VZCZCXRO9644
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #2870/01 1381448
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181448Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5721
INFO RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0535
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0752
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1606

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 002870 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR PLANTIER 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID SOCI PHUM KWMN TU
SUBJECT: A DEVELOPMENT TALE OF TWO SOUTHEASTERN CITIES 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Adiyaman and Sanliurfa provinces, 
located in Turkey's southeastern region, are home to 
some of the country's most notable tourist attractions, 
yet both provinces suffer from poverty and 
underdevelopment.  Seasonal migration, gender 
inequality, and a lack of economic opportunity plague 
the region, leaving the provinces near the bottom of a 
ranking of social development in Turkey's 81 provinces. 
The European Union (EU), the United National 
Development Program (UNDP), and the Southeastern 
Anatolia Project (GAP) Administration have poured funds 
into projects in the region, primarily focused on 
women's development, youth and education, agriculture 
projects, and business development.  Nevertheless, 
these two provinces have a very long way to go to catch 
up with their counterparts in western Turkey.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a recent visit to the southeastern cities 
of Adiyaman and Sanliurfa, we found two provinces 
grappling with poverty and the lack of social and 
economic development.  Adiyaman, located 766 kilometers 
east of Ankara and home to a population of nearly 
700,000, generates nearly 70 percent of Turkey's very 
modest production of crude oil.  It is home to Mt. 
Nemrut, one of Turkey's most famous tourist 
attractions, known for the large stone heads that grace 
the mountain's peak.  While not a traditional 
industrial hub, several sources told us that the 
Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ) in Adiyaman is filled 
to capacity, and the province's leadership is lobbying 
Ankara to fund another OIZ in the near future.  One 
week before our visit, Prime Minister Erdogan visited 
Adiyaman to open 33 new textile and food processing 
factories. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Known as "the City of Prophets," Sanliurfa, 
located 820 kilometers southeast of Ankara and 
approximately 80 kilometers from the Syrian border, is 
the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham and was home to 
Prophet Job.  Because of its significance in 
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, Sanliurfa (often 
called "Urfa") attracts hundreds of tourists per year. 
As we walked through the city, we saw several tourist 
groups from other Middle Eastern countries, and our 
police escorts commented that they receive many 
religious pilgrims from Iran.  The city is notably more 
religiously conservative than western Turkey, and we 
observed that an overwhelming majority of women wore 
the Muslim headscarf.  In addition to tourism, Urfa 
generates much of its revenue from agriculture.  Like 
Adiyaman, Urfa's OIZ is currently filled to capacity. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS DO NOT EQUAL PROSPERITY 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Despite their tourist attractions and bustling 
OIZs, both Adiyaman and Urfa are part of the 
traditionally underdeveloped southeastern region.  In a 
2003 State Planning Organization (SPO) ranking of 
Turkey's 81 provinces according to socioeconomic 
development, Adiyaman came in 65th and Urfa ranked 
68th.  Unemployment is a significant problem in both 
provinces, as is a lack of social development for 
women.  Seasonal migration has plagued both provinces, 
with a lack ofeconomic opportunity driving families to 
pack up and leave for months at a time to work in 
larger cities.  As a result, their children often miss 
lengthy periods of school, leaving them far behind 
their peers in the larger cities in western Turkey. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Contacts in both Adiyaman and Urfa told us 
that while the situation is better in the provincial 
capitals, those living in the rural areas of their 
provinces are still suffering because of lack of 
economic opportunity.  Urfa Chamber of Commerce General 
Secretary Hasan Hayarli painted a grim picture of the 
 
SIPDIS 
economic situation in the region, saying that 
businesses are suffering because of the high value of 
the lira.  He noted that while economic aid has poured 
into the region, they need much more in order to be on 
par with western Turkey. 
 
------------------------------------ 
CATOMS: FOCUS ON WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT 
 
ANKARA 00002870  002 OF 004 
 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) In an effort to improve women's development in 
both Adiyaman and Urfa, the GAP Administration began 
funding Multi-Purpose Community Centers (CATOMs) in 
¶1995.  CATOMs offer free or low-cost classes for girls 
and women, teaching them skills such as sewing, word 
processing, and literacy.  We visited the Adiyaman 
CATOM, established in 1997, where Director Hacer 
Demirtas told us that most of her students initially 
encountered resistance from their husbands and 
families.  Demirtas told us that many husbands did not 
want to send their wives or daughters to classes at 
CATOM, as the men were afraid they would become too 
successful andwould want to leave their homes. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Demirtas told us that the center also runs an 
informal job bank, setting up prospective employers 
with recent CATOM course graduates.  On our visit we 
spoke with two middle-aged women who were learning to 
sew clothing - they told us that they planned to sell 
the clothing in the neighborhood.  We also met with the 
literacy class, which was filled with women in their 
40s and 50s learning to read and write for the first 
time.  Demirtas told us that two women who graduated 
from a CATOM hairdressing class in 2005 opened their 
own salon in Adiyaman this year.  She explained that 
when the center opened in 1997, they had a hard time 
attracting students; now they have too many students, 
with 124 women and girls receiving instruction at the 
Adiyaman CATOM.  (Comment: Regional critics note that 
CATOMs disproportionately enroll spouses and family of 
government-linked paramilitary "village guards."  While 
this may be so, the state's influence with these groups 
through its employment link has helped bring at least a 
portion of the province's women in contact with 
opportunities to improve their skills.  End comment.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: AN EYE ON YOUTH AND EDUCATION 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) With seasonal migration taking hundreds of 
children out of school for months at a time, youth and 
education are key issues in the region.  We met with 
the Adiyaman Development Projects Academy, a newly 
founded organization focusing on curbing the effects of 
seasonal migration on education. According to Ahmet 
Gunaydin, the organization's founder, they are focusing 
on development "in place."  In conjunction with the 
SPO, the Adiyaman municipal government, and local 
schools, Gunaydin and his staff created a database of 
families who were repeatedly taking their children out 
of school because of seasonal migration.  Gunaydin then 
dispatched his staff to speak with these families about 
the importance of continuous school attendance for the 
future of the children and the region.  They have also 
paired with UNICEF's "Haydi Kizlar Okula!" (Come on, 
girls, let's go to school!) program, going door-to-door 
to speak with parents of girls to encourage them to 
send their daughters to school. 
 
¶9. (SBU) We also met with Yesim Suzer, director of the 
Adiyaman Youth for Habitat, whose organization focuses 
on social development and education for older students, 
aged 15-25.  Youth for Habitat provides leadership, 
project drafting, and internet training courses for the 
students, and promotes both social and vocational 
development.  The organization recently launched an "e- 
Coach" program on the internet through which students 
are matched with a mentor in their chosen career field. 
Approximately 10 students in Adiyaman have taken 
advantage of the program, using the computers in the 
Youth for Habitat office to communicate with their 
mentors, mostly located in Istanbul.  Suzer told us 
that since the organization's founding in 2002, over 
9000 students throughout the GAP region have 
participated. 
 
¶10. (SBU) While seasonal migration has caused lengthy 
absences from school, there also has been an increase 
in the number of street children.  GAP Assistant 
Regional Director Mehmet Acikgoz told us that the GAP 
Administration has paired up with UNDP to combat the 
increase in the number of street children, with 
approximately 500 children in Urfa alone.  GAP brought 
 
ANKARA 00002870  003 OF 004 
 
 
together a task force of members from the provincial 
governors' offices, the municipal government offices, 
universities, and the International Labor Organization 
(ILO).  Acikgoz said that the task force identifies 
street children, speaks with their families, encourages 
the children to attend school, provides food aid, and 
tries to find employment for the child's parents.  GAP 
also established a program called "Would you be my 
parent?" to find foster homes for orphaned children 
living on the streets. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
CONTROVERSIAL IRRIGATION POLICY INCREASES PROFITS 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶11. (SBU) With its arid climate and hundreds of 
thousands of hectares of arable land, Mehmet Acikgoz 
told us that Urfa province has been the principal 
beneficiary of GAP's irrigation projects.  He explained 
that when the projects began in 1999, only 30,000 
hectares of land were irrigated.  As of April 2006, 
180,000 hectares had been irrigated, leading to an 
enormous increase in profits for the province's 
farmers.  Acikgoz explained that under the dry farming 
system, farmers earned between USD 500-600 per hectare; 
under the irrigation system, farmers earn nearly USD 
1500 per hectare.  The irrigation system has also 
diversified the types of crops farmers produce.  Before 
irrigation, they were primarily producing wheat, 
barley, and lentils; on the newly irrigated land, they 
can produce cotton and corn, both of which generate 
more profit.  Acikgoz explained that the increased 
profit margins for farmers have led to a decrease in 
seasonal migration. (Comment: Acikgoz did not address 
some of the criticisms of the irrigation policy. 
Providing irrigation at low cost leads to the high rate 
of salinization caused by the prevalent use of surface 
irrigation, as opposed to trickle technology.  Acikgoz 
also neglected to discuss the disproportionate focus on 
damaging crops like cotton, both of which are creating 
devastating future liabilities for Urfa's agriculture. 
End comment.) 
 
¶12. (SBU) American NGO HasNa has taken an interest in 
the GAP region, offering training courses in the U.S. 
for agricultural engineers and officials from water 
cooperatives.  The program allowed local officials to 
learn about new technology and see modern farming 
techniques. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
GAP, UNDP PROMOTE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) To promote and support small- and medium- 
sized enterprises (SMEs) in Adiyaman and Urfa, the 
European Union paired with UNDP and GAP to fund 
Entrepreneur Support and Guidance Centers (GIDEMs) in 
both cities in 1997.  The GIDEMs provide market 
research for interested entrepreneurs, identify 
feasible investment areas, and offer training seminars 
on SME development.  We met with Mehmet Gunes, a field 
officer at the Adiyaman branch, who told us that since 
2002, his office has performed a business diagnosis of 
40 businesses, has supported 20 new businesses, and has 
performed market research for five entrepreneurs.  He 
added that his branch brings in sector experts from 
Istanbul and Ankara to assist SME owners with improving 
managerial skills, brand creation and management, and 
communication skills.  Gunes said that he has noted a 
great increase in investment interest in Adiyaman since 
he started in 2002. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Despite Turkey's strong GDP growth since 
2001, there are few visible signs of improvement in 
southeastern provinces like Adiyaman and Urfa, 
especially in rural areas.  Conditions in the urban 
centers of Adiyaman and Urfa have improved in recent 
years, yet both provinces are well behind their 
counterparts in western Turkey.  The tourism potential 
in both provinces is significant, but ongoing PKK 
violence in the region largely keeps tourists and 
 
ANKARA 00002870  004 OF 004 
 
 
investors at bay. 
 
WILSON