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UNCLAS ANKARA 000990 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP (JENNIFER DONNELLY), G, INL, DRL, PRM 
DEPARTMENT FOR IWI, EUR/SE, EUR/PGI 
DEPARTMENT FOR USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN ELAB SMIG ASEC KFRD PREF TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY:  SIXTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT:  INVESTIGATION 
AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 03836 
 
¶1.  (U)  Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (U)  Post's responses are keyed to questions in Reftel A. 
 This is part 2 of 3 (septel). 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶A.  (U)  Chapter 1, Article 80 of the Turkish Penal Code, as 
amended by Parliament on September 26, 2004, and signed into 
law on October 11, 2004, specifically defines human 
trafficking and prescribes penalties for traffickers and 
their accomplices.  The law covers both internal and 
transnational forms of trafficking.  Penalties range from 
eight to twelve years of imprisonment (up from five to ten 
years in earlier versions of the law), and, at judicial 
discretion, an additional penalty of up to ten thousand days. 
 Trafficking crimes can also be (and have been) prosecuted 
under statutes of the Law on Combating Benefit-Oriented 
Criminal Organizations, Turkish Citizenship Law, Labor Law, 
Law on Working Permits for Foreigners, and the Law on the 
Prevention of Money Laundering. 
 
Chapter 1, Article 80:  Human Trafficking (as amended 
September 26, 2004): 
 
(1)  A person who procures or kidnaps persons or who takes or 
transports persons from one place to another or who harbors 
persons with a view to force them to work or to provide a 
service or to subject them to slavery or similar practices or 
to donate their organs by exerting threats, pressure, force 
or violence, by abusing his authority, by deceit or by 
obtaining their consent through taking advantage of the 
opportunities they have to control them or of their 
helplessness shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 
eight to twelve years and a judicial fine imposed of up to 
ten thousand days. 
 
(2)  In the event of actions which are undertaken for the 
purposes referred to in the first paragraph and which 
constitute an offense, the consent of the injured party shall 
be deemed void. 
 
(3)  Where juveniles under eighteen years of age are 
procured, kidnapped, taken or transported from one place to 
another or harbored for the purposes referred to in the first 
paragraph, the perpetrator shall be sentenced to the 
penalties referred to in the first paragraph, notwithstanding 
that none of the acts instrumental to the offense has been 
resorted to. 
 
(4)  Security measures shall be taken for legal entities on 
account of the above-mentioned crimes. 
 
On June 1, 2005, Article 80 replaced the following 
anti-trafficking statutes in effect since August 3, 2002: 
 
Turkish Penal Code Article 201(b): 
 
(1)  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. 
 
(2)  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. 
 
(3)  If 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 in relation to the crime are 
committed, the penalties foreseen in paragraph one shall 
still be applied to the perpetrator. 
 
(4)  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 revised Penal Code provides penalties for 
traffickers of eight to twelve years of imprisonment and, at 
judicial discretion, an additional ten thousand days 
imprisonment.  The penalties apply to both traffickers of 
people for sexual exploitation and traffickers of people for 
labor exploitation. 
 
¶C.  (U)  Chapter 1, Section 6 of the revised Penal Code 
provides varying degrees of penalties for sexual assault, 
rape, and sexual abuse of adults and minors, as noted below. 
Penalties may range from two years to life imprisonment, 
depending upon the circumstances.  The new Code excludes 
several controversial articles from the previous law.  For 
example, under the 2004 revisions, rape is considered a crime 
against the individual, rather than a crime against society. 
Under the previous Code, rapists could escape punishment by 
marrying their victims, and punishments for rape varied 
depending on the marital status of the victim and whether the 
victim was a virgin. 
 
  Section 6:  Offenses Against Sexual Integrity 
 
  Article 102:  Sexual Assault 
 
  (1)  The perpetrator who violates the physical integrity of 
another person by means of sexual conduct shall be imprisoned 
for a term of two to seven years upon the complaint of the 
victim. 
 
  (2)  Where the act is committed by means of inserting an 
organ or similar object to the body, the perpetrator shall be 
imprisoned for a term of seven to twelve years.  If the act 
is committed against the spouse, legal investigation and 
prosecution shall be initiated if the victim lodges a 
complaint. 
 
  (3)  If the offense is committed, 
 
  a) Against a person who is physically or mentally incapable 
of defending him/herself, 
  b) By breaching of duties and/or abusing the functions 
pertaining to the official status, 
  c) Against a person of first, second, or third degree blood 
relation or a relative by marriage, 
  d) By using weapons and with the cooperation of more than 
one person, 
 
  penalties imposed in accordance with articles above shall 
be increased by half. 
 
  (4)  In case excessive violence is exerted on the victim 
during the commitment of the offense, the perpetrator shall 
also be punished for deliberate wounding. 
 
  (5)  In case the offense causes damage to the physical or 
mental health of the victim, the perpetrator shall be 
imprisoned for a term of not less than ten years. 
 
  (6)  If, as a result of the crime, the victims enters into 
a vegetative state or dies, the sentence will be strict life 
imprisonment. 
 
  Article 103:  Sexual Abuse of Children 
 
  (1) The perpetrator of child abuse shall be imprisoned for 
a term of three to eight years.  Sexual abuse means: 
 
  a)  any act of a sexual nature against a minor who has not 
reached fifteen years of age, or, if over fifteen years of 
age, lacks the competence to perceive the legal meaning and 
consequences of such acts. 
 
  b)  sexual acts against other minors depending on use of 
force, threat, deception, or by any other reason affecting 
the will of the child. 
 
  (2)  Where the sexual assault occurs as a result of 
insertion of an organ or similar object into the body, a 
penalty imprisonment from eight to fifteen years shall be 
imposed. 
 
  (3)  Where the sexual assault is committed by a first, 
second or third degree blood relative, step-father, the 
person who has adopted the person concerned, guardian, tutor, 
teacher, caretaker, or other person in charge of providing 
health services or who bears the obligation for protection or 
supervision, or through abuse of the service relation, the 
penalty to be imposed, in accordance with the above 
paragraphs, shall be increased by half. 
 
  (4)  Where the sexual assault is committed against a minor 
indicated in paragraph 1(a) as a result of force or threat, 
the penalty to be imposed, in accordance with the above 
paragraphs, shall be increased by half. 
 
  (5)  Where the force and compulsion used with the aim of 
sexual assault lead to aggravated consequences of the offense 
of deliberate wounding, provisions of the offense of 
deliberate wounding shall apply additionally. 
 
  (6)  In case the offense results in damage to the physical 
or mental health of the victim, the perpetrator shall be 
imprisoned to strict life imprisonment. 
 
  (7)  Where the offense leads to the victim into a 
vegetative state or to die, the perpetrator shall be 
sentenced to strict life imprisonment. 
 
¶D.  (U)  Prostitution in Turkey is legal and regulated.  Sex 
workers must have Turkish citizenship; foreign citizens 
cannot legally practice prostitution.  Trafficking, smuggling 
with the intent to traffic, pimping, enforcing, or in any 
other way supporting the activities of a trafficking 
operation is illegal.  The law also prohibits and provides 
punishment for individuals who own, operate or work to 
support the operation of brothels associated with human 
trafficking.  The minimum age for prostitution in Turkey is 
¶18. 
 
¶E.  (U)  According to figures provided by the Ministry of 
Interior, in 2005, 125 suspected traffickers were arrested, 
134 were released, 105 escaped, 11 were deported, 3 were 
determined to have left the country, and one was sent to 
prison on other charges.  In 2006, 15 were arrested, five 
released, 16 escaped, two deported, and one left the country. 
 
 
According to Ministry of Justice's Judicial Records 
Statistics Bureau, Turkey's Heavy Penal Courts opened 166 
cases against 241 suspected human traffickers from January 
through September, 2005.  Forty-eight cases were resolved 
with 144 suspected traffickers:  75 were acquitted; 40 were 
remanded to other courts or dismissed; 20 were given 
probation or fines.  A total of nine traffickers were 
convicted:  five in Mugla were sentenced to five years 
imprisonment, 2,043 (approximately USD 1,600) YTL fine, and 
three years ban from public service; four in Antalya were 
sentenced to four years imprisonment, 1,325 YTL fine 
(approximately USD 1,000), and three years ban from public 
service. 
 
Statistics for the October-December 2005 term and the first 
term of 2006 were not yet available.  The Ministry of Justice 
does not yet have a computerized database, causing Ankara to 
rely on each province faxing in reports. 
 
¶F.  (SBU)  IOM statistics claim that a solid majority of 
trafficked individuals have no more than a middle school 
education; less than one-third have graduated from high 
school.  These individuals are recruited mostly through 
personal contacts, such as a person posing as a friend or by 
an actual relative.  While the trafficking rings are believed 
to be operated by men, the recruiters are overwhelmingly 
female, some of whom are former trafficking victims 
themselves.  These recruiters often work under pressure from 
the traffickers, who threaten to kill their children or 
family members unless they cooperate.  Women recruiters are 
prized because they more easily gain the trust of their 
female victims.  Foreign victims trafficked to Turkey are 
typically recruited by small networks of operators.  Groups 
may be as small as four or five people.  Trafficking networks 
operating as tourist agencies or firms in source countries 
bring women to Turkey with official work permits.  We have no 
evidence that government officials are involved.  Most 
reports indicate that profits are channeled into expanding 
the networks' capacity and affluence.  Networks tend to 
deposit proceeds in source country bank accounts through the 
Turkish banking system.  Jandarma and other officials 
repeatedly insist trafficking in humans, arms, and narcotics 
are closely connected. 
 
¶G.  (U)  According to GoT officials, Turkey actively 
investigates cases of trafficking using special investigative 
techniques, including undercover operations, electronic 
surveillance, and mitigated punishment in TIP cases.  Victim 
residents at the Istanbul shelter have also utilized the 
GoT's humanitarian visa program to lead police to traffickers. 
 
In December 2004, Turkey revised its Code of Criminal 
Procedures to codify TIP-Specific surveillance, undercover 
operations, and mitigated punishment for suspects in 
trafficking crimes.  The Code regulates how to conduct 
criminal procedures in TIP investigations, as well as the 
rights, powers, and obligations of individuals involved in 
the process.  This Code does not prohibit police from 
engaging in covert operations. 
 
¶H.  (U)  Cem Kolcu of the Turkish National Police reported 
 
that in 2005, 555 Foreigners' Police and Border Gate 
Department personnel attended training on the following 
topics: 
 
  - What is human trafficking? 
  - The difference between human trafficking and illegal 
immigration 
  - Who are human trafficking victims? 
  - National and international regulations in the fight 
against human trafficking 
  - Differences between the old and new Turkish Penal Codes 
  - The importance of national and international coordination 
in the fight against human trafficking 
  - The UN Palermo Convention and supplemental protocols and 
international implementation in the fight against TIP 
  - Bilateral cooperation agreements in the fight against 
human trafficking 
  - Elements to pay attention to in operations against human 
trafficking 
  - How to approach a victim 
  - The importance of cooperating with NGOs while approaching 
victims 
  - Administrative arrangements on approaching a victim 
  - Case studies 
 
According to HRDF's General Director, Berna Eren, HRDF held 
two workshops in 2005.  In May, representatives of the 
Foreigner Departments from nine provinces gathered to share 
their experiences in working with trafficking matters and do 
group work on cross-border collaboration in the fight against 
human trafficking.  Presentations by HRDF included recent 
developments in combating human trafficking in Turkey and an 
evaluation report of training.  In September, health service 
providers and six state hospital managers assembled and, with 
HRDF's guidance, discussed the concept of human trafficking, 
GoT efforts to combat trafficking, the role of NGOs in the 
fight against trafficking, and HRDF's counter-trafficking 
program, as well as the Ministry of Health's circular. 
 
In 2005, the focus of Jandarma training was on raising 
personnel awareness of trafficking.  The mobile training unit 
continued its tour of TIP-targeted districts and trained 206 
officers.  One hundred twenty officers came to headquarters 
for four-day training on: 
 
  - How to treat victims as witnesses 
  - How to cooperate with NGOs and other agencies 
  - Investigative techniques from experts from Europol, 
Scotland Yard 
  - Sensitivities of victims (jointly with IOM/UNHCR) 
  - Human trafficking victims among refugees 
 
One hundred fourteen officers sat in on shorter courses and 
conferences. 
 
A portion of a 600,000 USD ESF grant funded seven IOM 
training workshops:  four in cooperation with the Jandarma 
(three on combating trafficking with a total of 131 
participants, and one orienting 1,500 officer cadets on 
counter-trafficking); one with the Partnership for Peace with 
36 participants; one with the General Directorate of Security 
(Turkish National Police) on cooperation between the police 
and IOM (with 34 participants); and one on 
counter-trafficking training for 30 officers of the 
Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department.  Training 
topics included: 
 
  - International legal definitions of the crimes, 
trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling 
 
  - Actors, mechanisms, causes, consequences, victim profiles 
and latest trends 
  - Violation of human rights 
  - IOM activities in the field of counter-trafficking 
  - Case Studies 
  - Identification of trafficked victims 
  - Treatment of trafficking victims:  best practices and 
referral system 
  - National legislation of Turkey 
  - Turkey's situation in the field of counter-trafficking 
and activities 
  - The role of the NGO in combating trafficking; cooperation 
between NGOs, IOs and law enforcement 
  - 157 Hotline 
  - Counter-trafficking in source countries 
  - Treatment of victims as witnesses 
  - Investigation methods and techniques 
  - Intelligence on trafficking 
  - Seminar evaluation 
  - Film:  "Lilya Forever" 
  - UNHCR connection 
 
The Ministry of Justice sent a judge to a seminar in Moldova 
on trafficking in human beings in May 2005 and three judges 
and one prosecutor went on a working visit on trafficking to 
Moldova in November of 2005. 
 
¶I.  (SBU)  Partner governments and source country NGOs 
reported that the implementation of general bilateral law 
enforcement agreements remains inconsistent.  After much work 
on the Turkish side and delays by source countries, the GoT 
signed anti-TIP protocols with Georgia in March 2005, Ukraine 
in July 2005, and Moldova in February 2006.  We have no 
numbers on cooperative international investigations on 
trafficking. 
 
¶J.  (SBU)  The universal jurisdiction norm is recognized by 
the Turkish Criminal Code on the basis of certain offenses 
and crimes.  Included in this norm are migrant smuggling and 
trafficking in human beings.  A foreigner or Turkish 
trafficker is indictable and punishable in Turkey.  The 
Turkish Minister of Justice may request a trial process be 
launched in Turkey against an accused person who has already 
been through the legal system in conjunction with these 
offenses in another country.  We have no information 
regarding the extradition of persons charged with trafficking 
from other countries during the reporting period. 
 
¶K.  (SBU)  We do not have evidence of government 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. 
 
¶L.  (SBU)  We do not have evidence of GoT involvement in 
trafficking. 
 
¶M.  (SBU)  We do not have evidence that Turkey is a source or 
destination country for child sex tourism. 
 
¶N.  (U)  Turkey 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 implemented February 4, 2003). 
WILSON