VZCZCXYZ0015
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #2089 3391455
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041455Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8201
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS ANKARA 002089 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 
 
REF: A. STATE 104889 
     ¶B. ANKARA 2066 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  To respond to the Department's call for 
action in recognition of November 25 International Day for 
the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the United 
Nations' "16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence" 
(ref A), Embassy Ankara: 
 
--engaged with a diverse array of civil society groups; 
--reported on the current state of women's rights in Turkey 
(ref B); 
--conducted a clothing drive; 
--hosted a digital video conference that featured the 
President of the National Network to End Domestic Violence; 
and 
--posted summaries of these activities on the Embassy Ankara 
website.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Throughout November we met with a wide array of human 
rights and women's rights organizations in Ankara to assess 
the current state of affairs on women's rights and domestic 
violence in Turkey.  During the approximately 15 meetings, we 
listened to evaluations of the current problems in Turkey, 
offered encouragement and advice, and discussed specific 
ideas for future cooperation.  We summarized our findings 
from these meetings in ref B. 
 
¶3. (U) Clothing Drive:  We held a three-week donation drive 
during November to collect clothes for the Women's 
Association Shelter in the southeastern city of Van.  This 
shelter provides temporary housing, food, and job training 
assistance to local victims of domestic violence, as well as 
to hundreds of Iranian and Afghani women refugees, many of 
whom fled their home countries due to domestic violence or 
forced marriage.  Due to an unexpected recent influx of over 
250 refugees from Afghanistan, the shelter was in urgent need 
of blankets, winter clothes, and house wares  We gathered 50 
boxes of clothes, shoes, blankets, sheets, toys, and 
housewares, including 25 new blankets donated by the Embassy 
Spouse Network.  The hundreds of women the shelter services 
will benefit from the donations. 
 
¶4. (U) Digital Video Conference:  Working with the Office of 
International Women's Issues, we hosted a December 1 DVC on 
domestic violence, featuring keynote speaker Sue Else, 
President of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, 
Ruth E. Bennett (G/IWI), and Laura Carey (DRL) also 
participated.  Addressing an audience of twelve Turkish civil 
society activists, Else shared her experiences and discussed 
best practices and strategies for combating domestic 
violence.  Participants then discussed a variety of topics, 
including:  victim services, domestic violence training, 
funding, and media engagement.  The audience noted 
similarities between problems and methods used to combat 
domestic violence in Turkey and the U.S.  The DVC generated 
fruitful ideas and discussion, and we hope it will serve as a 
starting point for further cooperation, both with the embassy 
and among various Turkish civil society organizations who 
heretofore have not had occasion to come together. 
 
¶5. (U) Website:  We posted summarizes of these outreach 
activities on the embassy website: 
http://turkey.usembassy.gov/. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
JEFFREY