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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAK #1860/01 2011246
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201246Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3066
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
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RHMFIUU/39ABG CP INCIRLIK AB TU
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5//
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU//TCH//
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU
RHMFIUU/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001860 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ETRD EIND SOCI TU
SUBJECT: ECONOMIC INSECURITY IN TURKISH BLACK SEA 
PROVINCIAL CAPITAL 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  Despite its reputation as a nationalist 
hotbed, Trabzon is a lively, cosmopolitan city, influenced by 
growing trade and tourist relations with the former Soviet 
Union.  The charm and prosperity of its downtown mask 
significant underemployment and a growing concern about the 
region's relative economic decline.  Most citizens are proud 
of Trabzon's rich and diverse cultural heritage, and regret 
the notoriety gained following the Hrant Dink murder, but are 
otherwise individualistic and inherently inward looking. 
These traits impede the collaborative spirit found in 
Turkey's more successful, entrepreneurial cities from taking 
root.  Perhaps because of their strong regional 
identification, Trabzonites are less fractured along 
political party-lines than other Turks, and distrustful of 
outside influences.  No single party dominates here, and the 
region has a history of voting contrary to national trends. 
In an election season as unpredictable as this one, 
forecasting how Trabzonites will vote on July 22 is almost 
impossible.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The DCM visited Trabzon on July 9 and met with 
local government leaders, as well as with academic, business 
and community representatives.  Poloff held separate meetings 
on July 10.  The city is a provincial capital of 215,000, set 
on the Black Sea in northeastern Turkey.  This was the first 
visit by a U.S. official to Trabzon since the Hrant Dink 
murder in January 2007 by a local youth, which followed the 
February 2006 murder of the local Catholic priest and the 
2004 bombing of a McDonald's restaurant.  We did not find a 
city tense and on edge.  Trabzon is cosmopolitan and lively, 
and most people we met welcomed us and spoke freely about the 
challenges facing the region. 
 
WEAK JOBS PICTURE 
----------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The lack of jobs, and Trabzon's uncertain economic 
future, are the most important issues currently facing 
residents.  Driven by the low price of hazelnuts, the 
region's real unemployment rate is close to twenty percent, 
with many residents forced to take on part-time and seasonal 
work.  According to the Vice Rector at the city's Black Sea 
Technical University, nearly fifty percent of graduates do 
not find jobs in their chosen fields.  Even tourism 
management graduates, he said, are more likely to seek 
opportunities in Antalya and other parts of Turkey -- a major 
obstacle to the development of the city's tourism potential. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Despite a bustling downtown, Trabzon is not an 
Anatolian tiger.  The entrepreneurial zeal that is the engine 
of Turkey's economic growth in places like Konya and 
Eskisehir is not evident.  Traditional industries, such as 
shipping and agriculture, dominate, while members of the 
local small business and artisans association are more likely 
to complain about shopping malls than issues critical to 
business' ability to grow and compete, such as lower taxes or 
access to credit. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) A university professor told us that Black Sea 
people are famously self-reliant, and take care of family 
members in need, but that individualism hinders Trabzonites 
from developing networks to grow the economy.  Locals also 
exhibit a degree of fatalism about their economic future. 
According to the Governor, when he asked in a poll what the 
people wanted from their government, a plurality said dealing 
with unemployment -- four times the number who said they 
wanted security.  But when he asked what the people expected 
from their government, the majority responded security.  Most 
residents, he said, do not expect their government to be able 
to address the region's economic challenges, but do expect 
the government to keep them safe. 
 
PKK/IRAQ NOT A PARAMOUNT ISSUE IN TRABZON 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Locals did not address the PKK issue in a 
confrontational manner.  Trabzon has no significant Kurdish 
minority, and residents feel secure from PKK violence.  Even 
the leftist-nationalist Republican People's Party (CHP) mayor 
Volkan Canalioglu stressed the importance of dialogue to 
resolve problems.  Governor Okutan told the DCM, "The PKK is 
 
ANKARA 00001860  002 OF 003 
 
 
not that important; views can change overnight."  Okutan said 
anti-Americanism was multi-dimensional.  In his view, the 
United States needs to stop developing Turkish relations 
outside of traditional channels, referring to our supposed 
ties with "community leaders," such as quasi-religious figure 
(and current U.S. resident Fethullah Gulen).  In a separate 
meeting with poloff, a leading Trabzon human rights attorney 
and leftist-secularist Democratic Left Party (DSP) provincial 
chairwoman, Sibel Suicmez (PROTECT), argued that 
anti-Americanism stems not only from Iraq and the PKK issue, 
but from our supposed ties to the governing Justice and 
Development Party (AKP).  She expressed her concern that the 
United States has left the traditional, secular left-wing 
alone, and appears to support an Islamic state. 
 
BENEFITS OF TRADE LIMITED, BUT WIDENING PERSPECTIVES 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) City leaders are proud that Trabzon is a center for 
regional trade -- the city has a distinctly international 
feel, and numerous restaurants and shops advertise in 
Russian.  A rail line is being constructed to connect Trabzon 
to Tbilisi and Baku, and visa requirements for Georgians have 
been eliminated.  Governor Okutan informed the DCM that, 
while strong trade and tourism relations exist with Russia, 
Trabzonites remain cautious of their giant Black Sea 
neighbor, which has sought to dominate the region in the 
past.  Okutan also pointed out that the majority of products 
exported from Trabzon -- with the exception of hazelnuts -- 
are not locally produced.  Indeed, the governor noted that, 
with the exception of a nascent ship-building sector, there 
is little industry in the region. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The full potential of trade with the region is not 
exploited due to frozen conflicts in Georgia and Azerbaijan, 
and the border closure with Armenia.  The Governor said 
Trabzon has the infrastructure to go ahead with full trade 
relations with Armenia when the political situation allows 
it.  Indeed, Trabzonites approached the Armenia problem with 
a great deal of pragmatism.  Trabzon should become Armenia's 
maritime outlet after relations are normalized with Turkey, 
but one Chamber of Commerce representative told us that he 
worries that Turkey will miss the boat.  Supported by Turkish 
investment, Batumi -- just over the border in Georgia -- 
recently opened a new international airport, and plans are 
underway to develop a modern new port facility there.  In 
addition to Black Sea trade, trade relations with Iran have 
also been historically important to Trabzon, even if most 
residents view Iran even more warily than they do Russia. 
Trade ties with Iran have diminished in recent years, but 
Iran continues to maintain a Consulate General in the city, 
as do Russia and Georgia. 
 
NATIONALIST VIOLENCE IS A LOCAL PROBLEM, BUT NOT UNIQUE TO 
THIS CITY 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) On the subject of the Hrant Dink murders, local 
leaders were regretful, but said that nationalist violence is 
not particular to Trabzon -- pointing to the recent murders 
of Christians in Malatya.  Governor Okutan said the youth who 
committed the Dink murder "should have been supervised," and 
emphasized the importance of vocational training (the DCM 
visited one such government-sponsored vocational program for 
disadvantaged young women), while eagerly describing the 
youth center that the government is building.  According to 
Suicmez, many Trabzon NGOs banded together and went to the 
Dink funeral to pay condolences to the family, but when the 
city came under attack in the media, residents' gut reaction 
was to defend themselves.  Suicmez told us that she does not 
see a criminal, ultra-nationalist establishment in Trabzon. 
Maybe, she said, there are a few small gangs, but nothing 
organized, and nothing Trabzon itself is creating.  Also 
contributing to risk of nationalist violence in the city, we 
learned, is that residents love their guns. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The Romanian-born caretaker of the St. Maria 
Catholic Church (PROTECT) -- the only Christian church in 
Trabzon, where the Italian priest Santoro was murdered in 
2006 -- expressed disillusionment with the local police, and 
extended his concerns to Turkey at large.  The church, he 
 
ANKARA 00001860  003 OF 003 
 
 
said, is continually harassed by the authorities, while at 
the same time, church employees receive both anonymous and 
direct threats on their lives.  Unlike Catholic churches the 
world over, this church and its gardens remain gated and 
locked throughout the day, opened only by appointment or for 
scheduled mass.  Foreign-born employees of the church 
struggle for visa renewals, which the government never issues 
for the maximum validity permissible.  The re-painting of the 
exterior of the church took nearly one year to approve. 
Despite this difficult situation, the church still tries to 
promote tolerance within the community, and continues the 
weekly inter-faith dialogue that Father Santoro started. 
 
TRABZON VOTES UP FOR GRABS 
-------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Black Sea people have traditionally demonstrated a 
penchant for politics.  Former PM Yilmaz is from near-by 
Rize, as is the family of current PM Erdogan.  Residents, 
however, have a reputation for voting contrary to prevailing 
trends.  Despite a hard fought election, Trabzonites, we 
learned, are not polarized politically.  Members of the 
Chamber of Commerce each professed affiliations to different 
political parties.  Likewise, despite its reputation for 
conservatism, social issues do not divide the city.  Alcohol 
is widely available in the numerous bars and restaurants and 
religious headscarves on women (turban) are no more common 
than in Ankara.  Local university officials told the DCM that 
students are interested in politics, but, compared to 1970s, 
do not choose to become activists, focusing instead on their 
education and career opportunities.  Even a secular/religious 
flashpoint such as the ban on headscarves for university 
students generated little excitement.  University officials 
asserted that the university follows the rules and students 
don't complain. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON