VZCZCXRO8085
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAK #0275/01 0511446
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201446Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8849
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEATRS/TREASURY DEPT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 000275 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR: G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EUR/SE, EUR/PGI; DEPT 
FOR USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIP KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB
TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY: 9TH ANNUAL TIP REPORT: PROTECTION AND 
ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS, HEROES, BEST PRACTICES 
 
REF: A. 08 SECSTATE 132759 
     ¶B. 08 ANKARA 2194 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (U) Post's responses are keyed to ref A questions.  This 
is part 3 of 3 (septels). 
 
PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶A.  (SBU) The GOT provides witness protection in practice. 
Foreign victims identified by Turkish authorities may apply 
for humanitarian visas and remain in Turkey for up to six 
months.  The humanitarian visas carry a six-month residence 
permit and the option to extend for an additional six months. 
 Most victims, however, choose to return to their country of 
origin.  Identified victims are not required to pay normal 
departure fees or fines and the GOT does not take steps to 
bar re-entry to Turkey.  Identified victims are not deported 
and are entitled to free legal, medical and psychological 
services (see para B, below).  IOM, in partnership with the 
administrators of Turkey's two dedicated TIP shelters, Human 
Resources Development Foundation (HRDF) and Foundation for 
Women's Solidarity (FWS), assist victims returning to their 
countries.  Turkey adopted a new witness protection law 
during the reporting period.  While not a TIP-specific 
measure, GOT officials believe it will encourage more victims 
to testify against traffickers (ref B).  ***The number of 
humanitarian visas issued during the reporting period will be 
reported in a supplemental cable, septel.*** 
 
¶B.  (SBU) Trafficking victims in Turkey are provided free 
access to shelters and to legal, medical and psychological 
services.  Foreign victims have the same access to care as 
domestic victims.  The country has two shelters dedicated to 
assisting trafficking victims.  One shelter, operated by 
HRDF, is located in Istanbul, and the other, operated by FWS, 
is in Ankara.  In 2008, the Istanbul shelter provided care to 
57 victims; the Ankara shelter to 26 victims.  The shelters 
offer a full range of psychological, counseling, vocational 
and legal services.  The Ministry of Health provides free 
medical services to victims.  The two shelters are presently 
funded by the European Commission (EC) through a two-year, 3 
million Euro comprehensive anti-trafficking project.  These 
funds will expire in May for the Ankara shelter and September 
for the Istanbul shelter.  Under the new national action plan 
currently awaiting the Interior Minister's signature and PM's 
approval, the GOT will assume direct funding responsibility 
for the shelters, but it is not clear this or other action 
will be taken to ensure long-term, guaranteed GOT support for 
the shelters before the EC funds expire.  The Ankara 
municipality provides the shelter facility free of charge, 
along with cable, gas and electric.  FWS contacts informed 
us, however, that the Ankara shelter, during the reporting 
period, had to begin paying water bills for the first time. 
 
The Istanbul shelter had been receiving free rent from the 
Istanbul municipality under a protocol signed by the mayor 
and HRDF in 2004.  However, that funding was suspended in 
June 2008 following a directive from the Governor that the 
city is not authorized to provide such services (see ref B). 
All people in need under Turkish law qualify for shelter 
protection, but the directive would require victims to appeal 
to the city individually, which is impractical.  HRDF has 
been covering the approximately $2,900 per month rental costs 
since June.  To demonstrate that the GOT is committed to a 
solution, MFA has pledged $20,000 per year to each shelter 
for three years, starting in 2009.  This amount, however, is 
only a fraction of the overall operating expenses -- 
approximately $180,000 per year.  (The Ankara operating 
budget is reportedly a bit higher, though there are no rental 
or facility costs, apart from water.  Budget details for each 
shelter are available upon request.) 
 
¶C.  (SBU) Yes.  All trafficking victims are entitled access 
to free legal services provided by the local bar association. 
 Each shelter employs a psychologist and the Ministry of 
Health provides free medical care to trafficking victims. 
The government taskforce engages medical associations on a 
regular to ensure that awareness is maintained in the medical 
community that victims are entitled to free care.  Apart from 
 
ANKARA 00000275  002 OF 004 
 
 
these in-kind contributions and the support provided by the 
Ankara municipality, the GOT did not provide direct financial 
support during the reporting period.  As noted in para B, 
above, MFA pledged during the reporting period $20,000 per 
year to each shelter for three years.  Those funds will be 
dispersed starting in 2009. 
 
¶D.  (U) See para A, above. 
 
¶E.  (U) We are not aware of longer-term shelter or housing 
benefits to victims or other resources to aid the victims in 
rebuilding their lives.  Recipients of humanitarian visas are 
entitled to work.  Few victims choose to rebuild their lives 
in Turkey; the large majority opt to return home, many even 
before accepting IOM or shelter services. 
 
¶F.  (SBU) The GOT has a referral process.  The procedure is 
as follows: 
 
- Potential victims and/or any foreign persons apprehended at 
a crime scene are referred to the TNP Foreigners Department 
by the first responders; 
- A joint interview of a potential victim is conducted by the 
expert police liaisons to the Ankara and Istanbul 
shelters and experts from IOM and HRDF (if near Istanbul) or 
FWS (if closer to Ankara), including a translator and 
psychologist; 
- After a determination is made that the individual is a 
trafficking victim, the victim is placed at a shelter. 
 
The sole authority for trafficking victim identification lies 
with the TNP Foreigners Department, though it engages IOM and 
NGOs in the process.  Any foreign person at a crime scene is 
automatically referred to the TNP Foreigners Department and 
is thus, in principle, screened by TNP experts.  While TNP 
and NGOs and IOM work well together on many cases, our 
contacts believe that significant gaps remain in the process, 
i.e., some victims are not being identified as potential 
victims by TNP and do not see IOM or NGO screeners.  These 
victims are more likely to be re-trafficked and even less 
likely to be identified if apprehended a second time (ref B). 
 
 
¶G.  (U) The GOT identified 118 victims in 2008.  IOM assisted 
78 of those victims in their return home, and assisted an 
additional victim though February 13, 2009.  The balance of 
victims declined IOM assistance and returned directly to 
their home countries.  The government facilitates the secure 
return of all victims, including those declining IOM 
assistance.  As noted in para A, above, identified victims 
are not required to pay normal departure fees or fines and 
the GOT does not take steps to bar re-entry to Turkey. As 
noted in para B, above, the Istanbul shelter assisted 57 
victims in 2008; the Ankara shelter assisted 26 victims. 
 
¶H.  (U) Yes, see para F, above.  However, as noted in Part 1, 
Prevention, para B (septel), Turkey has a liberal visa regime 
and customs authorities and consular officers are not broadly 
empowered to turn away applicants at risk of being victimized 
seeking to enter Turkey, i.e., young single women from source 
countries. 
 
It is illegal for foreign women to participate in the legal, 
regulated commercial sex trade.  According to local experts 
and contacts, legal brothels do not contribute in any 
significant way to trafficking in Turkey (ref B and C). 
 
¶I.  (SBU) The rights of victims are respected.  Identified 
trafficking victims -- even if they deny their victimization 
-- are not deported, jailed nor fined.  Identified victims 
are not prosecuted for violations of other laws.  However, as 
noted in para F, above, there appear to be gaps in the 
referral mechanism.  As a result, some victims are likely not 
identified.  Such "unidentified" victims could be deported 
after having been held in a detention facility; it is 
unlikely that Turkish authorities would seek to prosecute 
apprehended foreigners for what the authorities believe, 
rightly or wrongly, to be a migration, prostitution or labor 
violation.  In addition, depending on the location of the 
crime scene, some potential victims wait for days or more in 
detention centers until they are interviewed.  With Antalya 
having emerged as a trafficking hot-spot, the GOT, along with 
HRDF, has entered into discussions with the Antalya 
 
ANKARA 00000275  003 OF 004 
 
 
municipality to develop either a shelter or some other 
dedicated facility to hold potential victims while they await 
screening. 
 
¶J.  (SBU) MOJ, through local bar associations, provides free 
legal services to trafficking victims, including to foreign 
victims choosing to remain in the country and testify against 
traffickers.  As reported in para A, above, Turkey adopted a 
new witness protection law during the reporting period. 
While not a TIP-specific measure, GOT officials believe it 
will encourage more victims to testify against traffickers 
(ref B).  The Turkish Penal Code contains provisions 
permitting a trafficking victim to seek restitution in civil 
court; we are not aware of a victim having filed such a suit. 
 There is no impediment to a trafficking victim's access to 
legal redress.  If a victim is issued a humanitarian visa, 
he/she is permitted to work.  Given the duration of Turkish 
judicial proceedings, it is unlikely that a victim would 
remain in Turkey for the duration of a trial.  Rather, law 
enforcement collects a statement from a victim which is 
admissible in court.  A challenge for Turkey, as MOJ contacts 
have explained, is to have victims present to testify against 
traffickers.  The victim may return to Turkey to testify, but 
it is our understanding that few do. 
 
¶K.  (U) As also reported in part 2, septel, the government, 
in partnership with IOM, provides ongoing and extensive 
specialized training for government officials to identify 
trafficking victims and in the provision of assistance to 
victims.  Victims under the age of 18 are a small percentage 
of trafficked victims, and we are not aware of any specific 
training on the special needs of trafficked children. 
However, the TNP provides training on child pornography. 
Turkish consular officers warn at-risk visa applicants of the 
risk of human trafficking through passport inserts 
advertising the 157 helpline in Russian, Romanian, Turkish 
and English.  However, nationals from some source countries 
do not require visas to visit Turkey (see Part 1, Prevention, 
para E, septel).  We have no evidence that Turkish nationals 
are trafficked abroad.  Turkish diplomatic and consular 
representation is widespread throughout Europe, the Middle 
East and the United States; Turkish embassies and consulates 
would be prepared to offer all available services to any 
Turkish national abroad in distress. 
 
¶L.  (U) See para K, above. 
 
¶M.  (U) IOM -- of which Turkey is a member state contributing 
to the administrative budget -- is the principle IGO working 
with trafficking victims in Turkey.  As noted above and 
elsewhere, septels, IGO and NGO cooperation with Turkish 
central authorities is excellent.  IGO and NGO interaction 
with local authorities is done in coordination with national 
authorities in Ankara.  Through partnership with IOM and the 
GOT, HRDF and FWS coordinate shelter, medical services, 
psychological and legal counseling, and assist in 
repatriation services for victims. 
 
HEROES 
------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) We are pleased to nominate Turgut Tokus as an 
anti-trafficking "Hero."  Tokus is the Chairman of the Board 
of the Human Resources Development Foundation (HRDF), which 
operates Turkey's first shelter dedicated for trafficking 
victims, based in Istanbul.  Tokus is a former senior officer 
in one of Turkey's largest and most prestigious companies. 
Recognizing that the unique needs of human trafficking 
victims in Turkey were going unmet, Tokus, through the NGO he 
chairs, stepped forward, ultimately securing the agreement of 
the Istanbul municipality to provide a facility in which 
trained HRDF staff could provide legal, psychological and 
other assistance to trafficking victims in a secure 
environment.  The 2004 protocol signing ceremony was 
witnessed by then-Turkish FM (and now President) Gul and 
Secretary Powell.  Since 2004, the shelter has assisted 390 
victims and Tokus has remained a tireless advocate for the 
protection of trafficking victims in Turkey and a key partner 
in the GOT's efforts to strengthen the fight against TIP. 
This partnership has helped bolster substantially Turkey's 
capacity in the fight against trafficking -- another shelter 
subsequently opened in Ankara -- even as the effort to 
guarantee long-term, sustainable protection to victims has 
 
ANKARA 00000275  004 OF 004 
 
 
faced roadblocks, most recently in the municipality's 
suspension of the rental coverage it had been providing HRDF. 
 Nevertheless, Tokus, bolstered by his partnership with other 
"heroes" in Turkey's fight against TIP, both inside and 
outside the government, presses on in this effort to ensure 
the Istanbul shelter's long-term survival and even to expand 
the number of facilities providing such care to trafficking 
victims in Turkey. 
 
BEST PRACTICES 
-------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) The GOT Taskforce on TIP includes 44 agencies, 
municipalities, NGOs and IOM.  It is a model, in Turkey, for 
strong, effective interagency cooperation; the Taskforce 
Chairman, Ambassador Kemal Gur, and the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs which chairs it, has broadened the Taskforce to 
incorporate more representatives from outside of Ankara and 
agencies in addition to the key agencies (MFA, MOI and MOJ) 
involved in the fight against TIP.  Gur directed that it meet 
more frequently:  six times per year since 2008.  The effect 
of this effort has been to raise TIP awareness substantially 
across national and local government and to empower a 
formidable intergovernmental body to help raise awareness 
outside of it.  For example, the Taskforce in 2008 partnered 
with the Turkish Medical Association to raise awareness in 
the medical community that victims of human trafficking are 
entitled to free medical services under the law.  It could 
serve as a future platform on which to partner with chambers 
of commerce or other business associations to help raise 
awareness of TIP within the business community. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
Jeffrey