VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #1893/01 2060736
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250736Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3114
INFO RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 3065
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ANKARA 001893 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP JANE SIGMON, USAID RUTH POJMAN, GLENN ROJERS 
AND SARAH BERRY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AFIN EAID ELAB PHUM SMIG SOCI TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY:  FUNDING REQUESTED FOR ANTI-TIP INITIATIVES 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Post requests Department and USAID consider funding 
anti-trafficking in persons (TIP) initiatives in Turkey to 
support Turkey,s efforts to qualify as a Tier I TIP country 
(see paras. 3 - 6).  U.S. resources and/or expertise in the 
areas cited in the 2007 TIP Report can improve Turkey,s 
anti-TIP capacity and make a big contribution to its anti-TIP 
performance.  Specifically, Turkey needs to improve victim 
identification procedures and better collect and consolidate 
trafficking data.  According to the report, it should also 
investigate, prosecute, convict and sentence government 
officials complicit in trafficking.  Finally, the GOT should 
ensure judicial officials receive victim identification and 
sensitivity training. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Investing in People -- Health and Education is a 
foreign assistance priority for U.S. Mission Turkey.  Our FY 
2009 Mission Strategic Plan (MSP) requested $9 million in ESF 
funding to join NGO and international organization programs 
on women's health, education and trafficking in persons. 
Improving Turkey,s TIP ranking is also an MSP performance 
indicator.  Our 2007 target is to achieve effective 
implementation of trafficking laws resulting in increased 
convictions and incarcerations of traffickers, and for Turkey 
to qualify for Tier I in the Department's annual TIP report. 
 
PROJECT PROPOSALS 
----------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) We request USG funding for the International 
Organization for Migration,s (IOM -- the major implementing 
partner for anti-TIP programs in Turkey) project proposal for 
legal services to TIP victims (see para. 8).  Under Turkish 
administrative policy, all trafficking victims -- actual or 
assumed -- are guaranteed free legal services, provided by 
the relevant local bar association.  IOM,s proposal aims to 
train new lawyers -- particularly women -- and develop a core 
group of experts on providing services to TIP victims.  These 
services include visa and immigration services, and the 
guidance to victims necessary if they are to cooperate with 
judicial authorities on prosecutions.  The project would have 
a positive impact on prosecutions and victim sensitivity. 
IOM is also submitting the proposal to the Netherlands 
Government for possible funding.  The focus of the project is 
Ankara.  The USG could partner with the Netherlands or, 
perhaps in concert with another donor, expand the program to 
other TIP hotspots, such as Istanbul, Trabzon and/or Antalya. 
 Preliminary discussions with MOJ and with non-governmental 
TIP experts indicate that both government and NGOs believe 
Turkey's anti-trafficking efforts would benefit from 
TIP-specific training for core groups of legal service 
providers. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In addition to the above proposal, we suggest the 
USG fund or support a number of other anti-TIP projects. 
Among these are training on victim identification and data 
collection by U.S. or international experts.  The GOT has 
demonstrated some interagency weakness in its ability to 
track TIP cases from arrest through prosecution, conviction 
and sentencing.  Supporting an effort such as this would also 
directly support post,s ability to accurately report on GOT 
anti-TIP efforts. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) USG funding could also make a direct and meaningful 
impact on the lives of victims by funding operations of 
Turkey,s two existing, dedicated anti-TIP shelters, based in 
Ankara and Istanbul, or, funding the start-up of a third 
shelter in another trafficking hot spot.  The shelters are 
critical to the implementation of Turkey,s anti-TIP action 
plan.  Human Resources Development Fund runs the Istanbul 
shelter, and the Woman's Solidarity Fund operates the Ankara 
shelter, with some GOT support.  An MOU with the municipality 
created the Istanbul shelter, whereby the city provides free 
rent.  Secretary Powell and FM Gul attended the signing 
ceremony.  USG funds could be directed toward specific 
shelter operations, such as psychological or legal services. 
A dedication of USG funds could and should stimulate matching 
resources from the GOT, further expanding shelter capacity. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) USG directly supported last year's GOT-sponsored 
and IOM-prepared public awareness campaign, "Have you Seen My 
Mother," which successfully eroded some of the stigma of 
prostitution attached to trafficking victims by appealing to 
Turks' strong sense of family.  Turkey is a conservative 
country, and this stigma discourages NGOs and private 
industry, as well as local government, from focusing on the 
provision of trafficking victim assistance.  We should 
consider funding another such campaign to maintain the 
positive momentum. 
¶7.  (U) Although Turkey is a Tier II TIP country, and its 
performance is improving, much remains to be done.  An 
investment now will pay substantial dividends.  Targeted U.S. 
assistance can raise Turkey,s capacity, improving the lives 
of victims, while helping to move Turkey to the level of a 
Tier I country -- one that meets the minimum standards for 
the elimination of TIP. 
 
IOM PROJECT SUMMARY:  Combating TIP Through Legal Assistance 
and Judicial Cooperation (full proposal to be sent 
separately, by email) 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶8.  (U) BEGIN TEXT.  The project proposal will fund 
comprehensive capacity building in the field of legal 
assistance for trafficked persons in Turkey as well as 
selected countries of the Black Sea region.  This will be 
carried out through: 
 
-- Awareness-raising on human trafficking for the legal 
community through organized workshops and panels within the 
Internship Attorney Program by including the revised Turkish 
Penal Code and the Code of Penal Procedures for newly 
examined attorneys in Ankara; 
-- Establishing and training a core-group of legal experts on 
counter-trafficking, to provide legal assistance to 
trafficked persons; 
-- Cooperation and the promotion of mutual legal assistance 
within the Black Sea Bar Associations in cooperation with the 
Turkish Bar Association; 
 
The main aim of the project proposal is to increase the 
prosecution of traffickers in Turkey and in the region.  The 
project will also ensure that the human rights of trafficked 
persons are respected and that they have full access to 
justice.  END TEXT. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON