VZCZCXRO8366
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0015/01 0831556
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241556Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4714
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1256
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1055
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1319

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000015 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY:  ADANA ELECTIONS:  THE GLOVES COME OFF AS AKP VIES 
TO UNSEAT INCUMBENT MAYOR AYTAC DURAK 
 
REF: A:  Adana 0012  Ref. B:  08 Adana 0050 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY.  The Adana mayoral race is heating up as AKP 
seeks new attack angles to unseat incumbent Aytac Durak, who 
only months ago jumped ship (while being pushed off) from AKP to 
join MHP.  Sidestepping its own candidate, AKP's party apparatus 
is using bigger guns - parliamentarian Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat 
and the minister of health -- to strike at Durak's credibility. 
While poll numbers still show Durak in the lead, the once 
comfortable margin is diminishing.  Durak's rivals hope to 
further damage the mayor's support base by using his poorly 
executed light rail project, his controversial decision to 
bottle Adana's water for commercial export, and his son's 
television channel as target areas.  In the end, however, the 
cunning political chameleon Durak will likely come out on top as 
he has successfully established bases of support in each of 
Adana's four population groups - Turks, Arabs, Kurds and Alevis 
- over four terms in office.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Adana residents are unable to escape the theatrics of 
local election campaigning - motorcades zooming over the 
cityscape, blaring music and campaign slogans; posters, banners 
and billboards pasted everywhere; and even gimmicks like 
skydivers using parachutes decorated in party colors.  In the 
final weeks, the tone is turning ugly as AKP goes negative in an 
attempt to undercut AKP-turned-MHP incumbent and four-term mayor 
Aytac Durak, who leads at 41% in the latest polls (see ref A). 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
AKP GOES FOR THE POWER JUGULAR 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Durak's Achilles heel heading into the elections was 
a thoroughly botched light-rail metro project that should have 
taken three years to complete but instead has dragged on since 
1997 amid persistent rumors of graft and ineptitude.  Not 
surprisingly, by early March the mayor's political team was 
racing furiously to launch the transportation line amid splashy 
headlines promising free rides for the first weeks of operation. 
 Only days before the March 18 inauguration, with AKP rather 
transparently behind the scenes, a controversy erupted with 
TEDAS, the state-owned local electricity authority.  TEDAS 
announced it would not provide the power source to operate the 
line based on a contractual disagreement over the wattage 
required.  The feud immediately became public, with Adana's AKP 
Parliamentarian Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, former deputy chairman 
of AKP, defending TEDAS' stance by asserting municipality 
officials had not submitted a formal application to switch from 
"construction mode" wattage to operational wattage.  After all 
the handwringing, Durak did preside over a delayed opening 
ceremony, but not before Firat squeezed in one more jab:  he 
very publically refused to go on the inaugural ride with other 
protocol members, suggesting that "sand bags" vice people would 
be more appropriate since the metro's safety standards were 
unproven.  Firat praised Adana's achievement of building a 
metro, but lamented the project was still incomplete with only 
8.5 kilometers of the 14-km line actually operational. 
--------------------------------------------- 
WATER WATER EVERYWHERE 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  In early March, the Adana Municipality announced the 
opening of a 1 million Euro potable-water bottling facility to 
sell water from the city's Catalan Dam to Europe and the Middle 
East.  The press printed positive reviews of the project, which 
the municipality promised would boost revenues for city services 
and infrastructure.  A smiling Durak posed with Catalan bottles 
and promised voters the first exports would be bound for Jordan, 
Syria, Iraq and the UK by April.  It wasn't long before the 
legality of the project was challenged by AKP, with Firat in 
particular claiming it was unlawful to bottle and sell surface 
water, and challenging the authority of the agreement signed 
with the State Water Works department.  During a visit to Adana, 
Minister of Health Recep Akdag announced Durak was cheating city 
dwellers by stealing water from the Catalan reservoir, and 
backed up Firat's legal argument that in Turkey only underground 
spring water may be bottled.  Akdag also claimed the health 
department would not issue a license for the enterprise.  The 
local health inspector had in fact issued the licence earlier; 
he was duly fired. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
ON THE WRONG FREQUENCY 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Aytac Durak's son, Gokhan, is the major stakeholder 
in one of Adana's most competitive local television stations, 
Cukurova TV, which was purchased by the elder Durak in the mid 
1990s.  Without question, the station has been a boon to Durak's 
political success and longevity.  The pro-Durak mouthpiece was 
muzzled last week, however, in what some are calling AKP's 
 
ADANA 00000015  002 OF 002 
 
 
continuing censorship of the media.  RTUK, the State Higher 
Board of Television and Radio, shut down Cukurova TV's UHF 
broadcast based on claims the channel was using an unassigned 
frequency, sent them a warning through the provincial Security 
Directorate, and initiated legal action against the station. 
While it's true that Cukurova TV has been broadcasting on two 
frequencies - one unlicensed but allegedly under verbal 
authorization -- it has done so for over seven months now and 
with open advertisement.  Local free press advocates are crying 
foul play about the timing of RTUK's move, citing dirty 
politics.  In a counter power-play, Durak's attorney's appealed 
to a local Administrative Court, which overturned RTUK's 
prosecution allowing Cukurova TV to resuming broadcasts on March 
¶25. 
---------------- 
COMMENT 
 ---------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  AKP mayoral candidate Mehmet Ali Bilici has also been 
on the offensive where Durak is concerned, but in a more benign 
way than out-and-out sabotage.  As AKP is in real danger of 
losing this major municipality (when it could have been avoided 
by simply renominating Durak), the party's current strategy may 
be to keep Bilici out of the dirty fray and instead use the 
major players to damage Durak's substantial support base. 
Informal discussions with contacts and everyday folks around 
town support the latest poll figures pointing to a fifth victory 
for Durak.  In a revealing commentary on local politics, at 
least ten people we know have invoked old expressions that "he 
who has already stuffed his pockets can stuff no more" and "the 
devil that you know~" when explaining their support for Durak 
vice the other candidates.  Without argument, the famous and 
infamous Durak has worked his popularity with Adana's disparate 
ethnic populations and, despite having migrated to MHP, even has 
the endorsement of local pro-Kurdish newspapers.  The AKP's 
shenanigans smack of desperation.  END COMMENT. 
GREEN