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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ANKARA 001233 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, EUR/PGI 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: 2004 ANTI TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 
 
REF: SECSTATE 7869 
 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
 
¶2. (U) Post's responses are keyed to questions in reftel. 
Embassy point of contact is David McFarland, who replaces 
Phil Kaplan following submission of this report.  Kaplan 
(rank: FSO-03) spent approximately 100 hours in preparation 
of this report.  McFarland (rank: FSO-05) spent approximately 
10 hours in preparation of this report.  The Political 
Counselor (rank: FS-01) spent roughly 10 hours in preparation 
of this report. 
 
 
-------- 
Overview 
-------- 
 
 
¶A. (U) Turkey is a destination and transit country for human 
trafficking.  No territory within the country is outside of 
GOT control.  There are no estimates on the numbers of TIP 
victims.  Most reports of human trafficking involve foreign 
women engaged in illegal prostitution.  According to a study 
released in November 2003 by the International Organization 
for Migration (IOM), the volume of trafficking in Turkey "can 
only be guessed at."  The Turkish MFA recently added a 
special TIP reporting section to its official government 
website, (http://www.mfa.gov.tr).  The MFA reports that 
police actions against 40 "entertainment enterprises" have 
been initiated, with investigations ongoing.  Post is not 
aware of any reports involving the trafficking of children. 
 
 
¶B. (U) According to the IOM study, women are trafficked to 
Turkey mostly from Romania, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, 
Moldova, and Azerbaijan.  Turkey is also a transit country 
for the trafficking of women from Central Asia, the Middle 
East, Africa, and the former Yugoslavia to Europe. 
 
 
¶C. (U) Trafficking, along with illegal migration in general, 
emerged as a problem in Turkey within the last 10-15 years. 
IOM reported that, until recently, Turkey had long been a 
country of emigration, with liberal border control policies 
aimed at attracting tourists and enhancing foreign currency 
reserves.  The collapse of the Soviet Union, among other 
factors, turned Turkey into a magnet for irregular migrants. 
The sudden change caught the GOT unprepared.  The GOT is now 
adjusting its policies.  While doing so, it has focused 
primarily on the need to control illegal border crossings, 
treating trafficking in persons (TIP) as a secondary concern, 
the IOM study concluded. 
 
 
¶D. (SBU) As noted para A, IOM in November 2003 released a 
study on TIP in Turkey, the first of its kind.  The study 
reached no conclusions on the extent of the problem.  Regina 
Boucault, chief of the IOM Mission in Turkey, has told us her 
experience indicates the dimensions of the TIP problem in 
Turkey are relatively small, i.e. Turkey is not in the same 
category as the major destination and transit countries. 
 
 
¶E. (SBU) According to Boucault, virtually all TIP victims 
enter Turkey willingly.  Most come with the intention of 
working illegally as prostitutes, though some may be lured 
under false pretenses.  They become TIP victims when they 
find themselves being kept under abusive conditions.  Pimps 
often hold their documents, and sometimes threaten and beat 
them.  Some TIP victims are held under slave-like conditions. 
 In some instances, victims have escaped their captors and 
approached IOM for assistance. 
 
 
¶F. (U) Turkey is not a country of origin. 
 
 
¶G. (U) Combating TIP became a GOT priority in 2002.  An 
inter-agency task force, chaired by the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, comprises officials from the Ministry of Interior, 
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor 
and Social Security, Ministry of Health, and the Prime 
Ministry.  The task force first met in October 2002 and has 
met five times to date. As a result of the task force's 
efforts, the GOT adopted a TIP National Action Plan in March 
¶2003. 
¶H. (U) In July 2003, police in Erzurum arrested 11 people on 
trafficking charges, including three police officers. 
Judicial proceedings in the case are ongoing, though two of 
the police officers were reportedly sentenced to 6-month jail 
terms while the remaining officer was acquitted. Prosecutors 
opened a related case against 13 additional police officers 
for alleged involvement in the crime.  There are credible 
reports of law enforcement officials receiving bribes either 
to smuggle aliens or turn a blind eye to illegal 
prostitution. 
 
 
¶I. (SBU) Although the GOT has ample law enforcement resources 
to fight trafficking, it says it does not have adequate 
funding for shelters or rehabilitation for trafficking 
victims.  MFA has unsuccessfully sought funding from the 
Finance Ministry for shelters and other services outlined in 
a protocol signed by the GOT and the Human Resources 
Development Foundation (HRDF), an Istanbul-based NGO.  HRDF 
has also been unsuccessful to date in its efforts to secure 
private-sector support.  As a result of the MFA-HRDF 
protocol, provincial governors throughout Turkey were tasked 
to identify property that may be converted to serve as 
regional shelters.  In the absence of funding, no further 
action has been reported. 
 
 
¶J. (U) As noted para G, the GOT has a task force on TIP, 
which monitors the various facets of its anti-TIP efforts. 
MFA releases monthly reports on the GOT's anti-TIP efforts. 
 
 
¶K. (U) Prostitution is legal and regulated.  The minimum age 
is 18. 
 
 
¶L. (U) According to the women's advocacy group Flying Broom, 
among traditional, rural communities in Turkey's southeast, 
about 4 percent of brides are under 18.  There is a 
traditional practice in the region whereby the groom pays 
money to the bride's family, though this practice has become 
far less common in recent years.  There have been cases where 
brides have been brought from Syria to southeast Turkey, but 
this is not common, according to Flying Broom. 
 
 
---------- 
Prevention 
---------- 
 
 
¶A. (U) While government officials acknowledge that 
trafficking occurs, they argue that its scope is limited. 
They state that Turkey has a problem of foreign prostitution 
and illegal migration, contending that Turkey's liberal visa 
regime for Balkan, Black Sea Littoral, and Caucasian states 
-- usually an automatic visa at the border for a nominal fee 
-- obviates the need for human smuggling gangs.  However, in 
response to international pressure, the GOT over the past two 
years has taken what IOM has described as "remarkable steps" 
to combat TIP both in Turkey and in the region. 
 
 
¶B. (U) Government agencies involved in anti-trafficking 
efforts include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry 
of the Interior, which oversees the police, Jandarma 
(paramilitary rural police), and border guards; the Ministry 
of Labor; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Health; 
and the Directorate on the Status and Problems of Women 
attached to the Ministry of Labor. 
 
 
¶C. (U) There have not been any nationwide anti-trafficking 
campaigns aimed at the general public.  Ad hoc, individual 
governors and police officials are reported to have engaged 
in public awareness campaigns against trafficking at the 
local level utilizing local NGOs.  In December 2003, the 
Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women held 
its second annual panel in Ankara on human trafficking.  Law 
enforcement officials from around the country, journalists, 
and NGO representatives attended the event.  In July 2003 the 
Tourism Ministry distributed a guide to the tourism industry 
notifying companies that the government is obligated by 
international agreement to take measures against foreigners 
visiting the country for sex tourism.  In August 2003 FM and 
Deputy PM Gul issued a press statement on TIP, distributed 
widely to media outlets. 
 
 
¶D. (U) As noted para I in Overview section, the GOT signed an 
anti-TIP protocol in September 2003 with HRDF.  The protocol 
included a number of anti-TIP initiatives, including: 
providing shelters for TIP victims; establishing a center to 
provide medical and legal assistance to TIP victims; and 
raising public awareness of TIP.  Neither the GOT nor HRDF 
has secured funding for the protocol, but HRDF did fulfill 
its obligation to establish a regional network with NGOs in 
neighboring countries to coordinate on trafficking issues. 
 
 
¶E. (U) The GOT (which is currently operating under an IMF 
program that sets targets related to its budget) claims 
financial difficulties in funding prevention programs. 
However, the GOT is pursuing alternate funding opportunities, 
most notably NGO support, and expanding current training 
programs to GOT officials on TIP. 
 
 
¶F. (SBU) As noted above, the GOT signed an anti-TIP protocol 
in September 2003 with HRDF, an Istanbul-based NGO. 
According to IOM, which recommended HRDF for the protocol, 
there are few NGOs in Turkey with TIP expertise.  The GOT 
cooperates with IOM, UNHCR and the EU on TIP-related training 
for judicial and law enforcement officials.  However, the GOT 
and IOM have not established a voluntary repatriation 
program, in part because the GOT is reluctant to provide IOM 
with the airport access necessary to escort returnees until 
they board the airplane. 
 
 
¶G. (SBU) Turkey borders Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, 
Iraq, Syria, and Bulgaria, as well as EU member Greece. 
Istanbul has a large international airport and there are also 
international ports of entry by land, sea, and air through 
several other cities, including Ankara, Trabzon, Erzurum, 
Adana, and Sarp, on the Georgian border.  Although the 
government expends considerable law enforcement resource to 
monitor its borders, which are vast and remote, it is not 
always successful, and the smuggling of goods and humans 
occurs.  Contacts report, however, that the vast majority of 
trafficking victims and other foreign women who engage in 
prostitution enter Turkey legally, either by getting work 
permits at Turkish Embassies abroad or, more commonly, by 
obtaining one month visas at the border.  Since the collapse 
of the Soviet Union, Turkey has adopted a liberal visa regime 
with countries formerly in the Soviet Empire to encourage 
trade and tourism.  Women who are deported for prostitution 
come back repeatedly, according to police.  They alter their 
names slightly or receive a passport in an entirely different 
name with the help, according to Turkish police, of corrupt 
officials in source countries or organized criminals.  Poor 
centralization in Turkish border control or corruption may 
also aid reentry.  Only the passports of women testing 
positive for sexually transmitted diseases are scanned into a 
centralized computer system. 
 
 
¶H. (U) See para G in Overview section. 
 
 
¶I. (U) Turkey plays an active role in the international 
community by regularly attending conferences hosted by SECI, 
USDOS, and IOM.  GOT further works with the United Nations, 
OSCE (Stability Pact and ODIHR), Interpol, and the European 
Union to combat trafficking.  Turkey has been especially 
active in the Trafficking Task Force within the framework of 
the Stability Pact/ODIHR.  In November 2003 the GOT submitted 
a draft protocol proposing bilateral anti-TIP cooperation 
with Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bulgaria, 
Romania, Russia, and Belarus.  To date, according to Security 
Director and Head of the Department of Foreigners Border and 
Immigration Affairs Mehmet Terzioglu, only Belarus has 
responded. 
 
 
¶J. (U) See para G in Overview section.  The National Action 
Plan has been submitted to all relevant government agencies, 
and is available upon request.  Embassy submitted a copy to 
G/TIP shortly after the plan was adopted in March 2003. 
 
 
¶K. (U) The MFA's Deputy Director General for Illegal 
Migration spearheads the GOT's anti-trafficking initiatives 
as head of the coordinating body for all agencies involved. 
 
 
----------------------------- 
Investigation and Prosecution 
----------------------------- 
 
 
¶A. (U) On August 3, 2002, the Turkish Parliament passed 
anti-trafficking legislation, Article 201(b) of the Turkish 
Penal Code.  The text of the law is as follows: 
 
 
"Those who provide, kidnap, take or transfer from one place 
to another and house other individuals with the intention of 
making them work or serve by force, subject them to slavery 
or similar treatment, threaten, pressure, use force or 
coercion to persuade them to give up their bodily organs, use 
undue influence, secure their consent by deception or by 
using the desperation of such individuals shall be sentenced 
to five to ten years of heavy imprisonment and a heavy fine 
of not less than one billion liras. 
 
 
"If the actions that constitute a crime attempted with the 
intentions laid out in the first paragraph exist, the victim 
is assumed not to have given his/her consent. 
 
 
"If the children below the age of eighteen are provided, 
kidnapped, taken or transferred from one place to another or 
housed with the intentions specified in paragraph one, even 
when no intermediary actions relation to the crime are 
committed, the penalties foreseen in paragraph one shall 
still be applied to the perpetrator. 
 
 
"If the crimes listed in the paragraphs above are committed 
in an organized manner, the penalties foreseen for the 
perpetrators shall be doubled." 
 
 
¶B. (U) The penalty for traffickers is five to ten years of 
heavy imprisonment and a fine of not less than one billion 
Turkish Liras.  These penalties may be doubled if the crimes 
were committed in an organized manner. 
 
 
¶C. (U) According to the Turkish Penal Code Article 416, the 
penalty for rape and/or forced sexual assault is at least 
seven years.  Attorney contacts note, however, that rape is 
difficult to prove and suspects may receive lighter sentences 
for various reasons related to the incident.  There are also 
articles in the Penal Code that: allow rapists to avoid 
punishment if they marry their victims; set different levels 
of punishment depending on whether the victim is married, or 
a virgin; and define rape as a crime against society rather 
than a crime against the individual. 
 
 
¶D. (U) Prosecutors have opened 14 cases against alleged 
traffickers under the anti-TIP legislation adopted in August 
2002, charging a total of 46 suspects.  Courts have ruled for 
acquittal in three cases; the remaining cases are ongoing. 
 
 
¶E. (SBU) Contacts repeatedly state that trafficking, where it 
exists, is in the hands of small operators.  Groups may be as 
small as four or five people who are connected, most often, 
through kinship or friendship.  Increasingly, former 
prostitutes who have gained Turkish citizenship are working 
as procurers and pimps and bring women on tourist visas. 
Traffickers posing as tourist agencies or firms in source 
countries bring women to Turkey with official work permits. 
Hotel owners are also believed to coerce women who work as 
prostitutes. 
 
 
¶F. (U) Official sources tell us Turkey actively investigates 
cases of trafficking using special investigation techniques. 
Police officials in Trabzon stated they used primarily 
undercover operations against traffickers.  The Ministry of 
Interior recently instructed governorships to issue 
humanitarian visas and temporary residence permits for 
victims to begin rehabilitation.  Our legal contacts hope 
these visas and residence permits will allow victims to serve 
as witnesses in investigations and trials of traffickers. 
Mitigated punishment or immunity for cooperating suspects may 
be granted unofficially; under Turkish law, there is no 
policy for plea-bargaining or other confessional treatment 
for victims of trafficking. 
 
 
¶G. (U) The GOT provides formal training programs on 
trafficking for police and judicial officials.  The Ministry 
of Justice has given several training seminars to 
approximately 600 judges and prosecutors on the issue of 
combating TIP between October 2002 and February 2003.  The 
Ministry of Interior conducted a trafficking training program 
for 75 police officials.  As these training programs were 
internally developed and administered, Post is unaware of the 
content discussed or length of these seminars.  The GOT also 
provides special training to the TNP's Foreigner Section 
officials in areas such as visa fraud, passport forgery, and 
illegal entries.  During 2003, UNHCR included an IOM TIP 
module in its Jandarma training program, and IOM has provided 
TIP training to prosecutors and Justice Ministry officials. 
 
 
¶H. (U) Turkey maintains security cooperation agreements, 
which deal with trafficking, with Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, 
Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia.  Other 
than from Belarus, the GOT says it has not received a 
response to a diplomatic note it sent in July 2003 to eight 
source countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Russia, 
Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Belarus) seeking closer 
cooperation on combating TIP.  In November 2003 the GOT 
prepared a draft protocol on bilateral anti-TIP cooperation 
and submitted it for consideration to the governments of the 
eight source countries.  Turkey cooperates with the OSCE, EU, 
Interpol, Europol, and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. 
GOT officials have attended numerous international 
conferences on the issue of trafficking, organized by 
governmental and NGO bodies. 
 
 
¶I. (U) We have no information regarding the extradition of 
persons charged with trafficking from other countries or 
whether or not the government allows the extradition of its 
own nationals, if any, charged with such offenses. 
 
 
¶J. (SBU) See para H in Overview section for information on 
police accused of involvement in trafficking.  We have no 
direct evidence of official involvement in or tolerance of 
trafficking at higher levels.  Contacts state there is some 
tolerance of foreign prostitution as long as it is kept 
within certain limits.  Authorities may turn a blind eye in 
the belief prostitution brings an economic benefit.  Places 
where foreign women congregate may provide a cover for 
trafficked women. 
 
 
¶K. (U) We do not have any evidence of GOT involvement in 
trafficking. 
 
 
¶L. (U) Turkey has adopted the following conventions: 
 
 
-- ILO Convention 182 (Ratified early 2001). 
 
 
-- ILO Convention 29 and 105 on Forced or Compulsory Labor 
(ILO Convention 29 went into effect on January 27, 1998 and 
ILO Convention 105 on December 21, 1960). 
 
 
-- Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child 
Pornography (Ratified May 9, 2002). 
 
 
-- The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish 
Trafficking-in-Persons, especially Women and Children, 
Supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational 
Organized Crime (Signed December 2000; Ratified January 31, 
2003 and put into force February 4, 2003). 
 
 
------------------------- 
Protection and Assistance 
------------------------- 
 
 
¶A. (U) The GOT has established a Humanitarian Visa and 
Temporary Residence Permit to allow TIP victims to remain in 
the country for rehabilitation and treatment.  The MFA 
indicates authorities have issued such visas to 16 TIP 
victims; several others were offered the visas, but decided 
to return to their home countries instead.  According to 
Security Director Mehmet Terzioglu, in an effort to comply 
with Stability Pact provisions, these special residency 
permits have been extended from 1 month to 5 months.  In 
August 2003, the GOT adopted a measure allowing TIP victims 
to receive free medical treatment.  If a foreign woman is 
detained for prostitution, she is tested for sexually 
transmitted diseases (STD) before deportation.  According to 
the police chief in Trabzon, if a woman tests positive for a 
STD and requests assistance, she would receive medical help. 
 
 
¶B. (U) The GOT in September 2003 signed an anti-TIP protocol 
with the Istanbul-based HRDF (see para D in the Prevention 
section) that includes shelters, but has not funded the 
initiative.  No other Turkish NGOs provide such services. 
HRDF has worked with IOM to assist in the return of foreign 
women who have been detained for prostitution or escaped from 
traffickers. 
 
 
¶C. (SBU) There is no established, consistent screening and 
referral process in place.  GOT officials claim police 
regularly screen illegal migrants to determine whether they 
might be trafficking victims; this appears to be true in some 
cases, but it is not clear how often this happens in practice. 
 
 
¶D. (U) It is longstanding police practice to deport illegal 
migrants, and foreign women detained for illegal 
prostitution.  Subjects of most such cases have generally 
been deported within two weeks of detention.  The concept of 
screening illegal migrants to determine whether they may be 
TIP victims is new, and implementation has been slow. 
 
 
¶E. (U) We have no evidence indicating that victims are 
encouraged to file civil lawsuits or seek legal action 
against traffickers.  The introduction of humanitarian visas 
and temporary residency permits (see para A) may help enable 
victims to seek legal action. 
 
 
¶F. (U) To our knowledge, the government does not provide 
protection to victims and witnesses. 
 
 
¶G. (U) See para G in Investigation and Prosecution section. 
Turkey is not a source country. 
 
 
¶H. (U) Turkey is not a source country. 
 
 
¶I. (U) See para D in Prevention section on HRDF.  No other 
Turkish NGOs work with trafficking victims to our knowledge. 
EDELMAN