VZCZCXRO5955
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHAK #3654/01 1721117
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211117Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6740
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUCNNAF/NORTH AF NEA AND SOUTH ASIAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0672
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0897
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0843
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASUY WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003654 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON SCUL SOCI TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH YOUTH: ATTITUDES TOWARD THE U.S., EU, AND 
TURKEY'S WORLD ROLE 
 
REF: (A) ANKARA 3652 (B) ANKARA 3651 
 
ANKARA 00003654  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
THIS IS THE THIRD IN A SERIES OF THREE CABLES ABOUT TURKISH 
YOUTH COMPILED BY FIRST- AND SECOND-TOUR OFFICERS THROUGHOUT 
MISSION TURKEY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Accounting for an overwhelming majority of 
the population, the under-35 cohort will play a major role in 
shaping Turkey's political future.  We met with young people 
from throughout Turkey to gauge their opinions on the United 
States, Turkey's bid to join the European Union, and Turkey's 
role in the Middle East.  Turkish youth view the U.S. in much 
the same way as the rest of the Turkish public.  Overall, our 
outreach has found that young Turks are divided on the topic 
of EU membership but support an activist role for Turkey in 
the Middle East.  Youth opinions of the U.S. are increasingly 
unfavorable.  End Summary. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Youth Anti-Americanism on the Increase 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) According to an April 2006 Infakto opinion poll, 
Turkish youth have a slightly more "positive opinion about 
Americans" than Turkish citizens at large (53% vs. 47%). 
When asked, however, whether they have a "positive opinion 
about the U.S.," these numbers fall to 29% for youth, and 28% 
for voters at large.  This reflects a more positive attitude 
toward Americans as people than toward U.S. government policy. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Both Infakto polling and our own interactions with 
Turkish youth suggest that those who have been to the U.S. 
criticize the country and its politics, but have warm 
feelings for Americans themselves.  Those who have not been 
to the U.S. perceive the country negatively, and also have 
misgivings, though to a lesser extent, about its people.  We 
found that the line most repeated in meetings and casual 
encounters alike is, "we really like Americans, but we don't 
like the American government."  This disjuncture between how 
youth perceive the U.S. as a country, and how they perceive 
U.S. citizens as people, constantly resurfaced in our 
meetings with youth in both Istanbul and Ankara, and tracks 
with Turkish public opinion overall. 
 
¶4. (SBU) These negative views are not only found in large 
cities.  An English Language Fellow (ELF) working in the 
Black Sea city of Trabzon told us that ten years ago, her 
students equated America with "Hollywood," "freedom," "a 
place full of opportunity," and "a place to make dreams come 
true."  Today, however, their view of America has shifted, 
bringing to mind "war," "death," "racial profiling," 
"oppressive government," and "lack of religious freedom."  An 
ELF working in the Central Anatolian city of  Eskisehir told 
us that her students, who have actually interacted with 
Americans, had favorable opinions, but also believed there 
were "bad" Americans. 
 
¶5. (SBU) This poor perception of the U.S. as a country is a 
reflection of young Turks, generally pessimistic assessment 
of current and future relations between the U.S. and Turkey. 
85% believe that "relations with the U.S. will worsen," and 
81% believe that "the U.S. is unfair towards Turkey."  Most 
disconcertingly, 45% of young Turks believe that "Turkey and 
the U.S. are gradually going towards a war," versus 40% of 
voters at large. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Despite these negative views of the U.S. and the 
bilateral relationship, the ELFs were quick to point out that 
many of their students hope to pursue educational 
opportunities in the U.S.  Ankara and Istanbul's student visa 
and student-work-travel applicant numbers confirm this.  From 
January 1, 2006 through May 15, 2006, 5,903 students applied 
to participate in the student-work-travel program.  From June 
1, 2005 through June 1, 2006, 3,144 students applied for F-1 
visas in Ankara, and 3,975 students applied for J-1 visas in 
Ankara. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Rooting Out the Cause of Negative Attitudes 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) When we asked young Turks about the roots of their 
misgivings about the U.S., the overwhelming majority pointed 
to the war in Iraq.  The ELF in Eskisehir noted that her 
students placed the blame for the Iraq war entirely on the 
 
ANKARA 00003654  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
U.S., never mentioning Saddam or the other coalition forces 
involved.  Members of the executive board of the Anatolian 
Young Leaders, a political movement with over 4,000 members 
spread throughout Turkey, suggested to us that long-standing 
hostility to the war has been reinforced by several factors, 
including the Turkish movie, "Valley of the Wolves," which 
depicts atrocious behavior by the U.S. military in Iraq; the 
Abu Graib prisoner-abuse scandal; the incident in Suleymaniye 
where U.S. soldiers placed hoods over Turkish soldiers, 
heads; and finally, a sense that the U.S. does not do enough 
to curtail the PKK in northern Iraq. 
 
¶8. (SBU) On the flip side, one factor that had led to 
positive feelings about the U.S. in the past - the 1999 
capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, widely attributed to 
the U.S. - has largely faded.   While some youth are aware of 
other areas of cooperation, including U.S. support for 
Turkey's EU membership, U.S. military and economic 
assistance, and U.S. support after the 1999 Kocaeli 
earthquake, these have not been sufficient to offset the 
negatives stemming from Iraq. 
 
¶9. (SBU) According to the Infakto poll, young Turks, 
opinions on these issues generally do not diverge 
significantly from the opinion of voters at large, with two 
exceptions.  First, only 20% of young Turks see Turkey's 
military role in NATO as helping relations, in contrast to 
25% of voters at large.  Second, 40% of young Turks see U.S. 
support for EU accession as significant, in contrast to only 
33% of voters at large.  EU accession is therefore one of the 
principal differences in foreign policy views between 
different age groups within Turkey, and deserves particular 
attention. 
 
--------------------------------- 
EU Accession: Shifting Goal Posts 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) In general, we found that Turkish youth are more 
enthusiastic about EU membership than Turkish voters at 
large.  According to the Infakto poll, Turkish youth are more 
likely than Turkish voters to favor full membership, are more 
likely to believe that membership will bring personal 
advantages, and are more likely to describe EU membership as 
"something good."  Many of the young Turks we met with were 
quick to point out that, even if Turkey does not achieve full 
membership, the country will still benefit from the 
EU-mandated reform package now underway.  As one Istanbul 
student put it, "the EU is a tool for development, and Turkey 
will benefit even if it does not become a member." 
 
¶11. (SBU) Despite positive feelings about possible benefits 
of EU reforms, Turkish youth also fear that EU membership 
would mean losing part of their country's tradition and 
culture.  Several students in Istanbul and the southwestern 
city of Mugla expressed frustration over the EU process, 
saying that they felt that Europeans would not accept Muslims 
and that EU members feared that too many Turks would move to 
their countries.  Youth suspicion of the EU also may arise 
from a sense that the EU has been moving the goal posts of 
accession in its negotiations with Turkey.  One member of the 
Anatolian Young Leaders commented that "the EU is not 
sincere, and is adding requirements like solving Cyprus to 
the Copenhagen criteria."  Youth have been one of the key 
support blocks within Turkish society for EU membership.  If 
its most vocal supporters lose enthusiasm, this could erode 
the national conviction sustaining what will be a lengthy 
process. 
 
-------------------------- 
Turkey's Geopolitical Role 
-------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Turkish youth also express the belief that Turkey 
can play an important role in advancing the democratic agenda 
in the Middle East.  In this vein, young Turks proudly talk 
about Turkey's co-leadership (with Spain) of the 
U.N.-initiated "Alliance of Civilizations."  They see this 
initiative as acknowledging the central regional and 
geo-political role that Turkey can play as a bridge-building 
gateway between the east and the west. 
 
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Comment 
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ANKARA 00003654  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) With deep-rooted public hostility to the Iraq war, 
we face an uphill public relations challenge with Turkish 
youth, as with other parts of the population.  As one woman 
in her early twenties put it in conversation, "in two years, 
we have lost the trust between Turkey and the U.S. that was 
accumulated over many years."  Finding the tools to reverse 
this trend and stress the broad scope of the U.S.-Turkey 
relationship remains the mission's priority.  It is likely, 
however, that only stability in Iraq and addressing the issue 
of the PKK presence there will bring the sea change in 
attitudes we seek. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON