VZCZCXRO1817
PP RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #0730 1091245
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181245Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5948
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 4142
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA PRIORITY 2871
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC

UNCLAS ANKARA 000730 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR MMOWREY 
TREASURY FOR OASIA 
USDOC/ITA/MAC/KNAJDI 
DEPT PASS EXIM FOR MARGARET KOSTIC 
USDA OSEC FOR DEP U/S TERPSTRA 
USDA FAS FOR OA YOST; ITP/SHEIKH; FAA/DEVER 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV ECON BEXP TU
SUBJECT: Subject: Turkey: Parliament Passes Amended Social Security 
 
Reform Law 
 
Ref: Ankara 591 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The Turkish Parliament approved an amended version 
of the Social Security Reform bill on April 18, after a three-week 
debate.  The vote was 225 - 55. The bill will become law after 
President Gul signs it and it is published in the Official Gazette. 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Parliament made a number of amendments to the 
122-article long bill before the final vote, and it is not yet clear 
exactly what provisions were included in the final version.  Most of 
the key parameters appear to remain the same as reported reftel. 
The retirement age remains at 65 and the premium work days stayed at 
7,200, according to press reports.  Current civil service workers 
kept their privileged position over workers and the self-employed, 
both in the pension system and health coverage.  However, the final 
implementation date of the law is delayed, with some provisions 
being phased in starting from April, others from July and still 
others from October.  The law also reportedly provides additional 
pension and health coverage benefits to parliamentarians through 
more flexible and generous health coverage and a higher replacement 
rate, which will result in a higher pension for retired 
parliamentarians. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Passage of the law was one of the requirements to complete 
the last two reviews of the IMF stand-by agreement and release the 
USD 3.7 billion remaining balance of the stand-by loan. Some 
analysts observed that the reformist aspects of the bill were 
somewhat diluted compared with the initial version of the bill. IMF 
contacts said that they were satisfied with what they understood was 
included in the bill, but had not yet been able to make a detailed 
review of changes made during the final day of debate. 
 
DEBLAUW