VZCZCXRO0557
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAK #0462 0851231
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261231Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9200
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/TREASURY DEPT WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ANKARA 000462 
 
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 SIGNS COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONVENTION ON HUMAN 
TRAFFICKING 
 
REF: 08 ANKARA 610 
 
¶1. (U) On March 19 Turkey signed the Council of Europe 
Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. As 
the convention is already in force, Turkey attached no 
reservations.  MFA Section Head for Asylum and Illegal 
Migration Nilufer Kaygisiz reminded us March 26 that Turkey 
had participated actively in the drafting and development of 
the convention.  It was to Turkey's satisfaction that the 
convention expanded the international legal architecture in 
the fight against TIP, and Turkey always had the intention to 
sign; it had only wanted to ensure that it would be able to 
ratify and implement fully the convention's provisions before 
it did so (implying that some parties and signatories are not 
implementing the convention).  The National Taskforce on 
Human Trafficking, after considerable deliberation, decided 
that Turkey could indeed implement all aspects of the 
convention.  The next step will be to amend the relevant 
sections of Turkish law and submit the convention to 
Parliament for ratification.  Kaygisiz expects that to take 
"months." 
 
¶2. (U) The convention's provision on victim compensation was 
the stickiest for Turkey.  The principle already exists in 
Turkey -- victims may apply to the court for compensation, 
but few in practice do, preferring instead to return home. 
The Turks fear that the provision could be abused by source 
countries; the challenge is to develop common and 
comprehensive victim identification procedures, Kaygisiz 
said.  The Turks are continuing to enhance their procedures 
domestically -- this is a key component of the ongoing 
two-year EU anti-trafficking program -- as well as 
bilaterally and regionally with source country experts and 
authorities.  Kaygisiz said she believed further awareness 
raising in source countries would help.  The Turks will 
launch an "international" public awareness campaign this 
summer, building on the domestic campaign launched in June 
2008 (reftel), in two source countries, most likely Moldova 
and Russia.  Both are important source countries, and the 
Turks believe that through Russian media they can more 
effectively spread the campaign's message to Central Asia and 
other Russian-speaking source countries. 
 
¶3. (SBU) COMMENT:  According to our contacts, Turkey's 
signing of the Convention was an EU, OSCE and COE priority. 
The signing, coming before the release of the 2009 TIP 
Report, was likely also meant to influence favorably the 
assessment of Turkey in the report.  We believe that this is 
a positive development that further underscores Turkey's 
overall commitment in the fight against human trafficking. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
Jeffrey