, also focused on infrastructure development and was seen as successful in increasing growth in the tourism sector. In 2008, on the advice of Prime Minister Erdogan, Turel incurred a 400 million TL (roughly $250 million) debt to contract Sadik Albayrak, the father of Erdogan's new son-in-law, to build a light rail system in the center of Antalya. Many of the shop owners in city's commercial district strenuously protested the decision. Nevertheless, to complete the system before the March 2009 local elections, Turel had the entire system built at once, shutting down major streets in the city center for months. Most of the shops were virtually inaccessible to customers, and were forced to close. The shop owners became the most vocal opponents of Turel's re-election campaign. The light rail system, the debt incurred to finance it, and the city's already appalling traffic congestion were blamed as the main reasons for the AKP's 17-point tumble from a previous 13.6 point lead over the CHP in 2004 to a 3.9 point loss to the CHP in 2009. Today, the streets that were shut down during construction remain basically shuttered and the system is minimally used by travelers. ¶5. (U) PM Erdogan's Davos outburst led to a precipitous decline in Israeli tourists (182,177 in 2009, down from 330,153 in 2008). The media speculated that the ensuing ANKARA 00000303 002 OF 003 losses by the tourism sector in Antalya might also have been a factor in AKP's loss. But our sources disputed this, insisting that the light rail fiasco loomed largest. ¶6. (C) AKP Provincial Chairman Huseyin Semani contended to us that now that the AKP is out of power, people are beginning to appreciate what they lost. Semani claimed that the new CHP Mayor, Mustafa Akaydin, has been so saddled with debt that he has been unable to pay his workers' salaries or provide any services. In a separate meeting with us, CHP Deputy Mayor Kadir Alkis agreed that the mayor was struggling to move forward after seeking a restructuring of their debt. But he was sanguine that Akaydin's plan to move ahead with harmonization of the city's transportation system, along with projects to increase the use of solar power and fund more universities, would earn him lasting support. Good News: Unemployment, Informal Employment Low -------------- --- ¶7. (U) Many of those we spoke with complained about unemployment. However, Deputy Governor Mehmet Seyman and Tamer Ozkan, director of Turkey's Employment Office in Antalya, both noted that unemployment in Antalya is always lower than the national average -- even in low season. Currently the national unemployment rate is between 12 and 13 percent, whereas unemployment in Antalya hovers between 8 and 9 percent. Ozkan added that both the EU and UNDP are setting up employment programs in Antalya. Seyman estimated that the agricultural sector occupies about 10 percent of Antalya's economy, while the other 90 percent was taken up by the services sector. In the services sector, he estimated that about 70 percent is in tourism. ¶8. (U) Antalya still receives many visitors during the off-peak season of November to March. Osman Ayik, Board member for TUROFED, said it is working with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to attract convention groups and sports teams -- more than 1,500 of which already come during low season to train. TUROFED is also lobbying the GOT to subsidize the low-season employment of services sector workers. Many hotel industry employees that would otherwise be laid off during low season receive training from Is-Kur at that time. Ozkan said that in January Is-Kur had around 2,000 people in training in 25 courses. In 2009, Is-Kur trained 5,000 people in total, 70 percent of whom got jobs in the services sector afterwards, mostly working in hotels. ¶9. (C) When asked whether Antalya's informal employment was near the estimated national average of 40 percent, both Ozkan, and Ministry of Labor Chief Inspector Olcay Aydin, contended that informal employment is surprisingly low -- around 5-10 percent -- and is primarily centered on international women illegally working in prostitution or undeclared migrant laborers in the small agricultural sector. Aydin said that an inspector had recently fined a company 40,000 TL (approximately $27,000) for informally employing migrant workers in greenhouse farming. The fine served as an effective deterrent for other employers in the agricultural sector. Bad News: Unionization Also Low, Despite Bad Conditions -------------- -------------- ¶10. (C) Murat Pilevne, President of both the local chapter of the services union Hizmet-Is, and the local branch of the Hak-Is labor confederation, said in the past five years Hizmet-Is grew from 400 to 1,600 active members, but they are only present in one of the six districts of Antalya due to low funding. He painted a bleak picture for organized labor in Antalya. He estimated that the three unions that represent the services sector -- Belediye-Is, Hizmet-Is, and Genel-Is -- had a total of 4,900 active members in Ankara. Antalya's population is estimated at around 1 million and its ANKARA 00000303 003 OF 003 workforce at around 600,000, he noted, which would mean about 0.9 percent union membership in the services sector, which is low "even for Turkey." Pilevne said that Mayor Akaydin had not paid salaries to over 2,500 municipal workers for more than four months, even though Law 4857 says if a municipality owes pay to workers it cannot make real expenditures. Also, he said, with legal caps for hiring lowering the number of municipal workers that can be employed by the Mayor, more services are being contracted out to "temporary" workers, who perform the same work but have no right to organize and receive no severance pay. As a result, Pilevne said, there is pent-up demand for organizing. He had personally witnessed terrible working conditions for around 2,000 workers in the services sector. "People beg us to organize them," he said. "But since their employers are threatening layoffs, they're doing hard work like spraying pesticides and cleaning with harsh chemicals with no protection for minimum wage." ¶11. (C) Unions face typical barriers to organizing in Antalya, including Turkey's 10 percent minimum membership threshold for a union to be able to collectively bargain in an industry, and the requirement that employees certify their intent to join a union with a notary, who often informs the employer about the activity. As a result, unions have minimal penetration in Antalya and are ineffective. Hizmet-Is and Hak-Is strive to work more closely with employers than other unions and confederations, attempting to negotiate better results with fewer clashes, Pilevne said. But when they cannot make progress on the workers' demands, it hurts their morale. He lamented that the unions and confederations do not engage with the Hotel Association, but stick to routine organizing tactics, keeping their numbers low. ¶12. (C) COMMENT: It was not surprising that the AKP's advice from Ankara to build a tramway to nowhere failed to resonate with the local population. Mayor Turel, although popular in Ankara and experienced in making infrastructure improvements, should have listened to the chorus of protest that continued for months after he announced his plan to build a downtown train system. It is a little surprising, however, to learn that unemployment is so low in this highly seasonal economy. The rates on informal employment may need to be taken with a grain of salt, as informal employment is notoriously hard to measure, and labor inspectors can only inspect places of business that employ 50 people or more -- many of Antalya's hotels are small. The warm climate, low unemployment rate, and bustling summer months are likely to continue to attract Turks to relocate to Antalya for employment or retirement. While the Turkish Federation of Hoteliers has succeeded in attracting tourists to Antalya, unions have some catching up to do to ensure that hotel employees work in humane conditions and receive a decent wage. Jeffrey "Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"