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

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 002180 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV TU PHUM
SUBJECT: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MINORITY PROPERTY ISSUES 
MEET:  CIVIL SOCIETY KEEPS UP THE FULLCOURT PRESS 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 7242 
     ¶B. ISTANBUL 1579 
     ¶C. ISTANBUL 1780 
     ¶D. 04 ISTANBUL 868 
     ¶E. ANKARA 3887 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary and Comment:  "The genius of democracy is 
in freedom of expression; those without this are hunters and 
gatherers."  Thus Can Paker, Chair of TESEV (Istanbul's 
preeminent thinktank) opened a December 10 conference on 
Turkey's Minority Rights Question, underlining Turkish civil 
society actors' commitment to continue testing the limits of 
freedom of expression in Turkey.  While the conference was 
overshadowed at the time by the press surrounding the Pamuk 
case, it was a noteworthy contribution to the chorus of civil 
society actors pressing for freedom of speech.  It also kept 
the spotlight on just how little progress the GOT has made in 
addressing minority communities' pressing concerns, 
especially outstanding property issues.  End Summary and 
Comment. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Defiant in the face of charges:  Arriving at the 
conference alongside former  High Court of Appeals (Yargitay) 
President Sami Selcuk was Ankara University Professor Baskin 
Oran, who last month was charged under two articles of the 
Turkish Penal Code for his role as one of the principal 
authors of a 2004 report on minorities in Turkey (ref A). 
Addressing the gathering, Oran drove home a number of the 
same points which resulted in criminal charges against him 
last month. He said the official definition of "nation" in 
Turkey referred to secular, Muslim, Hanefite, Sunnite and 
Turkish elements of the society, and that the current public 
discourse was about deciding what to do with those who cannot 
call themselves "Turks." 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  "Extremely disconcerting" cases:  Sami Selcuk 
followed Oran, with a passionate speech defending basic 
democratic values:  a democrat is one who sees the "other" as 
his equal, he said, asserting that the opposite of this is 
fascism.  Calling some of the cases currently before the 
courts "extremely disconcerting," Selcuk argued that despite 
laws on the books limiting freedom of expression, judges 
should interpret those laws in line with contemporary values, 
demonstrating that they are not only competent, but wise. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Familiar voices:  Dilek Guven of Germany's Bochum 
University (ref B) and Agos Publisher Hrant Dink (ref C) were 
among the now familiar faces linking government policies to 
the nationalization of capital, the anti-Greek riots of 
September, 1955, and the exclusion of information about 
minority groups' cultures and faiths in national textbooks. 
An interesting addition to the program was Professor Herkul 
Millas from Athens University, who gave examples of 
discrimination in Greece, noting that Turkey was not the only 
country in which such problems were seen. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Plus ca change:  Many of the conference 
presentations were similar to those made last June 2004 at a 
TESEV conference on minority property rights (ref D). 
Eighteen months later, little -- if any -- movement has 
occurred in this realm.  The Foundations Law, submitted to 
Parliament last summer, was criticized by EU Enlargement 
Commissioner Olli Rehn (ref E) and still languishes in 
committee.  Moreover, only 26 percent of the applications (as 
allowed by 2002 reforms) by minority foundations to recover 
property seized by the government have been granted, 
according to Baskin Oran. 
JONES