This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006938 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE, INL/CTR 
DEPARTMENT FOR VALERIE KWOK USAID E&E/ECA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF TU TIP IN TURKEY
SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: MEDIA ATTENTION, DECEMBER 1-14, 2004 
 
¶1.   (U) In response to G/TIP inquiries, national and 
   international media sources published the following news 
   articles about TIP in Turkey.  Text of articles originally 
   published in Turkish is provided through unofficial local 
   FSN translation. 
 
¶2. (U) Published December 12, 2004 by the Telegraph, 
Calcutta, India: 
 
     TITLE: Tight watch on human export 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: Chandigarh, Dec. 12: In the 1970s, Punjab 
     exported wheat. In the eighties, it was terror. The 
     nineties saw the emergence of foot-tapping Punjabi pop 
     music that caught the ears of the world. Now it is the 
     turn of human trafficking. 
 
     In an incident that has surfaced recently, Amrik Singh, 
     a resident of Nandalo village in Hoshiarpur, was found 
     dead in a container in which he was being transported 
     from Syria to Turkey. Amrik had booked his ticket to a 
     better future through an agent by paying Rs 4 lakh. The 
     agent's name is being kept secret for investigation 
     purposes. 
 
     Amrik's father, Darshan Singh, who is the sarpanch of 
     Nandalo, said his son had left for Jordan on August 17. 
     "We received regular phone calls from him till August 
     ¶20. On October 18, we were informed by his friend that 
     Amrik was dead. I am told that Amrik died because of 
     unbearable heat and suffocation," he said. 
 
     According to Darshan, Amrik was shoved into a container 
     with 23 Pakistanis and 10 Indians. 
 
     Police sources said Amrik's group travelled from Jordan 
     to Iraq on foot. From Iraq, they were taken to Syria 
     and then put in a container marked for Turkey. 
 
     They had nothing to eat. 
 
     Taking a serious view of dubious travel agents 
     continuing to fleece youths by promising them jobs 
     abroad through wrong means and by forging documents, 
     the Union home ministry has now directed the Punjab 
     government and the Chandigarh administration to keep a 
     strict watch on 14 agents operating in the region. 
 
     The agents, some of whom are women, belong to 
     Chandigarh, Khanna, Hoshiarpur, Sangrur and Nawanshahr. 
 
     "The abduction of Sukhdev, Antaryami and Tilak Raj has 
     finally forced the government to act. All three were 
     sent abroad by dubious travel agents. While new agents 
     and sub-agents are sprouting every day, the fact that 
     the Centre has realised the gravity of the problem by 
     identifying at least some of them signifies that the 
     problem of human trafficking has to be dealt with 
     sternly," a senior officer said. 
 
     Enquiries revealed that apart from the abductions in 
     Iraq, the death of two truck drivers also played a 
     major role in identifying agents who are believed to be 
     operating in Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and 
     Himachal Pradesh. 
 
     Another revelation which has alarmed the Centre 
     concerns a case in which at least 106 people were sent 
     abroad on forged papers by travel agents in alleged 
     connivance with the city's protector of immigrants. The 
     CBI has thrice raided the office of the protector of 
     immigrants in the recent past. Police sources said six 
     travel agents and two employees of the office have been 
     booked. END TEXT. 
 
 
¶3. (U) Published December 11, 2004 by Greek International 
English-language Kathermini: 
 
     TITLE: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS 
     Three drown, one missing off Samos 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: Samos coast guards yesterday recovered the 
     bodies of three Afghan illegal immigrants who drowned 
     off the island after their boat sank before dawn. 
     Another 13 migrants believed to have been on the same 
     wooden boat that had set sail from Turkey were 
     detained. Among them is a Turk thought to be the 
     group's smuggler. One more migrant was yesterday still 
     missing. The coast guard was alerted to the sinking by 
     two passengers who swam to shore. END TEXT. 
 
¶4. (U) Published December 7, 2004 by Reuters News: 
 
     TITLE: PAKISTAN: Civil Society Role Central to combat 
     human trafficking 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: LAHORE, 6 December (IRIN) - Given the lack 
     of economic and human resources in Pakistan, civil 
     society should shoulder the responsibility of reducing 
     human trafficking by developing skills and employment 
     opportunities in general, and for victims in 
     particular, anti-trafficking activists say. 
 
     "Combating human trafficking in Pakistan should be 
     located within the larger context of underlying social 
     and economic problems and lower status of women," Abid 
     Gulzar, acting national executive secretary of the Rome- 
     based international charity, Caritas Pakistan, told 
     IRIN in the eastern city of Lahore, capital of Punjab 
     province. 
 
     Some 310 cases have been registered under the anti- 
     trafficking law in Lahore alone since it was 
     promulgated in 2002, according to the Lahore chapter of 
     country's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). 
 
     "At present, traffickers are employing all three routes 
     of land, air and sea," Tehseen Anwar Ali, deputy 
     director at FIA Lahore, told the delegates at a seminar 
     arranged by the International Organization for 
     Migration (IOM). 
 
     The IOM is holding a series of seminars across the 
     country under its ongoing project, entitled: 
     "Development of a Conceptual Framework and Strategies 
     to Combat Trafficking" to help develop a national 
     strategy to combat human trafficking. 
 
     The two-year programme, comprising stakeholders from 
     the governmental, intergovernmental and nongovernmental 
     sectors, is funded by the Canadian International 
     Development Agency (CIDA). 
 
     Ali noted that the trafficking in persons was being 
     carried out in collaboration with some corrupt 
     officials, primarily through airports and on the 
     southern coastline between Karachi and Gwadar. 
 
     Anti-trafficking activists stressed the need to address 
     the root causes of trafficking through larger anti- 
     poverty and anti-corruption frameworks, both at the 
     national and global level. 
 
     Direct support should be given to children at risk and 
     their families through income generating activities, 
     Gulzar maintained. Educational and vocational training 
     opportunities for victims - especially girls who are 
     often discriminated against in society due to their 
     inferior status - should be prioritised as well, she 
     noted. 
 
     "We need to run a massive awareness raising campaign at 
     all levels - from the village community to the shop 
     floor, involving both electronic and print media - 
     aimed at preventing people falling into the hands of 
     traffickers," Gulzar said. 
 
     The country's migration and anti-trafficking 
     authorities also stressed the need to enhance regional 
     cooperation with India, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and 
     Bangladesh on trafficking issues. 
 
     "Steps should be taken for elimination of trafficking 
     through better migration management in the region and 
     the protection of migrant rights as mentioned in the 
     'Bangkok declaration of 1999'," Rashid Ahmed Mughal, 
     director at Bureau of Emigration and Overseas 
     Employment, said. Bangkok Declaration on Irregular 
     Migration adopted in 1999 gives particular attention to 
     regional cooperation on irregular/undocumented 
     migration. 
     Meanwhile, anti-trafficking activists urge law 
     enforcement agencies, legislators, litigators, 
     religious leaders and educators to take active part in 
     curbing tragic enslavement of millions of innocent 
     people, particularly women and children. END TEXT. 
 
¶5. (U) Published December 6 by Russian news service 
Interfax: 
 
     TITLE: ANKARA. (Interfax) - Russia and Turkey have 
     promised to boost joint efforts aimed at countering 
     terrorism. 
 
     BEGIN FBIS TRANSLATED TEXT: "The parties confirm their 
     readiness to jointly combat terrorism, the 
     proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, 
     smuggling, drug trafficking, illegal migration, 
     trafficking in humans and organized crime in compliance 
     with existing bilateral and multilateral international 
     treaties and agreements," reads a joint declaration 
     signed by the Russian and Turkish presidents on Monday. 
 
     "[Russia and Turkey] condemn terrorism in all its forms 
     and manifestations and underscore the need to expand 
     joint measures to combat it," the document reads. END 
     TEXT. 
 
     [Description of Source: Moscow Interfax -- non- 
     government information agency known for its aggressive 
     reporting, extensive economic coverage, and good 
     coverage of Russia's regions]