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INFO RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L ISTANBUL 000067 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/23/2019 
TAGS: ECON EINV ETRD EFIN PGOV PREL TU
SUBJECT: NEW TUSIAD BOARD UNVEILS AGENDA, DIVES INTO 
POLITICS 
 
REF: ISTANBUL 37 
 
Classified By: Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL SHARON A. WIENER FOR REASO 
NS 1.4(B) AND (D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  The Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's 
Association (TUSIAD)'s recently elected board of directors 
kicked off its new term with a "new approach" laid out in the 
board's recently released activity plan for the upcoming 
year. TUSIAD board members predict that the new term will 
usher in a new era for Turkey's leading business NGO, with a 
higher degree of professionalism and focus. Chairwoman Umit 
Boyner's call for constitutional change and political reform 
during a recent press conference and visit to Ankara suggest 
that TUSIAD's new leadership will not shy from political 
debate. End Summary. 
 
 
New Board, New Approach 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) On February 11, Istanbul Consul General and Deputy 
Principal Officer met with TUSIAD leadership board member 
Cansen Basaran-Symes, President of PricewaterhouseCooper 
Turkey. Symes shared her perspective on the initial steps 
taken by TUSIAD's new board and her expectations for its 
work. Symes said the new board, which was more professional, 
balanced, and focused than the previous board, would take a 
"whole new approach" and predicted that it would be more 
engaged with its members and "in touch with the people." 
 
¶3. (C) Symes acknowledged that business cannot be separated 
from politics and welcomed the board's engagement with Prime 
Minister Erdogan and President Gul in Ankara. She dismissed 
the notion that the new board might fear engagement with the 
government, even if the past board's relationship with the 
government had been tense. At root, the new board and the 
government shared "all the same objectives," and Symes 
assessed that the government needed help which the new board 
would offer. Symes said that when it first came to power, she 
was impressed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) but 
the party has been "spoiled" and the new board would have to 
assess the AKP's receptivity to TUSIAD before deciding how to 
proceed with the relationship. Regarding Turkey's investment 
climate, Symes lamented that Turkish accounting principles 
had been designed to conceal rather than to disclose, and 
described current laws as "regulated corruption" used to 
conceal corporate governance and finances. 
 
¶4. (C) TUSIAD's recently released 2010-2011 activity plan, 
described by newly elected Chairwoman Umit Boyner in a press 
conference following the new board's first meeting, covers a 
wide range of issues including unemployment, Turkey's 
unregistered economy, fiscal policy and energy supply 
security. In her statements to the press about the activity 
plan, Boyner commented that even with an optimistic GDP 
growth scenario of 5.9 percent in 2010, GDP growth would not 
be enough to overcome Turkey's current unemployment problems. 
(Note: Turkey's official unemployment rate is 13 percent, and 
many people believe this figure understates the actual rate 
given the large unregistered economy. End Note.) Boyner said 
that the national budget deficit is "alarming" and TUSIAD's 
agenda includes a new fiscal system proposal and a public 
expense reform conference. Guidance for small and medium 
sized enterprises (SME) is key to keeping those businesses 
out of the gray market, according to Boyner, and creation of 
a liberalized energy market, energy pipeline policy and 
energy supply security also featured high on the list of 
priorities for TUSIAD in the plan. The press reported that 
Boyner raised these issues with Turkish government officials 
in Ankara during her visit on February 18. Tayfun Bayazit, 
Yapi Kredi Chairman and another new TUSIAD board member, 
echoed these priorities in a meeting with US officials on 
February 19, calling for the structuring of more SMEs to 
formally integrate their financial reporting into the 
national accounting system. 
 
 
Boyner's "Manifesto of Democracy" 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) In addition to economic issues, Boyner jumped into 
political discourse during her press conference, receiving 
 
glowing coverage from Today's Zaman columnist Bulent Kenes 
for addressing these issues in a proactive way. Calling 
Turkey's political problems "structural," she said that the 
country was in urgent need of a new civilian constitution to 
undo the authoritarian structure put in place under military 
rule. She said that TUSIAD's "democracy package" will 
emphasize constitutional reform as a centerpiece of political 
goals. Following her meetings in Ankara, Boyner said that she 
had discussed political issues, including judicial 
independence, with government leaders as well. Columnist 
Kenes welcomed Boyner's reformist statements as rectifying 
the damage done to TUSIAD's image by the previous board, 
chaired by Arzuhan Yalcindag, which turned TUSIAD into what 
Kenes called a "carbon copy of Hurriyet newspaper" and of the 
Republican People's Party (CHP). In what Kenes described as a 
"manifesto of democracy," Boyner discussed the need to 
strengthen the impartiality and independence of the judiciary 
and commented that the Supreme Board of Judges and 
Prosecutors should not be under the influence of the 
executive. Calling on the government to "thaw the ice" 
between itself and minority groups, Boyner said that the 
state should reconcile with its Kurds and Alevis, and do away 
with the 10 percent election threshold before the general 
election scheduled for 2011. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (C) Boyner's public statements so far suggest that she is 
continuing her initial push for a vocal and more central role 
for TUSIAD in the national political debate. TUSIAD's 
political agenda has not changed; its new leaders have the 
same secular, pro-Western orientation as their predecessors. 
Under the previous board, TUSIAD leadership was open to 
criticism that it was too closely linked to Dogan Holding; 
the previous chairwoman Yalcindag is the daughter of Aydin 
Dogan. While her comments indicate that Boyner will not 
hesitate to publicly criticize the government, her 
willingness to engage in frank conversations with government 
officials potentially could lead to a more constructive 
dialog under TUSIAD's new board. We will be meeting with 
Boyner soon to discuss her views and get a readout of her 
recent Ankara meetings. 
 
WIENER