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DE RUEHAK #2194/01 3661405
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311405Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8350
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEATRS/TREASURY DEPT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 ANKARA 002194 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP, EUR/SE, EUR/PGI, USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KFRD KWMN PGOV PHUM PREF SMIG
SUBJECT: TURKEY/TIP: STRONG COMMITMENT, UNEVEN 
IMPLEMENTATION REPORTED TO VISITING G/TIP OFFICIAL 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 1709 
     ¶B. ANKARA 1956 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for internet 
distribution. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY:  GOT, NGO, and IOM experts discussed with 
visiting G/TIP Foreign Affairs Officer Jennifer Donnelly 
December 15-17 the considerable progress Turkey has made in 
the fight against trafficking in persons (TIP) since the 
issue first appeared on the GOT agenda in 2002: 
 
-- A national action plan was adopted; 
-- Forced prostitution and TIP were criminalized specifically 
with penalties of eight to twelve years; 
-- An interagency taskforce was convened; 
-- A victim referral mechanism was developed in partnership 
with IOM and NGOs; 
-- Two dedicated TIP shelters and a helpline were established; 
-- International cooperation was strengthened; 
-- Extensive and ongoing training for law enforcement and 
judicial personnel have been provided. 
 
Yet recent progress has been uneven and GOT efforts are 
characterized by key NGO/IGO contacts as stalled or even 
backsliding:  a second national action plan remains unsigned; 
the shelters face a continued struggle to secure long-term, 
dedicated funding; and the overall number of victims 
identified and assisted has dropped for a second year in a 
row.  The GOT has taken measures to reduce demand for 
commercial sex acts by closing some legal brothels, but the 
impact on Turkish women in prostitution may be negative, as 
more prostitutes are forced to work on the street, subject to 
abuse, including from local police.  More positively, GOT 
officials provided data reporting an increased number of 
police officials prosecuted for participating in TIP, 
underscoring the GOT's zero tolerance for official 
involvement in TIP.  The GOT has also implemented a second 
EU-funded nationwide public awareness campaign and continued 
to strengthen international anti-TIP cooperation.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (SBU) G/TIP Foreign Affairs Officer Jennifer Donnelly 
visited Istanbul (December 15-16) and Ankara (December 16-17) 
for meetings with senior Turkish National Police (TNP), 
Jandarma, MFA and Ministry of Justice (MOJ) officials, the 
IOM Turkey Chief of Mission, and the International Blue 
Crescent Secretary General.  Donnelly met with the 
presidents, administrators and staff of the two NGOs 
operating Turkey's two dedicated TIP shelters, in Ankara and 
Istanbul, and visited the Istanbul shelter, where she had the 
opportunity to meet with two assisted victims.  Donnelly also 
discussed prostitution in Turkey with current and former sex 
workers and activists seeking to advance the rights and 
protections of Turkish sex workers. 
 
SECOND NATIONAL ACTION PLAN STILL AWAITS 
SIGNATURE, BUT IMPLEMENTATION BEGINS 
---------------------------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) MFA Acting Depart Head for Asylum and Illegal 
Migration Nilufer Kaygisiz gave an overview of GOT efforts to 
combat TIP.  MFA leads the interagency TIP taskforce, which 
has grown to include dozens of agencies, municipalities and 
NGO participants.  The taskforce now meets bi-monthly.  GOT 
agencies have approved a second National Action Plan (NAP), 
which is presently awaiting the Interior Minister's signature 
before it can be forwarded to the PM.  According to Kaygisiz, 
the delay (nearly one year) is a function of competing 
demands on the minister; there is no political-level 
objection to the NAP's content.  Kaygisiz emphasized that 
implementation of the second NAP, with the support of the 
EU's two-year, three million Euro anti-TIP project, has 
already begun.  She outlined its six sectoral plans: 
 
-- Policy and Strategy; 
-- Awareness Raising; 
-- Expanded Victim Support and Assistance; 
-- Legal and Administrative Revisions; 
-- Institutional Cooperation; 
-- Technical, Equipment and Quality Control. 
 
¶5. (SBU) A new public awareness campaign was launched in June 
(ref A), with a welcome focus on trafficking for labor 
exploitation.  Donnelly noted a poster in the Istanbul 
airport with the "157" help-line number advertised 
 
ANKARA 00002194  002 OF 006 
 
 
prominently.  The GOT also adopted in 2008 a witness 
protection law.  While not TIP-specific, the measure, 
guaranteeing the confidentiality and security of witnesses, 
should improve the rate of victim cooperation in TIP 
prosecutions.  The GOT has also commissioned a report on 
demand for trafficking victims in Turkey.  The taskforce is 
expecting the report imminently; it should enhance, in 
particular, understanding of domestic trafficking in Turkey 
and how labor exploitation contributes to TIP.  (NOTE:  To 
date, the GOT's efforts to combat TIP have focused on 
international trafficking for sexual exploitation.  END 
NOTE.)  In addition, the taskforce has also commissioned an 
outside report, expected January 2009, on how to improve 
institutional cooperation within Turkey in the fight against 
TIP.  The report will advise how the taskforce can improve 
efficiency, how law enforcement agencies and units can 
improve communication, and how NGO cooperation can be 
strengthened further.  (NOTE:  Donnelly was scheduled to meet 
with Middle East Technical University Professor Dr. Ayse 
Ayata, who prepared the demand report, and is, we believe, 
also leading the institutional assessment.  Ayata canceled 
due to illness; post TIP officer will follow-up and report 
septel.  END NOTE.) 
 
STILL NO SOLUTION ON SHELTER FUNDING 
------------------------------------ 
¶6. (SBU) Kaygisiz, like her GOT counterparts, lamented that 
the GOT has not reached a long-term, sustainable solution on 
funding for the two NGO-run anti-trafficking shelters.  As 
reported in ref B, the EU funds supporting the shelters 
presently will expire in May for the Ankara shelter and 
September for the Istanbul shelter.  Donnelly's GOT 
interlocutors understood that the uncertainty facing the 
shelters is an obstacle to Turkey's meeting the minimum 
requirements for the elimination of TIP and reaching Tier 1. 
To underscore its commitment to reaching a solution, MFA has 
pledged $20,000 per shelter per year for three years, but 
that is barely ten percent of the shelters' annual budgets. 
Donnelly's GOT contacts said they are working hard to lobby 
political contacts to make sure a solution is reached as soon 
as possible.  TNP Foreigners' Department Chief Mehmet 
Terzioglu was largely alone, however, in expressing 
confidence that a solution would be reached soon. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Human Resource Development Foundation (HRDF) 
President Turgut Tokus and Executive Director Berna Eren, 
whose NGO runs the Istanbul shelter, told Donnelly that the 
GOT's failure to provide consistent funding for the shelters 
is the main problem in the effort against TIP.  "We are going 
in reverse on this issue and the government needs a warning," 
Tokus said.  "There is no interest from the political side." 
Following an audit of city finances, the Istanbul governor 
informed the municipality that its provision of free rent to 
the TIP shelter is unauthorized, despite the signing in 2003 
of a protocol between HRDF and the city (witnessed by then-FM 
Gul and former Secretary Powell).  Eren explained that HRDF 
learned in June of new legislation prohibiting the 
municipality from funding NGOs of any stripe.  HRDF has 
maintained that the protocol is legally binding, but the 
governor has retorted that the municipal council never 
approved it.  While the municipality is obliged legally to 
provide shelter and care to people in need, the governor has 
said each victim would have to apply individually for 
assistance.  (NOTE: The current Istanbul governor is 
reportedly being reassigned as Turkey's Ambassador to the 
"Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus."  His successor may 
take a more magnanimous view toward the protocol.  In a 
meeting with the Ambassador December 30, State Minister for 
Women's and Children's Affairs Nimet Cubukcu promised to 
raise the issue with the governor.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶8. (SBU) Tokus emphasized that money is not the problem. 
While Turkey has a challenging budget environment, the 
Istanbul shelter's rental costs, which HRDF has been assuming 
since June, are a mere $35,000 out of an annual shelter 
budget of only $180,000.  The GOT's mentality is the problem, 
Tokus maintained.  Asked why this mentality has persisted 
after five years of good progress on TIP, Tokus posited that 
the bureaucrats might believe the problem is solved.  The 
numbers of victims assisted at the Istanbul shelter are down 
substantially over the past two years.  Indeed, Donnelly 
visited the Istanbul shelter where, in addition to a 
Russian-speaking caretaker, two trafficking victims were 
resident:  one minor trafficked from Uzbekistan for sexual 
exploitation and an Indonesian woman trafficked through Dubai 
 
ANKARA 00002194  003 OF 006 
 
 
for domestic servitude.  Including its current residents, 
only six minors have stayed at the shelter in the last three 
years.  According to Eren, GOT victim identification 
shortcomings have reduced the number of victims referred to 
the shelters (see paragraph 17). 
 
¶9. (SBU) According to Gulsen Ulker Al, President of the 
Foundation for Women's Solidarity (FWS), which runs the 
Ankara shelter, and her team of administrators, the Ankara 
shelter faces similar problems.  While the Ankara 
municipality provides the building free of charge and pays 
for gas (the city had paid for water too, but FWS has had to 
assume that charge recently, with no explanation), and the 
Ministry of Health free medical care, FWS does not know from 
where it will receive its operating funds after May 2009.  It 
too fears that it will be more difficult to secure funding 
when the shelter is operating way below capacity, caring for 
only one guest presently when it is equipped to care for 
twelve at a time.  The numbers of victims assisted by FWS 
this year will be barely one third the number in 2006, but 
the operating expenses -- mostly staff costs -- are largely 
fixed.  Asked why the number of victims assisted is down, FWS 
staff surmised that changes in the traffickers' methodologies 
-- such as paying trafficking victims small amounts of money 
-- have resulted in fewer identifications.  Terzioglu 
suggested effective law enforcement has also deterred 
traffickers, resulting in fewer victims trafficked; Istanbul 
prosecutor Faruk Kurtoglu opined that enhanced media focus on 
TIP has helped reduce the number of women victimized. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The GOT is emphasizing its commitment to ensuring 
victim protection by working to establish a new trafficking 
shelter in Antalya, a trafficking hotspot.  Terzioglu told 
Donnelly that the shelter should be open before local 
elections in March 2009.  The Antalya mayor, he said, is 
expected to win re-election, but he does not wish to leave it 
to chance.  Tokus told us that he traveled recently to 
Antalya with Terzioglu, whom he praised as hard-working and 
sincere, to lobby the mayor and that he has offered to train 
an Antalya-based NGO to operate the new shelter.  While the 
utility of a new shelter is questionable given the existing 
shelters' spare capacity, an Antalya-based shelter should 
reduce the amount of time before a victim rescued in southern 
Turkey can be screened and transferred out of a detention 
facility and into a shelter. 
 
"157" HELPLINE OPERATION TO BE TRANSFERRED 
TO TNP; TURKEY TO SIGN COE ANTI-TIP CONVENTION? 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶11. (SBU) Kaygisiz and Terzioglu, along with IOM Chief of 
Mission Maurizio Busatti and Senior Researcher Meltem Ersoy, 
confirmed that measures are in place to transfer the 
operation of the "157" helpline from IOM to TNP.  As reported 
in ref B, with the EU guaranteeing funding through the end of 
2009, it is unlikely TNP will take the helpline over earlier. 
 The Ministry of Finance has already guaranteed funding for 
the helpline and Terzioglu sought to assure Donnelly that 
there will be money in his budget in 2010; he has already 
begun interviewing staff.  IOM is working with TNP to assure 
that the handover does not result in service gaps or weaken 
the helpline's effectiveness. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Another issue high on the taskforce's agenda is 
signing the Council Of Europe anti-TIP convention.  Kaygisiz 
predicted that Turkey will sign the convention "very soon." 
The GOT wants to make sure Turkey is prepared to ratify and 
implement the convention's provisions upon signing.  (NOTE: 
While Turkey supports the convention's compensation mechanism 
in principle, it has had some concerns about it being abused 
by source countries.  Nevertheless, GOT officials have told 
us the convention could provide a means through which source 
countries and Turkey reconcile their respective definitions 
of who is a victim; Turkey maintains that its law tracks the 
Palermo Convention definition closely (see ref B).  END NOTE.) 
 
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION DEEPENS; 
NUMBER OF CENTRAL ASIAN VICTIMS GROWING 
--------------------------------------- 
¶13. (SBU) GOT contacts reported continued efforts to 
strengthen international cooperation with source countries. 
Turkey has signed bilateral protocols with Georgia, Moldova, 
Ukraine, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.  Kaygisiz said improving 
these protocols is a key element of the second NAP, though 
she emphasized that bilateral cooperation is already strong. 
The GOT regularly exchanges expert delegations with 
 
ANKARA 00002194  004 OF 006 
 
 
neighboring countries, such as Georgia and Moldova; a 
Moldovan consular delegation visited three weeks ago and TIP 
was on the agenda.  Istanbul Foreigners' Police Unit Head 
Ilhami Huner, however, said cooperation with Moldovan and 
Belarussian authorities is not as strong as with Ukraine, and 
contended that Russia appeared to care little about the 
problem. 
 
¶14. (SBU) A growing trend toward victims originating from the 
Turkic Republics of Central Asia and Azerbaijan has prompted 
the GOT to plan to propose new protocols with, in particular, 
Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.  (Terzioglu opined 
that this trend may be the result of Turkey having recently 
waived the tourist visa requirements for Azerbaijani and 
Central Asian nationals.)  During a meeting with sex workers 
and advocates, one sex worker told Donnelly that she had 
witnessed Iraqi refugees beginning to be trafficked to Turkey 
for sexual exploitation, but GOT contacts did not confirm 
this.  The sex workers also observed a growing number of 
Azerbaijani and Armenian women in prostitution.  Istanbul 
contacts maintained that Azerbaijanis are not usually 
trafficked, but rather arrive and operate independently, as 
they know the language.  Eren told Donnelly that, while her 
NGO contacts in Armenia maintain a high number of Armenian 
women trafficked to Turkey, HRDF has only seen five Armenian 
victims in the last three years.  She considered the number 
of Armenians to be comparatively small. 
 
¶15. (SBU) The GOT has also remained engaged multilaterally, 
elevating TIP awareness through its past chairmanship of the 
Budapest Process working group on TIP and of the Black Sea 
Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Organization.  MFA and MOJ 
contacts informed Donnelly that Turkey, with IOM support, 
hosted an international legal assistance cooperation 
conference with source country representatives in November in 
Istanbul (meeting report e-mailed to G/TIP), while the Prime 
Ministry Women's Directorate just hosted a regional NGO TIP 
conference in Ankara. 
 
ARRESTING TRAFFICKERS, BUT GAPS REMAIN IN 
VICTIM IDENTIFICATION AND PROTECTION PROCEDURES 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
¶16. (SBU) Law enforcement contacts stressed to Donnelly their 
commitment to the fight against trafficking.  Jandarma 
Organized Crime and Smuggling Department Commander Ferhat 
Konya described the challenges his agency, which has 
responsibility for 92 percent of Turkish territory, including 
the land border with Iraq and part of Iran, faces in the 
fight against TIP.  He stressed his agency's continuing 
efforts to raise awareness of TIP and the expanded training 
of Jandarma personnel throughout the agency's 14 regional 
commands.  He lauded the success Jandarma has had 
apprehending traffickers and praised cooperation with TNP, 
IOM and the NGOs.  In the first half of 2008, Jandarma 
disrupted 21 trafficking incidents (eight tied to organized 
crime), apprehended 117 traffickers, and saved 77 trafficking 
victims.  Konya described in detail the Jandarma's rescue in 
October 2008 of 26 victims from Turkmenistan, Georgia, 
Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, trafficked by an 
illegal employment agency to Ankara (where they were held in 
safe houses in the immediate neighborhood of the U.S. 
Embassy) for domestic servitude.  Konya shared with Donnelly 
surveillance photographs and other materials from the file 
that illustrated the complexity of and role of technology in 
a successful anti-trafficking operation.  (NOTE: Donnelly did 
not have an opportunity to discuss in detail the status of 
these particular victims with the TNP Foreigners' Police, 
which would have had responsibility for them once they were 
rescued and transferred by Jandarma; it is unclear why the 
victims do not appear to have been transferred ultimately to 
the shelters.  Post TIP officer will follow-up.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶17. (SBU) Terzioglu discussed elements of Turkey's referral 
mechanism with Donnelly.  The TNP Foreigners' Department, he 
noted, is authorized to determine who is a victim.  Jandarma 
transfers foreigners to the TNP per a long-standing MOU. 
While one agency (or department within TNP) might identify a 
certain number of victims in an operation, the TNP 
Foreigners' Department could identify another, perhaps lower 
number.  TNP works in partnership with IOM and NGOs on victim 
identification and referral, and with IOM on repatriation of 
victims (where there is a bilateral protocol), but 
cooperation with NGOs and IOM on victim identification is 
inconsistent, according to NGO and IOM interlocutors.  HRDF 
staff said significant gaps remain in the referral mechanism; 
 
ANKARA 00002194  005 OF 006 
 
 
they were sure some victims are not being identified and thus 
deported.  Indeed, Busatti noted that IOM data on victims in 
source countries, e.g., Ukraine and Moldova, does not match 
Turkish figures.  Moreover, non-identified victims who are 
re-trafficked to Turkey are much less likely to be identified 
by the TNP if screened a second time. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Terzioglu said that if a victim wishes to remain in 
Turkey for an extended period of time, she may be issued a 
humanitarian visa (valid for six months and renewable for 
another six).  But FWS Ankara shelter staff informed Donnelly 
that humanitarian visas are, in fact, often difficult to 
secure, as the GOT requires the applicant to have proof of 
employment in Turkey.  One FWS staffer asked how a 
trafficking victim without an existing visa could hope to 
have secured employment in Turkey.  Moreover, how long and 
where potential victims are held before they are screened and 
while they provide testimony to law enforcement remains 
uncertain.  The two shelters are often far from a police or 
Jandarma operation and Turkey lacks facilities to house 
irregular migrants.  In one case, Konya told Donnelly the 
Jandarma housed a trafficking victim in its own offices. 
Many victims thus may be providing evidence to law 
enforcement under duress, before they have a chance to 
recover from their trauma, and may be less likely to 
cooperate against their exploiters.  Busatti said 
establishing non-detention facilities for potential victims 
would also help address victim identification problems. 
Huner explained that the Istanbul Foreigners' Police housed 
potential victims in police foreigners' guesthouses/detention 
centers while awaiting their status.  He underscored the 
Istanbul Foreigners' Police Unit's commitment to victim 
sensitivity, noting that it has 211 officers, of which 100 
are trained in anti-trafficking issues.  Huner explained that 
six female officers are designated to interact with female 
trafficking victims and that he would like to hire more 
female officers to further assist. 
 
PUTTING TRAFFICKERS, INCLUDING 
PUBLIC SERVANTS, BEHIND BARS 
------------------------------ 
¶19. (SBU) MOJ Judges Gokcen Turker and Tufhan Turan recounted 
the steps Turkey has taken to expand training of judges and 
prosecutors and to develop a sound legal framework to fight 
TIP.  The key element is the 2006 amendment of Turkish Penal 
Code Article 80, which added forced prostitution to the 
statute criminalizing TIP with penalties of 8-12 years plus 
fines.  Turker informed Donnelly that, due to the severe 
penalties, Article 80 convictions remain difficult to secure, 
particularly without victim testimony in court.  The 
testimony victims provide to law enforcement may be enough to 
bust a trafficking ring, but it is not always enough to 
secure an Article 80 conviction.  The newly-adopted witness 
protection law (see paragraph 5), she believes, will help 
encourage more victims to testify against suspected 
traffickers.  So far this year, two Article 80 convictions 
have been handed down.  Each suspect was sentenced to eight 
years and $75,000 in fines.  Turker emphasized, however, that 
there are other routes to securing a conviction; a Turkish 
judge retains the discretion to use another article, such as 
the forced prostitution Article 227, to convict a suspect if 
the judge believes an Article 80 conviction might not be 
achievable.  The penalties are less, however, averaging about 
three years. 
 
¶20. (SBU) Turker provided information on the convictions in 
June 2008 of a police officer and police clerk (these appear 
to be the same individuals noted in post's 2008 TIP Report 
submission) under the statutes for mediating prostitution, 
assisting an illegal organization, and sharing state secrets. 
 Both officials are in prison.  Turker informed us that the 
MOJ is developing a database to compile statistics on public 
servants prosecuted and convicted for trafficking offenses. 
Terzioglu later handed Donnelly data (in Turkish; post will 
translate) specifying the convictions and sentences of 38 
public servant traffickers in 2008, underscoring that the 
police will not tolerate official involvement in trafficking. 
 
MEASURES TO CURTAIL LEGAL PROSTITUTION 
MAY EXPOSE PROSTITUTES TO GREATER ABUSE 
--------------------------------------- 
¶21. (SBU) Donnelly met in Istanbul with Ayse Tukrukcu, a 
former sex worker and parliamentary candidate, and, in 
Ankara, with Oksam Oztok, President of the Association to 
Support Human Life, an NGO advocating for rights of 
 
ANKARA 00002194  006 OF 006 
 
 
transgender people and prostitutes.  Oztok was joined by two 
current sex workers and other staff and associates.  While 
concerned about the plight of trafficked women in Turkey, 
these sex workers and advocates emphasized the need for 
protection, fair housing and respect for Turkey's 
prostitutes, who are often abused by residents, clients and 
police.  The ruling Justice and Development Party, which 
governs Istanbul, Ankara and most other large cities, 
disapproves of brothels and has closed many.  Only about two 
thousand sex workers remain in Turkey's remaining legal 
brothels, while some 35,000 have petitioned to be registered 
to work legally as prostitutes.  A legal brothel may offer 
some protection -- HIV testing and the opportunity to collect 
a social security pension upon retirement -- but the 
situation is hardly less exploitative.  Many legal sex 
workers find themselves indebted to the brothel owner for 
most of their careers and, because brothel owners often pay 
social security only occasionally, many legal sex workers do 
not have the luxury of a secure retirement.  Some of these 
legal sex workers may also have been sold by their families 
into this career.  Foreign women are not permitted to work in 
legal brothels, and our contacts did not suggest legal 
brothels contribute substantially to TIP.  Most foreign 
trafficked women work in hotels or in rented houses where 
they are "bought" or "rented" by wealthier Turkish clients. 
Foreign women rarely work on Turkish streets, though one sex 
worker observed that some work along Turkish highways, 
catering to truck drivers.  Istanbul is Turkey's largest 
prostitution center, followed by Antalya, Mugla (Bodrum) and 
Trabzon.  Ankara has comparatively few prostitutes. 
 
¶22. (U) Donnelly cleared this message. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
Jeffrey