VZCZCXRO7918
RR RUEHAG RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAK #1943/01 1001246
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101246Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4701
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0626
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0278
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU//TCH//
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5//
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001943 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS ECON EFIN EAGR TU
SUBJECT: KIRSEHIR:  A CITY CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE 
 
REF: ANKARA 1460 
 
ANKARA 00001943  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Kirsehir, two hours southeast of Ankara, 
is an Anatolian city of 88,000 plagued by a lack of business 
investment.  Blessed with geothermal resources and included 
in the government investment incentive scheme for low-income 
provinces, Kirsehir hopes to generate a tourism market and 
attract business.  With local families emphasizing education, 
the city sends an impressive forty percent of its youth on to 
higher education, but many youth leave the city to find work. 
 While we heard many complaints of a lack of economic 
opportunity, the province's leadership is optimistic that 
Kirsehir will overcome.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) Kirsehir, literally "gray city," two hours southeast 
of Ankara, lies on one of the two roads to the Cappadocia 
region, which attracts many tourists.  The relatively 
peaceful and crime-free city of 88,000 sits atop an 
underground village and is home to thirteenth-century 
landmarks and hot springs. 
 
---------------- 
Hooked on Onyx 
---------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) According to Kirsehir Governor Lutfullah Bilgin, 
the biggest problem the city and province face is the lack of 
industry.  As a result, most of the Kirsehir population earns 
a living from agriculture, raising wheat and sugar beets, or 
from onyx mining and craftsmanship.  Kirsehir lies between 
Ankara and Kayseri, two large and prosperous cities that draw 
away much of the investment in the region.  Bahamettin 
Ozturk, president of the Small Businessmen and Artisans' 
Association, told us that due to the lack of economic 
opportunity in Kirsehir, at least one person per family 
migrates to Europe, specifically to Germany, France and 
Holland.  In the past, these migrants would return to 
Kirsehir every summer, adding significantly to the local 
economy.  In recent years, however, the number of people 
making this yearly pilgrimage has drastically dropped, adding 
to Kirsehir's economic woes. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) There may be potential, however, for economic 
growth.  The newly opened Ahi University, with a student 
population of 8,000 and growing, pumps much-needed cash into 
the local economy.  Despite being a gateway city to the 
Cappadocia region, no one stops.  In fact, due to neglect and 
lack of business, even Mayor Halim Cakir deemed Kirsehir's 
lone hotel "not fit to stay in."  He went on to explain plans 
to exploit Kirsehir's geothermal resources to generate 
tourism revenue. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The principal foreign interest in Kirsehir to date 
has been from Japan.  The Japanese have undertaken a 30-year 
project of archeological excavation, and plans are underway 
to construct a Japanese-Anatolian Archeological Institute. 
In 1993, the Japanese-Middle East Culture Association created 
the Mikasanomiya Memorial Garden, touted to be the largest 
botanical garden outside Japan.  Ozturk emphasized that local 
business welcomes American investment in Kirsehir. 
 
-------------------- 
Not Able to Move On 
-------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In meetings with Governor Bilgin, Mayor Cakir and 
local businessman Ozturk, we repeatedly heard of the 
unfortunate turn of events in 1954 which led to Kirsehir's 
being temporarily stripped of its status as a provincial 
capital and permanently losing the tourist cities of Aksaray, 
Avanos and Hacibektas.  Evidently President Celal Bayar made 
a surprise visit to Kirsehir and was insulted by the lack of 
people awaiting his motorcade.  All the municipality could 
put together in the few hours of advance notice were 
schoolchildren.  When Bayar returned to Ankara, his first 
order of business was to "demote" Kirsehir's status to that 
of a subprovince.  Although Kirsehir regained its full 
provincial status in 1957, fifty years later the province's 
leadership still shakes its head in disbelief and rues the 
loss of its tourism-generating territory. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In addition to losing territory, the province went 
from being represented by seven members of parliament to the 
current three.  Ozturk grinned when he claimed that True Path 
 
ANKARA 00001943  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Party (DYP) Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was hanged in 1961 
because of the Bayar motorcade incident in 1954.  "To this 
day, you will not find any DYPers in Kirsehir," he added. 
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) currently runs 
the municipality, and also fills two of the three 
parliamentary seats, the other filled by the opposition 
People's Republican Party (CHP).  Ozturk blames the AKP 
government for Kirsehir's economic woes, but admits that 
there is no alternative at this time. 
 
---------------------- 
No Job?  Go to School 
---------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Due to a lack of employment opportunity in 
Kirsehir, strong emphasis is placed on higher education. 
According to Ozturk, 40 percent of the province's youth 
attend some sort of post-secondary facility.  Unfortunately 
for Kirsehir, these students do not bring their acquired 
skills and ambition back to the province -- they resettle in 
other parts of Turkey or Europe.  He also noted that 
competition among parents about which university their child 
attends is rampant. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) We visited Cumhuriyet Elementary School and met 
with a sixth grade English class.  In contrast to the 
anti-Americanism prevalent in universities throughout Turkey, 
we found the students and staff of Cumhuriyet to be extremely 
welcoming and receptive to our visit.  In fact, when we 
arrived at the school, nearly every window in the four-story 
school was filled with cheering students giving us "thumbs 
up" signs.  We understand that we were the first Americans to 
ever visit the school and Principal Ergun Bektas told us the 
students were very excited and happy to have us there. 
 
---------------- 
Eyes on the Sky 
---------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) On March 29th, when we visited Kirsehir, the city 
experienced a total solar eclipse.  Kirsehir is home to a 
13th century observatory, now mosque, which was the center of 
the community's eclipse celebration.  We estimated about 
2,000 citizens gathered, along with the mayor and governor, 
to watch the eclipse.  During the thirty minute period, it 
seemed the crowd was as excited to see the provincial 
leadership as they were the eclipse itself. 
 
-------- 
Comment 
-------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  In 2005, in a bid to encourage investment in 
poorer provinces, the GOT extended an investment incentive 
scheme to include the 49 lowest-income provinces, including 
Kirsehir.  As a result, the city is eagerly awaiting the 
perceived economic windfalls from the scheme's subsidies of 
employer contributions to social security taxes and personal 
income taxes.  Local residents attributed the opening of an 
aviation tire factory to the investment scheme.   Kirsehir 
could also benefit from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's 
recent push for geothermal tourism (ref A).  Forward-thinking 
Governor Bilgin has already started the geothermal ball 
rolling by ordering laboratory analysis of the province's hot 
springs.  Long-awaited economic growth gives hope for more 
jobs and less of a brain drain. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON