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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ANKARA 000331 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF TU TIP IN TURKEY
SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, JAN 1-15, 
2005 
 
 
¶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 January 14 by Iran Mania News (FBIS 
Translation): 
 
     TITLE: Iran, Turkey to expand security cooperation 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: LONDON, Jan 14 (IranMania) - The Islamic 
     Republic of Iran and Turkey signed a memorandum of 
     understanding (MoU) on security cooperation. 
 
     Iran`s Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs 
     Hossein Motahar signed the MoU with his Turkish 
     counterpart during the 21st session of Joint Security 
     Committee in Ankara. 
 
     The MoU focuses on campaign against drug trafficking, 
     smuggling of goods, human trafficking, money 
     laundering, terrorism as well as organized crimes at 
     bilateral and regional levels as well as among the ECO 
     members states. 
 
     It was agreed that the 22nd session of the Joint 
     Security Committee would be held in December-November 
     ¶2005. 
 
     The Iranian delegation consisted of representatives 
     from ministry of foreign affairs, interior ministry, 
     army and police. END TEXT. 
 
¶3. (U) Published January 13 by Almaty Interfax-Kazakhstan in 
Russian (FBIS Translation): 
 
     TITLE: Kazakhstan Steps Up Fight Against Human 
     Trafficking 
 
     BEGIN FBIS Translated Excerpt:  Astana, 13 January: The 
     Kazakh Justice Ministry has said the country's law- 
     enforcement agencies have stepped up the fight against 
     human trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation. 
 
       "The law enforcement bodies and the bodies of the 
     National Security Committee have considerably stepped 
     up activities against this problem. In 2004, five 
     channels of trafficking Kazakh citizens abroad for 
     sexual and other exploitation were identified and 
     blocked," Deputy Justice Minister Ubaydulla Stamkulov 
     said today, addressing a session of the inter- 
     departmental commission for fighting human trafficking. 
 
       The session, which was chaired by Justice Minister 
     Onalsyn Zhumabekov, summed up the results of work by 
     state bodies within the framework of implementation of 
     a government plan to fight and prevent crimes related 
     to human trafficking in 2004-05. 
 
       Stamkulov said that in 2004, the country's Interior 
     Ministry bodies had instituted 12 criminal cases under 
     Article 128 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan 
     "Recruiting and trafficking people for exploitation," 
     which is twice as many as in 2003. 
 
       Seven of the indicated number of the criminal cases 
     were sent to court, one was dropped, two were suspended 
     and the rest are undergoing legal proceedings. 
 
       Courts have passed verdict of guilty on three cases, 
     the minister said. 
 
       Meanwhile, he said, 13 cases were instituted last 
     year on organizing illegal migration of citizens from 
     CIS countries. In 2003, 11 such cases were instituted. 
 
       As a result, Stamkulov said, six people were 
     convicted on nine cases in 2004. 
 
       He also presented statistics, according to which, 77 
     private employment agencies were registered in 
     Kazakhstan as of 1 January 2005, and 80 licenses were 
     issued for activities in attracting foreign manpower 
     and taking manpower from Kazakhstan. 
 
       Referring to information provided by the Labor and 
     Social Protection Ministry, Stamkulov said in 2004, 
     private agencies helped 1,083 Kazakhs find jobs in 
     South Korea, eight in Turkey, 526 in Russia. 
 
       Over 3,000 Kyrgyz citizens also found jobs in the 
     agricultural sector in Almaty Region last year. END 
     TEXT. 
 
     [Passage omitted: In November 2004 Kazakhstan signed UN 
     convention on fight against human trafficking, and the 
     republic's parliament has yet to ratify it] 
 
¶4. (U) Published January 12 by the semi-official Turkish 
language Anatolian News Agency: 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: The border patrol and Jandarma captured 38 
     illegal immigrants at the Edirne border. The group 
     included 30 Iraqis, 5 Somalians and 3 Iranians; all 
     were captured in Ipsala and Enez. 
 
     The illegal immigrants were sent to the Edirne Police 
     Foreigners and Passport Department for deportation. END 
     TEXT. 
 
¶5. (U) Published January 11 by the semi-official Turkish 
language Anatolian News Agency: 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: Jandarma captured 57 foreigners who were 
     illegally trying to leave Turkey in Edirne. 
 
     In the military zone near the Turpcular village of 
     Ipsala, the Jandarma captured 41 Somalians, 4 Iraqis, 3 
     Moroccans and in the Serem village of Meric, 4 
     Algerians and 5 Pakistanis. 
 
     The illegal immigrants were sent to the Edirne Passport 
     and Foreigners' Police for deportation. END TEXT. 
 
¶6. (U) Published January 10 by the semi-official Turkish 
language Anatolian News Agency: 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: Istanbul Police carried out an operation in 
     Silivri and captured six people involved in forced 
     prostitution. 
 
     Police raided a villa in the Mimar Sinan district of 
     Silivri, and captured Ukrainian citizen Tatyana L., 
     Murat K., Tugce K., her brother Serafettin K., Saffet 
     A., and Lyubov K. 
 
     Tatyana L. told the police that her husband died and 
     when she was 7 months pregnant she was offered a job in 
     Turkey as a babysitter/cleaning lady.  When she came to 
     Turkey, she realized that she was in the hands of a 
     gang that marketed foreign women to clients. 
 
     She gave birth to her child in Istanbul and when she 
     had to spare some time to the baby, the gang reportedly 
     suffocated the child. 
 
     The court arrested Murat K., Tugce K., her brother 
     Serafettin K., Saffet A., and Lyubov K. for "killing a 
     baby," forming a gang to do woman trafficking at 
     international level, and forgery. END TEXT. 
 
¶7. (U) Published January 7, 2005 by the Pakistan Daily 
Times: 
 
     More than 9,000 illegal Pakistani immigrants killed 
     By Shahzad Malik 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: ISLAMABAD: Border security forces in Greece 
     and Turkey have killed more than 9,000 Pakistanis, 
     trying to enter the two countries illegally in the past 
     10 years. 
 
     In 2004, more than 100 Pakistani nationals had been 
     killed and 2,000 had been arrested while trying to slip 
     into European and other countries without proper 
     documents, revealed a report compiled by a Rawalpindi- 
     based human rights organisation. The report said at 
     least 938 Pakistanis had been killed by the security 
     forces at the 200 kilometre-long border of Greece and 
     Turkey, on the charges of illegal entry. 
     The authorities in the two countries had laid land 
     mines in the border area to prevent illegal foreigners 
     from entering, the report said. The report said the 
     Iranian border security forces had killed 13 Pakistanis 
     when they were entering Iran in January 2004, adding 
     that nine Pakistanis had drowned at the Dubai coast in 
     January 2004 and more than 90 Pakistanis were still 
     missing after they got lost in the tidal waves while 
     entering into Australia on August 16, 2004. 
 
     Ulfat Kazmi, president of the Global organisation, said 
     border security forces of Iran had arrested 1,528 
     illegal Pakistan immigrant, Turkey's police caught 211 
     and Greece border security force apprehended 158 
     Pakistanis who were trying to enter these countries 
     illegally. 
 
     Talking to Daily Times, he said the Pakistanis who had 
     been caught at different places suffered in jails and 
     the Pakistani embassies in these countries had not made 
     arrangements for their release. 
 
     Explaining the modus operandi of the travel agents 
     involved in human trafficking, Federal Investigation 
     Agency (FIA) sources said they (travel agents) arrange 
     visas and other travelling documents to Sri Lanka, 
     Thailand and Hong Kong or other easy destinations and 
     from there people were sent to European countries 
     without valid travel documents. 
 
     FIA's immigration staff at the Islamabad airport said 
     up to 17 deportation cases had been registered in 2004. 
     END TEXT. 
 
¶8. (U) Published January 5, 2005 by the Cyprus Mail: 
 
  TITLE: `Modest progress' tackling flesh trade 
  By Jean Christou; US: Cyprus needs better protection for 
  victims 
 
  BEGIN TEXT: CYPRUS has made moderate progress in 
  combating human trafficking, according to an interim 
  assessment by the US State Department, which has put a 
  number of countries on a special watch list. 
 
  In June last year, for the first time, the US put Cyprus 
  on a watch list of countries, which lacked effort in 
  combating human trafficking. Although human trafficking 
  has been rampant on the island for well over a decade, US 
  embassy officials said they did not have enough evidence 
  until recently to include the island on its `Trafficking 
  in Persons' (TIP) report, which was first launched in 
  ¶2000. 
 
  On December 22 the State Department submitted to Congress 
  its first Interim Assessment of the countries in 
  question, including Cyprus, which it says has made 
  "modest progress in its efforts to combat trafficking". 
 
  It said that a number of planned government initiatives 
  have yet to be approved and implemented. Two 
  intergovernmental groups meet regularly to discuss anti- 
  trafficking efforts and promote information sharing. 
 
  The groups expect to officially present to the government 
  a national plan to combat trafficking and legislation to 
  address trafficking and immigration by the end of 2004. 
 
  There was a significant increase in trafficking-related 
  arrests in the first 10 months of 2004, which numbered 
  173 compared to 26 in 2003. Additionally, 15 cases are 
  being tried under 2000 anti-trafficking legislation, 
  although no one has been convicted, the report said. 
 
  "While police produced press releases on every 
  trafficking in persons-related arrest, the government has 
  funded no large-scale efforts to educate the public on 
  trafficking," it added. 
 
  "The government froze the issuing of new cabaret licenses 
  in June 2004. It has prohibited hiring replacements of 
  women on "artiste" visas who are identified as victims 
  and removed from their cabaret employment." 
 
  This means that women who are trafficking victims and 
  leave a cabaret now have the right to stay in Cyprus and 
  receive legal advice and financial assistance if they 
  agree to aid the police in prosecuting their former 
  employer or the person who trafficked them to the island. 
 
  The Government has also set aside several rooms for 
  trafficking victims in government- subsidized homes for 
  the elderly until more permanent shelters can be secured. 
 
  "Victim protection remains inadequate. The Government 
  drafted, but has not yet finalised or distributed, an 
  information sheet to provide to newly arrived female 
  foreign workers," the report concludes. 
 
  The TIP report covers 140 countries worldwide and is 
  divided into four categories. Tier 1 countries, which 
  include mostly European states, are those where 
  trafficking is big business but where the authorities 
  pull out all the stops to combat it. Tier 1 has 25 
  countries listed and also includes South Korea, Morocco, 
  Ghana and Taiwan. 
 
  Countries in the Tier 2 category, which has 54 states 
  listed, are those where trafficking is rife but 
  authorities are making significant effort to combat it, 
  and have shown progress since the previous report last 
  year such as Afghanistan and Iran. Tier 3 countries, 
  where the US says nothing is being done includes North 
  Korea, Cuba and Sudan. 
 
  Cyprus has been categorised in what the report calls the 
  `Tier 2 Watch List' along with Greece and Turkey, 
  Nigeria, Russia, Pakistan and The Congo and another 35 
  countries. At least 100 cases in each country must be 
  documented to warrant attention. The US has 16,000 
  documented cases. 
 
  Cyprus is on Tier 2 Watch List because its efforts 
  against trafficking are based largely on the government's 
  commitments to implement's recommendations made by the 
  Ombudswoman last year. 
 
  Several of the countries in the Tier 2 category, 
  including Lebanon and Saudi Arabia are not on the `watch 
  list' although they appeared when the list was issued to 
  be doing less than Cyprus to combat trafficking. 
 
  The original report said that Lebanon had taken `minimal 
  steps' in 2003 and offered only limited information on 
  arrests for trafficking. Saudi Arabia has no trafficking 
  laws and few victims are encouraged to press charges. END 
  TEXT. 
 
¶9. (U) Published January 5, 2005 by the semi-official 
Turkish language Anatolian News Agency: 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: Jandarma captured 33 foreigners attempting 
     to cross the border illegally into the Ipsala and Meric 
     sub-provinces of Edirne. 
 
     Jandarma operations netted 14 Somalians, eight 
     Palestinians, seven Iraqis, two Moroccans, one Burmese 
     and one Mauritanian. 
 
     The illegal immigrants were sent to the Passport and 
     Foreigners Department of the Edirne Police for 
     deportation. END TEXT. 
 
 
¶10. (U) Published January 4, 2005 by the semi-official 
Turkish language Anatolian News Agency: 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: Jandarma captured 37 foreigners and their 
     two Turkish guides in Ipsala, Edirne.  The illegal 
     immigrants included 32 Iraqis and five Pakistanis along 
     with their guide Erdem K. (33) on a pick-up truck 
     (license plate 34 FMF 44) driven by Serdar D. (35). 
 
     In their testimony, the two Turks told the Jandarma 
     that they were trying to take the foreigners out of the 
     country in return for money. 
 
     The two guides were detained and foreigners were taken 
     to the Passport and Foreigners Department of the Edirne 
     Police for deportation. END TEXT. 
¶11. (U) Published December 29, 2004 by the semi-official 
Turkish language Anatolian News Agency: 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: Jandarma and police patrols captured 36 
     foreigners in the Bosna village of Uzunkopru, Edirne. 
 
     They were taken to the Edirne Police Foreigners and 
     Passport Department for deportation. 
     Foreigners who were trying to cross the border 
     illegally included 16 Iraqis, six Algerians, four 
     Pakistanis, three Palestinians, three Mauritanians, 
     three Somalians and one Indian. END TEXT. 
 
  EDELMAN