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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 ANKARA 004149 
 
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, July 1-15, 
2005 
 
¶1. 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.  Published by Sabah on Friday, July 1: 
 
     TITLE:  COMLEKCI, A BASE FOR PROSTITUTION 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  Prostitutes, who established a major 
     prostitution market in Turkey following the dissolution 
     of the Soviet Union, are using the Comlekci district of 
     Trabzon as their base.  These women, most of whom 
     entered the country through Trabzon, gather at the 
     hotels in Comlekci.  Women, who are bought and sold as 
     a commodity, go to the other parts of Turkey from here. 
     In other words, trillions of TL exchange hands 
     overnight in Comlekci where both wholesale and retail 
     are available. 
 
     The overnight charge in general $100.  Each woman to be 
     sent to other places such as Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, 
     Bodrum and Marmaris are sold for the season for about 
     $15,000-20,000.  Some people buy five or six 
     prostitutes and make them work for the season. 
     Passports of many of the prostitutes, who are brought 
     to Turkey jointly by Turkish and Russian Mafia, are 
     taken away in order to prevent them from escaping. 
 
     It was stated that approximately ten hotels which were 
     shut down for prostitution re-opened with new names. 
     Sixteen major operations were carried out in the 
     district since 1998. 
 
     Before prostitutes arrived, there were six hotels in 
     Comlekci.  Today there are 37.  The number of 
     restaurants increased from four to 45.  There is a 
     cafeteria almost at every corner.  Many murders took 
     place over women in Comlekci, one of the oldest 
     residential areas in the town. 
 
     An official from the U.S. Embassy who visited Trabzon 
     two years ago carried out research in the province and 
     went to Comlekci and showed Turkey as a Third World 
     country involved in women trafficking. 
 
     Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1988, 
     thousands of women with higher education but unemployed 
     poured into the Black Sea region through the Sarp 
     Border Gate.  Women tried to earn a living initially by 
     selling the goods they brought at the Russian Bazaar. 
     They even brought tank tracks.  After a short while, in 
     line with the demands of regional people, they changed 
     sectors and moved on to prostitution.  From that moment 
     on they assumed the name "Natasha."  These women were 
     earning a lot of money in return for love in Turkey. 
     They received money (in Turkey) for love they were 
     giving freely in their own country.  Soon the Mafia 
     noticed the money involved.  The prostitution sector 
     boomed fast when Turkish and Russian organized crime 
     gangs began to act together. 
 
     Foreign prostitutes eventually were totally under the 
     control of the Turkish and Russian Mafia that takes 
     care of the women it employs. 
 
     A couple of ways are used for bringing these women to 
     Turkey.  Women mostly are brought through joint works 
     by the Turkish and Russian Mafia.  The Russian wing of 
     the underground sends women via highway, air or sea. 
     As soon as they arrive, they are met by the Turkish 
     wing of the Mafia.  Gangs take women under their own 
     protection and don't allow them to work by themselves. 
     Also Turkish gangs bring women under the guise of 
     serving a waitress, salesperson, nanny and then take 
     away their passports and force them to work. 
 
     Most of these women come to Trabzon and use Comlekci as 
     a base, one of the oldest districts of the town.  They 
     are placed in hotels in Comlekci and marketed either in 
     wholesale or retail.  In this district with 20,000 
     residents, trillions of TL exchange hands overnight. 
     There were only 20 small businessmen until 1998 in this 
     district.  Today there are hundreds of small 
     businessmen mostly serving the prostitution sector. 
 
     When prostitutes began to arrive in 1989, the number of 
     hotels was only six.  Now in the same district there 
     are 37 hotels.  The number of restaurants went up to 15 
     from four and there are 30 places serving meatballs. 
     There are also dozens of cafes in the district that 
     have turned into places where these women are marketed. 
     They charge at least $100 per night and prostitutes in 
     sexy clothes show themselves off to clients at those 
     cafes.  It was reported that ten hotels that were 
     closed because of prostitution re-opened under new 
     names.  There have been 16 major operations in the 
     district since 1998. 
 
     There are people traveling from very distant places in 
     order to be with these prostitutes.  These clients are 
     ready to spend a lot of money.  They go and sit at a 
     table at one of those cafes.  They look around to pick 
     one of the pretty women sitting around.  Later they 
     invite the woman they pick to their table.  Alcohol is 
     not served at these cafes.  Clients can order tea or 
     soft drinks but a soft drink that normally will cost 1 
     m, is sold for 30 m TL. 
 
     At the table they first order a soft drink.  Women 
     charge around $100 per night.  If the man agrees to pay 
     this amount, he pays the money to the woman there and 
     they leave together.  But the night is not over unless 
     the woman is served a meal at a restaurant before going 
     to a hotel.  Later she asks him to take her to a bar or 
     a disco.  Finally they end up at a hotel. 
 
     Tomorrow: Rich Turks lock up women in their private 
     houses (for this purpose).  When they are bored they 
     replace her.  Some women, in order to work, enter into 
     fake marriages.  TNP report: Security forces, too, are 
     involved.  END TEXT. 
 
¶3.  The following was also in the Friday July 1 edition of 
Sabah: 
 
     TITLE:  THEIR STORIES ARE ALL THE SAME 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  We were at a night club where women are 
     sold in Aksaray.  As I sat at a table with a friend, 
     our table was filled with food.  Later tall and blonde 
     women who looked somewhere between 17 and 25 walked in. 
     From that point on the bargaining began. 
 
     I learned about the meaning of this ceremony after 
     talking to a friend who is experienced with Aksaray. 
     He said, "You go to the woman you like and ask her the 
     price.  It is approximately $100.  If you find it 
     expensive, you sit down and go back to her after ten 
     minutes to ask for a price again.  In general women 
     won't bring down the price.  So every ten minutes you 
     go back and check the price again.  That is why you see 
     a lot of people moving between the tables and on the 
     dancing floor." 
 
     During my research I witnessed that this bargaining 
     begins in dollars and end up in YTL.  Late that night I 
     learned that a man with a moustache and who has a 
     textile plant in Ikitelli, could bring down $100 price 
     only to 100 YTL, certainly excluding the 70 YTL hotel 
     fee. 
 
     After watching women dancing in very short skirts in an 
     inviting fashion I approached one.  My intention was to 
     invite her to the table and listen to her story.  As 
     soon as Moldavian Mirabella came to my table and began 
     to talk in broken Turkish, waiters brought her Malibu. 
     I thought Malibu was a bar in Aksaray.  Mirabella told 
     me her sad story with her Turkish.  "I was studying 
     biology at the state university in Moldova.  After 
     graduating I could not find a job.  I came to Turkey to 
     serve as a nanny.  Finally I ended up doing this job. 
     My father was a teacher.  Turkey is very beautiful." 
 
     When I asked, "How do you work?" she got bored and 
     said, "$100."  So I responded, "Too expensive, 70 YTL?" 
     I asked for the bill.  The bill brought in a dark cover 
     was 290 YTL.  I asked the waiter what was this all 
     about and he said, "We accept credit cards."  I learned 
     about the meaning of these remarks during my early 
     research.  "Don't object to the bill.  If you are 
     coming here you must have either cash or a credit card. 
     Or else, we will take you to the guest house." 
 
     What is a guest house?  Erdal T. who saw a guest house 
     explained, "I took a friend out for entertainment.  We 
     had two glasses of raki.  There were some appetizers. 
     The bill was 1.4 billion TL.  I objected and the waiter 
     told me that they accepted a credit card.  When I 
     objected again, bodyguards came from the gate.  They 
     took us to a guest house.  When the man behind a desk 
     cursed, a waiter began to kick me.  They took away my 
     credit card, along with a chain and bracelet that my 
     mother gave me as a gift.  They constantly kicked my 
     legs.  Later I called a friend and paid 900 YTL.  I got 
     back my mother's gift but after my friend brought me 
     money." 
 
     Tomorrow: What does a buffer zone mean?  END TEXT. 
 
¶4.  Also in Friday, July 1st edition of Sabah: 
 
     TITLE:  SHE WAS PUT IN A HOUSE AND TORTURED 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  Scary data by IOM on human trafficking in 
     Turkey confirm the New York Times article last week. 
 
     According to IOM, 50 percent of women who are deceived 
     and brought to Turkey from Russia and the CIS are 
     between 19 and 25.  There have been 62 international 
     abduction cases last year and that figure is 97 this 
     year.  These figures include those whose passports are 
     taken away and who are forced to work and not those who 
     come to Turkey and voluntarily work as prostitutes. 
     Most of these women come from Ukraine, Moldova, 
     Uzbekistan and Russia.  About 40 percent of them are 
     forced to work in Istanbul and the rest in provinces 
     such as Antalya and Ankara. 
 
     Many of them are locked up in houses.  For those women 
     who are afraid to go to the police the way out is 
     suicide.   They end up either being paralyzed or die. 
     The most striking example to this is a 17-year-old 
     Ukrainian who jumped from the apartment she was locked 
     up in last year.  She remains paralyzed for life.  IOM 
     is taking care of her. 
 
     STORIES OF WOMEN WHO CALLED 157 AND WHO ARE SAVED AND 
     REPATRIATED: 
 
     STORY NUMBER 1: Moldovan Ms X, who has three kids, 
     accepted to go to work in Turkey when she could not 
     make a living for her family.  She found herself in a 
     village house in Antalya.  Her passport was taken away. 
     When she resisted, she was beaten and a gun was put to 
     her head.  She was not allowed to leave the house and 
     she began to have sex for money.  When one day she was 
     taken to a hotel to a client, she dialed the number she 
     noticed in Moldova.  Those who answered directed her to 
     the 157 hotline in Turkey.  The operator called 155 in 
     Antalya and she was saved.  After staying at the 
     shelter in Istanbul for a while, she was sent back to 
     her country. 
 
     STORY NUMBER 2: Romanian cook Ms Y could not make ends 
     meet.  She signed a contract to work at a casino in 
     Turkey.  She was asked to work in the prostitution 
     sector.  Even the cigarette she smoked were charged as 
     debt.  She was not allowed to return home.  When she 
     had gone to the Turkish Embassy for a visa, she called 
     Hotline 157 that she saw at the airport.  Along with Y, 
     eight girls were saved.  But the others, except Y, did 
     not want to go back without money and they did not file 
     a complaint because they were afraid.  Y returned to 
     her country after staying at the shelter in Istanbul. 
 
     TOMORROW: Mission Impossible END TEXT. 
 
¶5.  The last article published in Sabah on Friday, July 1: 
 
     TITLE:  The Purpose Is to Help Victims 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  Iskender Okyay, head of the MFA Consular 
     Department explained the goal of the 157 Hotline as, 
     "Women who are brought to Turkey by deceit and forced 
     to work are victims.  Our goal is to help those who are 
     victims.  Those who work in this sector are seen as 
     criminals.  But they might be victimized." 
 
     Okyay explained that NGOs are trained to work with the 
     police and Jandarma.  He added that responsibility lies 
     on all units. END TEXT. 
 
¶6.  Published by Tercuman on Friday, July 1: 
 
     TITLE: You're a Natasha - Emin Pazarci 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  Four young girls who are members of a 
     Russian music group spent a vacation in Turkey and when 
     they went back to their country wrote a song. 
 
     The name of the song is "You're a Natasha." 
 
     This song became very popular and turned the Russian 
     music market upside down. 
 
     The song ridicules the Natasha market in Turkey, as 
     well as the Turkish men who pursue Russian women and 
     the mentality that regards Russians as Natashas. 
 
     They are not wrong.  The UN report says, "Forty percent 
     of women abducted for prostitution are employed in 
     Istanbul and 16 percent in Antalya and Ankara." 
 
     Add to this ours (Turkish prostitutes) and imagine? 
 
     Yesterday there was a piece in "Sabah."  The 
     prostitution sector in Istanbul was under scrutiny. 
     Pictures of prostitution next to the Fatih Police 
     Station were published. 
 
     Certainly this is only one of the examples. 
 
     This is the case in Istanbul but is it any different in 
     other towns? 
 
     Certainly not.  Turkey has turned into an open market 
     for women.  Similar pictures are seen in the capital 
     Ankara 100 meters from the parliament.  Bargaining goes 
     on the streets for women. 
 
     Turkey has turned into an open prostitution market. 
     Open prostitution markets operate under the guise of a 
     bar.  You enter and make a bargain with the person you 
     like.  If you reach an agreement, you take her and go. 
 
     Massage parlors are booming in the neighborhood.  But 
     these are actually prostitution operations. 
 
     What is worse is that police cars are waiting in front 
     of these woman markets at nighttime.  All bargaining 
     takes place in front of the eyes of policemen. 
 
     In the past such things were done secretly.  Now 
     everything is permitted.  Those who market women no 
     longer hide themselves.  They are proudly walking 
     around.  They will almost brag saying that they are 
     earning a living by serving as a pimp. 
 
     Now hold on to your seats.  A few days ago we 
     encountered an incredible incident next to the Ankara 
     bureau of "Tercuman."  Obviously things were not going 
     well at those bars that market women.  The owners 
     brought a ram.  They slaughtered it in front of the 
     building to increase their income and for the market to 
     grow.  And that is not all.  They put the blood of the 
     sacrifice on the poster of a woman working at that bar. 
     Maybe they also prayed, "God, may you increase the 
     money we earn from prostitution.  Let's sell more women 
     and let's earn more money." 
 
     This is the point we have reached in the prostitution 
     market.  It is grave.  Values have been eroded so much 
     and they are so mixed up now. 
 
     There are now those in this country who beg God to let 
     them earn money from a sacrilegious thing and from 
     being immoral. 
     If things go like this I know what will happen.  The UN 
     will prepare new reports.  In those reports we won't be 
     referred as one of the countries that employ abducted 
     women only.  We will also break a record in venereal 
     disease.  For example, we will earn the title of having 
     the most AIDS patients because there are no measures 
     taken. 
 
     Nobody is bothered much about the erosion of values and 
     this human drama that are experienced in Turkey.  END 
     TEXT. 
 
¶7.  Published by Sabah on Saturday, July 2: 
 
     TITLE:  AKSARAY: BUFFER ZONE 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  I went on a tour in Aksaray one night.  It 
     has an interesting atmosphere with its blinking lights, 
     although not like Las Vegas.    Whoever goes to Aksaray 
     for entertainment pays a hefty bill but they are stingy 
     when it comes to tipping.  That was what I did as well 
     after paying the 290 m TL bill.  I moved to Rosya who 
     was draped in a vine leaf. 
 
     The atmosphere was like the movie "Feride" of Emel 
     Sayin.  The number of foreign women was double the 
     number of men.  As soon as I sat at a table, I noticed 
     that eight women were smiling at me. 
 
     I began to tour the streets.  The pimps in Aksaray are 
     all wearing pants and a shirt.  Even if one goes to 
     ISKI to pay a water bill, these pimps may approach them 
     asking, "Do you need a place, brother?"  Or they ask, 
     "Do you want entertainment?"  They check whether 
     clients are interested in 15-year old Romanians or 
     Bulgarians.  Those who may respond that they were going 
     to pay a bill at ISKI, they insist, "But when I say 
     girls, I don't mean street walkers.  I mean virgins." 
 
     In Aksaray around midnight an open woman market 
     operates in the middle of the street which is 30 meters 
     to the police station.  It is the borderline between 
     Eminonu and Fatih, the most populated sub-provinces. 
     Police units have a dispute over who are in charge of 
     this particular street.  Street walkers reportedly 
     cross the street and from the other side wave at the 
     police when law enforcement officers from one of the 
     two sub-provinces arrive at the site.  This street 
     looks like a buffer zone under the control of the UN. 
     The only missing thing is the UN patrol/police. 
 
¶8.  Published by Sabah on Saturday, July 2: 
 
     TITLE:  $100 PER NIGHT AND $20,000 PER SEASON 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  In the Comlekci district of Trabzon women 
     are sold for the night or for the season.  Clients from 
     various parts of Turkey and particularly from Istanbul, 
     Izmir, Antalya, Bodrum and Marmaris, buy the women they 
     like along with their passports for the season.  They 
     sometimes buy five or six together wholesale and take 
     these women to their region and make them work until 
     their time is up. 
 
     Some of these women are presented as room service at 
     luxurious hotels.  Some of them are kept in special 
     apartments rented for entertainment by rich residents 
     of Trabzon.  When the client gets bored, he replaces 
     her with another. 
 
     Prostitution rings resort to fake marriages in order to 
     make these women work.  They marry them to deranged or 
     very old and even sometimes deceased people in order to 
     make these women obtain Turkish citizenship. 
 
     Gultekin Yucesan, Human Rights Association Trabzon 
     branch president, said that an officer from the U.S. 
     Embassy arrived in the region two years ago and toured 
     Trabzon and Rize.  He noted that she reported to the 
     U.S. Embassy that Turkey was a 3rd world country that 
     sells women.  Yucesan noted that these women, whose 
     passports and money are taken away, have begun to apply 
     to the police against the type of uncivilized treatment 
     that they have been subject to.  He said, "The U.S. 
     always sent officials to Trabzon to study this issue." 
 
     There have been some incidents where the names of 
     gendarmerie and high-level police officers were 
     involved in some bribery incidents in Trabzon which is 
     a center for prostitution.  A colonel and a TNP 
     official were sacked and prosecuted for bribery. END 
     TEXT. 
 
¶9.  Published by Sabah on Saturday, July 2: 
 
     TITLE:  NO DIFFERENT THAN A SECRET SERVICE 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  For the first time in the world a hotline 
     was established in order to save women who are forced 
     into prostitution in Turkey.  This toll free 157 line 
     is operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  It can 
     be called from anywhere in Turkey.  Professionals from 
     IOM who speak Russian, Romanian, English and Turkish 
     answer the phone.  They are showing a way out to 
     victimized women who are afraid to go to the police. 
 
     The hotline operators inform the police and gendarmerie 
     about women whose lives are at risk.  Organized crime 
     gangs that are losing money for every woman they lose 
     have been calling the hotline and making threats. 
     Identities and locations of operators who receive death 
     threats are kept secret.  Operators keep their 
     profession as well as their taped conversation with 
     callers a secret.  Women who are saved are accompanied 
     to a plane by IOM and they are met by NGOs in their 
     country.  They are returned to their families. END 
     TEXT. 
 
¶10.  Published by The Journal of Turkish Weekly on Sunday, 
July 3: 
 
     TITLE:  US:  Armenian State Supports Trafficking 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  US State secretary chief advisor, head of 
     the Human Trafficking Combat and Monitoring office, 
     Ambassador John Miller said that Armenia is a source 
     country from where women and girls are trafficked 
     mainly to the Middle Eastern countries including 
     Turkey.  According to Mr. Miller, the basis of the 
     office report were the calculations of the UN according 
     to which in the Arabian states and Turkey there are 
     about 1000 Armenian prostitutes.  The majority of them 
     are victims of trafficking.  On the other hand, the 
     calculations of the Armenian Investigating Journalists 
     Association President Edik Baghdasaryan, the number of 
     Armenian prostitutes is more than 5,000 in the region. 
     Mr. Miller was greatly surprised by the facts and 
     demanded proof on what was said. 
 
     According to the report of the US State secretary chief 
     advisor "The Republic of Armenia Government did not 
     represent sufficient proof that the efforts directed to 
     the combat against trafficking have been enhanced.  The 
     Government has not carried out investigation of the 
     Prosecution which was accused of supporting the 
     traffickers.  The Prosecution bodies have supported 
     those organizing trafficking, and the border-guards, 
     taking bribes, have secured the free transportation 
     abroad." 
 
     Stating that the RA Government does not fully 
     correspond to the criteria combating trafficking, Mr. 
     Miller mentioned that in our country the punishments 
     for this kind of deeds are too mild.  END TEXT. 
 
¶11.  Reported by Vatan on Sunday, July 3: 
 
     TITLE:  Prostitution Operation in Aksaray and Laleli; 
     170 Women Arrested 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  Istanbul Fatih Security Directorate teams 
     raided Aksaray and Laleli bars and disco-type 
     entertainment areas, especially at late-night hours, 
     looking for foreign women without passports, visas or 
     those practicing prostitution.  One hundred seventy 
     foreign women were arrested during the operation. 
     Moldovan, Russian, Ukrainian and Azeri women were taken 
     to the hospital with buses from the Cevik Kuvvet 
     station.  There were reports that prostitution was 
     rampant in Aksaray and Laleli in the operation's last 
     days.  It was learned that most of the women did not 
     have visas.  END TEXT. 
 
¶12.  Written by Fatih Altayli and published in Hurriyet on 
Saturday, July 2: 
 
     TITLE:  Can Woman Trade be a Tourism Aspect? 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  I received hundreds of faxes, e-mail and 
     telephone messages following my piece on the Russian 
     women trade-Mafia involvement in Turkey.  The most 
     interesting was a telephone call by a businessman.  I'm 
     conveying to you exactly what he told me: 
 
     "Fatih bey, I do not agree with what you wrote.  This 
     business is affecting positively the tourism potential 
     of Turkey and Istanbul in particular.  I would like to 
     share with you what I experienced." 
 
     "Recently one of my clients visited me from abroad.  I 
     gave him a tour and hosted him at very chic places in 
     Istanbul.  As I was dropping him off at his hotel, in 
     the evening, he asked me whether I could find him a 
     girlfriend.  Since I knew nothing on this issue, I 
     called a friend who was familiar with it.  He gave me 
     the address of a Club Bacardi in Aksaray.  We went 
     there.  We looked for it for quite some time, but we 
     could not find it.  Finally we asked some policemen. 
     They showed us.  We went.  It was similar to a famous 
     night club in Moscow.  There were hundreds of women 
     inside, each having a different look.  We talked to an 
     official there.  My client reached an agreement with 
     one of the women brought to him.  He took her to his 
     hotel." 
 
     "The next day he was very happy.  He said that he would 
     come to Istanbul more often and that in one of the 
     European countries he saw such service.  Indeed there 
     were a lot of tourists at the Club Bacardi." 
 
     "This situation reminded me of Amsterdam.  There, there 
     is an area called the Red Light District.  This is the 
     biggest tourism center of Amsterdam.  Even in the guide 
     books on Amsterdam, this district is praised.  There, 
     too, Russian women are in majority.  When this is 
     happening in the center of Europe and in its most 
     modern city, what do you want from Istanbul and 
     Antalya?  On the contrary, you can use this as a 
     promotion element and an attraction center." 
 
     Esteemed readers, I wanted to convey to you this 
     different point of view. 
 
     Do you agree?  END TEXT. 
 
¶13.  Published by Vatan on Thursday, July 7: 
 
     TITLE:  Mysterious campaign against prostitution in 
     Igdir 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  An interesting campaign against 
     prostitution has started in Igdir.  Posters with "No to 
     Prostitution" and "Don't cry, take claim of your wife" 
     were posted on electric poles on governorship roads. 
     Despite all the investigation, it is still not known 
     who prepared and hung the posters which picture a 
     crying woman.  END TEXT. 
 
¶14.  Published by The New Anatolian on Thursday, July 7: 
 
     TITLE:  Gendarmerie steps up anti-trafficking efforts 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  To fight human trafficking, Gendarmerie 
     Command deploying special teams in 23 cities 
 
     Turkey's Gendarmerie Command has stepped up its efforts 
     to halt human trafficking by deploying special teams in 
     23 cities, in the face of a recent rise in the crime. 
     According to official sources, the Gendarmerie Command 
     has conducted a wide-ranging study on human trafficking 
     in Turkey.  Its findings were published in the brochure 
     "Fighting Human Trafficking."  A total of 150,000 
     brochures were printed, with 50,000 in both Russian and 
     Turkish.  The contents of the study are broken down 
     into the following categories: 
 
       -    An overview of the crime 
-    The fate of its victims 
       -    How to escape 
       -    How to spot a human trafficking victim 
-    Warnings for potential victims 
       -    How to contact the gendarmerie 
 
     Focus on 23 cities 
 
     The gendarmerie focused its efforts on 23 cities where 
     evidence of human trafficking has recently risen. 
     According to the gendarmerie report, the cities under 
     the microscope are as follows:  Istanbul, Ankara, 
     Antalya, Aydin, Izmir, Mugla, Adana, Mersin, Gaziantep, 
     Artvinl, Ardahan, Kars, Igdir, Trabzon, Giresun, Rize, 
     Ordu, Samsun, Balikesir, Yalova, Diyarbakir, Van and 
     Elazig. 
 
     The gendarmerie sent out special teams, in 
     collaboration with several nongovernmental 
     organizations (NGOs), to fight the trafficking.  The 
     collaborative efforts resulted in five seminars held in 
     Rize, Adana, Istanbul and Antalya, which also included 
     the participation of Turkish representatives from the 
     International Refugee Organization (IRO).  At these 
     seminars nearly 200 personnel were trained for the 
     difficult task of recognizing and fighting human 
     trafficking, while doing whatever possible to help the 
     victims. 
 
     Victims and traffickers 
 
     Here is the number of people, both trafficker and 
     trafficked, and their countries of origin, that the 
     gendarmerie intercepted during the September 2003- 
     December 2004 period: 
 
     Victims by country of origin 
 
     Moldova (66), Turkey (27), Ukraine (21), Russia (10), 
     Azerbaijan (8), Romania (1), Uzbekistan (8), Kyrgyzstan 
     (2), Autonomous Russian Republic of Dagestan (2), 
     Belarus (1), Turkmenistan (1), and Armenia (1). 
 
     Traffickers by country of origin 
 
     Turkey (119), Azerbaijan (8), and Russia (1). 
 
     Intervention in 42 incidents 
 
     A statement from the Gendarmerie Command General 
     Secretariat urged states in the region to acknowledge 
     that "human trafficking has recently begun to threaten 
     individuals, societies and whole states."  Not only 
     Turkey, but the whole world has a role to play, 
     especially in trafficking done on account of 
     prostitution, it said. 
 
     "As our country borders and lies near countries used as 
     resources centers for human trafficking, it frequently 
     faces charges of being the target country for human 
     trafficking," the general secretariat said.  The 
     gendarmerie stresses the importance of fighting this 
     crime, and said that it has intervened in 42 human 
     trafficking incidents between September 2003 and 
     December 2004.  It reported that a total of 148 victims 
     were saved from the hands of traffickers, and 128 
     suspects were arrested.  END TEXT. 
 
¶15.  Published by Milliyet on Thursday, July 7: 
 
     TITLE:  Russians Brought Prostitution 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  In an Istanbul guide book distributed to 
     architects by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, 
     it was claimed that Russian women fleeing the Bolshevik 
     Revolution offended the morals of the city. 
     The "Istanbul City Guide," prepared by the Metropolitan 
     Municipality of Istanbul and distributed to the 
     architects at the 22nd World Architects Convention, 
     accused Russian women fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution 
     of offending the morals of the city. 
 
     The guide did not refer to the Republican reforms.  It 
     stated, "Ladies in Istanbul liked the clothing of 
     Russian women who fled the Bolshevik Revolution and 
     emigrated to Istanbul and they became the fashion.  The 
     people of Istanbul, pioneered by Russian immigrants, 
     for the first time went to the shore and swam." 
 
     In the chapter entitled "Enemy Occupation and Truce," 
     on pages 43 and 46, the lifestyle of women during the 
     occupation years was described as, "during occupation 
     the public and youngsters participated in 
     demonstrations in Istanbul.  Aside from demonstrations, 
     another important development was the establishment of 
     some secret services that were working for 
     independence.  Some of them were "Karakol Birligi, Mim 
     Grubu, Mudafa-i-Milliye."  Back in those years people 
     in Istanbul were constantly moving.  They were leaving 
     occupied Istanbul and moving to places in Anatolia not 
     under occupation.  Meanwhile, Russians fleeing the 
     Bolshevik Revolution were moving to Istanbul.  They had 
     a major impact on Istanbul and its people. 
 
     Istanbul ladies liked the clothing of Russian women 
     very much and because a fashion.  The people of 
     Istanbul, pioneered by Russians, for the first time 
     went to the shore to swim.  During this period, 
     Istanbul's nightlife because livelier, despite the 
     occupation.  There was great interest in concerts at 
     cafes, theatre troupes and movies.  Bars and pastry 
     shops were introduced to Istanbul as alternatives to 
     taverns.  All these brought along a moral collapse. 
     Prostitution by Russian women working at these places 
     began to take over the city. 
 
     Milliyet's front-page story yesterday titled "Strange 
     Guide Book by Municipality" resonated.  The Istanbul 
     Metropolitan Municipality did not make an announcement 
     on the issue. 
 
     Oktay Ekinci, Chairman of the Union of Turkish 
     Architects and Engineer Chambers, said, "This is very 
     good reporting.  We learned about this when we read 
     Milliyet." 
 
     Ekinci added that the official host of the Convention 
     was the Chamber of Architects and that the Metropolitan 
     Municipality was supporting the event as the 
     municipality of the host city.  He added, "I do not 
     believe that Kadir Topbas deliberately distributed this 
     guide book to achieve a political goal.  Probably some 
     people in the Municipality wanted to take advantage of 
     the convention and give such a message to world 
     architects.  It is very wrong to blacken the Republican 
     regime when the regime enabled us to be together with 
     the world." 
 
     The CHP, too, reacted to the guidebook.  Nigde Deputy 
     Orhan Eraslan said, "Their real intention is apparent. 
     They demonstrated that they are against the Republic." 
 
     Ankara Deputy Muzaffer Kurtulmusoglu added, "One can 
     understand the mentality of the May or when he told 
     foreigners that it would be better if there were a 
     caliphate." 
 
     Istanbul Deputy Kemal Kilicdaroglu said, "All these 
     indicate the path that the AKP wants to drag Turkey 
     into." 
 
     Dursun Atilgan, Chairman of the Ataturkist Thought 
     Association Federation said, "The Metropolitan 
     Municipality demonstrated that it was against the 
     Republican regime." 
 
     One of the two editors of the guidebook was Ibrahim 
     Uslu, husband of AKP Istanbul Deputy Zeynep Karahan 
     Uslu and ANAR polling company director general.  Uslu 
     answered our questions: 
 
     --Did you prepare the guidebook? 
     --It was prepared as a CD in 1995 for Habitat (for 
     Humanity).  It was distributed to delegates who came to 
     Istanbul for the Habitat Conference.  Later it was 
     turned into a book. 
 
     --An updated copy of the book was distributed at the 
     Architect's Conference.  Were you aware of this fact? 
     --I was not aware of it.  The project ended for us in 
     ¶1996. 
 
     --Is it correct to introduce the St. Sophia Museum as a 
     mosque to foreign architects at a major conference? 
     --St. Sophia as a mosque and building is important from 
     an architectural point of view.  But on the CD it was 
     also listed in the museum section as well.  I cannot 
     say anything about the book version. 
 
     --Where did you get this information for the book? 
     --I did not write some of the articles.  I need to 
     check the old files. 
 
     --There was no reference to the War of Independence and 
     Ataturk. 
     --In the history of Istanbul, the city was not 
     liberated from the enemy occupation by Turkish armies. 
     We did not fight against the British. 
 
     --Didn't the British evacuate the town because of the 
     success of the War of Independence? 
     --Certainly. 
 
     COMMENTS ON THE ARTICLE 
 
     Norge:  Somebody should say "Stop" to this government 
     and its followers who keep coming up with a meaningless 
     anti-Russian (attitude).  The biggest contribution to 
     Turkish tourism comes from more than one million 
     Russian tourists.  How can our Tourism Minister, who 
     does not know what he's talking about, and the Istanbul 
     Municipality, which doesn't know itself, make such 
     mistakes?  It is also not true.  Prostitution has long 
     existed (in Istanbul). 
 
     Garibistan Vatandasi:  In the 1950s we talked about a 
     famous brothel owner of those days.  In the 1960s we 
     talked about actresses not becoming famous unless they 
     entered the bedrooms of directors.  IN the 1970s the 
     brothels and gambling dens.  Many things happened to 
     ignored girls who wanted to be movie stars.  In 1980 
     the prostitution sector bosses became champion 
     taxpayers.  You forget all this and put the blame on 
     Russians as the magnificent and sleeping Tourism 
     Minister put it.  Uggghhhh. 
 
     Uhorizon:  There was prostitution definitely before the 
     Russians arrived.  Those who claimed that there was no 
     prostitution must be ignorant about history.  If one 
     reads a bit of history, one will learn this.  One will 
     be surprised with what one learns. 
 
     Ahlak:  I know what you are trying to do.  Leave the 
     Government (of Turkey) alone.  What is the point of 
     making things this ugly?  This is blackening Islam. 
     Your intentions are clear.  These people are enemies of 
     the state.  This is only a ploy by those who are 
     jealous of the current administration. 
 
     Orion2002:  1. What is the connection between Russian 
     women and Municipality's architects chamber meeting? 
     If there was going to be a brochure published, it 
     should have been on architecture.  2. With the coming 
     of Russian women, a movement began in fields such as 
     movies, theatre and art.  Do they mean that art hurts 
     the morals of the public?  3. Recently anti-Semitic 
     publications and rhetoric hurt the country a lot.  Now 
     the same thing is done against Russians.  When will we 
     not care about this indiscreetness?  Doesn't the Mayor 
     check what was written? 
 
     Uygar koc:  Correct.  We say that a person who tells 
     the truth is not welcomed anywhere.  Unfortunately what 
     was written in the guidebook is correct.  There is no 
     need to be angry for the truth in the guidebook.  You 
     cannot hide it. 
 
     Ayhan Ersoy:  How easy is it to slander somebody?  I'm 
     not in the position to defend the Russians, but as long 
     as Turkish men cannot control themselves, does it 
     really matter who spreads prostitution whether it's 
     Russian women or women who belong to other nations? 
     Obviously these women are not raping the men!  END 
     TEXT. 
 
¶16.  Reported by Vatan on Friday, July 8: 
 
TITLE:  3,000 Children are Sold Each Day 
 
     BEGIN TEXT:  UNICEF announced that 3,000 children are 
     sold and forced into prostitution each day around the 
     world. 
 
     The victims are from poverty-stricken countries like 
     eastern European Moldova.  UNICEF representative 
     Kirsten Leyendecker said in response to those people 
     from western countries who pay children to enter into 
     relations with them, "Those who have sexual relations 
     with children and `sex tourists' should be heavily 
     punished."  According to research on the German-Czech 
     Republic border, one in every seven children is 
     approached with an offer for sex for money, but that 
     these offering people are not punished."  END TEXT. 
MCELDOWNEY