VZCZCXYZ0008
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #0318 0451600
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141600Z FEB 07 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC//G/IWI// 0961

UNCLAS ANKARA 000318 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PHUM PREL KPAO TU
SUBJECT: Nomination for Woman of Courage Award - Nebahat Akkoc, 
President and founder of KA-MER, Turkey 
 
REF:  STATE 012871 
 
¶1. (U) The following is Mission Turkey's nomination for the 
Secretary's "Woman of Courage" awards. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
¶2. (U) Nominee:  Nebahat Akkoc, President and founder of KA-MER 
(Women's Center), Turkey.  Age: 54.  Contact addresses: Ali Emiri 4. 
Sk. Diskale Apt No:2/4 Yenisehir, Diyarbakir, Turkey; 
nebahatakkoc@superonline.com. 
 
¶3. (U) Justification:  Nebahat Akkoc founded KA-MER in 1997 to 
promote women's rights and fight against domestic violence.  She 
herself had been a victim of domestic violence and was determined to 
help others, despite the significant cultural and social obstacles. 
Against overwhelming odds, she founded KA-MER in Diyarbakir, in the 
heart of Turkey's southeast, at a time when that area of the country 
was extremely tense, with an enormous security presence, as the 
military continued its then 10-year old campaign to combat the 
terrorist PKK organization.  It was also a period of great influx 
into the cities by villagers displaced by the fighting, straining 
municipalities' already stretched ability to deliver services and 
provide housing. 
 
¶4. (U) The region of Turkey in which KA-MER works remains today a 
challenging environment, where strong traditional and tribal values 
often collide with urban morals, families remain large and 
unemployment is high.  Then as now, many women in Turkey's southeast 
face severe discrimination and repression, with few places to turn 
to for shelter or assistance. 
 
¶5. (U) KA-MER has been particularly active in responding to the 
problem of "honor" killings, a regular occurrence in southeastern 
Turkey, where many people still regard acts of adultery or 
"promiscuous" behavior by young women as violations of family honor 
and believe that such transgressions justify attacks on or even 
murder of the accused women.  In many cases, women facing the 
prospect of such punishment commit suicide or their murders are 
passed off as suicides.  According to media reports, the number of 
such deaths may be as high as 300 per year in Turkey. 
 
¶6. (U) Although KA-MER faces enormous social barriers, in less than 
ten years it has helped change the actions and attitude of the 
Turkish government, including law enforcement authorities.  KA-MER 
approaches the issue on several levels.  First, it provides shelter, 
mediation and - in extremis, relocation - services to women who are 
victims of domestic abuse or who fear they will be targeted. 
KA-MER's interventions have saved the lives of dozens of women in 
southeastern Turkey.  Secondly, KA-MER seeks to change the social 
context by raising women's awareness of their legal rights and 
providing business@ose who wish to become 
et.  Thirdly, KA-MER is worvp s when incidents 
oc#g these networks that make headway against "onor" killings.  Finally, at the 
national levQl KA-MER has been instrumental in providing advQce to 
policy makers grappling with the issue of "honor" killings and 
domestic violence.  This behind-the-scenes work resulted in a 2006 
directive from the Prime Minister's office instructing regional and 
local officials in how to prevent such crimes. 
 
¶7. (U) Akkoc continues to lead the Diyarbakir office of KA-MER, 
which now has branches in 11 other cities in southeastern Turkey. 
Akkoc's efforts exemplify how a single individual's belief in 
fundamental human rights can produce profound societal changes: in 
this case, scores of young women are alive today due to her efforts 
and hundreds more have a new-found awareness of their rights and a 
corresponding conviction that they are capable of charting their own 
future.  She was recognized as a "European Hero" in Time 
Magazine-Europe in 2003 and received the Ginetta Sagan Award from 
Amnesty International in 2004. 
 
WILSON