US embassy cable - 03ANKARA5927

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005927 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU, OSCE 
SUBJECT: GOT ENGAGED IN INTERNAL DEBATE OVER IDP CONFERENCE 
 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 5566 
     B. ANKARA 5745 
 
 
Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch; reasons 1.5 b and d. 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Some MFA officials support a UN 
recommendation to hold an international conference on return 
programs for those displaced from the southeast during the 
PKK conflict; however, the Interior Ministry opposes.  UNHCR 
believes the conference should also include the return of 
refugees from the Makhmour camp in northern Iraq.  An 
international conference could lead to a returns program 
capable of drawing international funding.  End Summary. 
 
 
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UN Rep Proposes Conference 
-------------------------- 
 
 
2. (C) Francis Deng, UN Special Representative on Internally 
Displaced Persons (IDPs), visited Turkey in May 2002 and 
reported a new, more open attitude among GOT officials on the 
issue of the IDPs who fled, or were forced, from the 
southeast during the height of the PKK conflict (the GOT 
claims 378,000 "migrated" from the region; various NGOs 
estimate that from 1-3 million left).  Deng made a number of 
recommendations for turning this new attitude into concrete 
progress, including a suggestion that the GOT convene an IDP 
conference with international representatives aimed at 
developing return programs in concert with the international 
community.  To date, Deng's report has not brought about any 
tangible changes -- the GOT continues with an IDP return 
program that has been widely criticized as limited and 
secretive.  Potential international donors maintain that they 
 
SIPDIS 
cannot contribute to a return effort that fails to meet 
international standards. 
 
 
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MFA, EU SecGen Support 
---------------------- 
 
 
3. (C) A number of officials in the MFA and the closely 
related Secretariat General for EU Affairs, the bureaucratic 
offices leading the EU reform drive, support the idea of an 
international IDP conference.  They are anxious to show 
progress on an issue listed among the EU accession criteria 
(reftels).  Asligul Ugdul, Secretariat General political 
affairs director, told us she and her colleagues will work to 
persuade high-level MFA officials, just returning from summer 
leave, to lobby for a conference.  She averred that a 
conference would allow the GOT to present the IDP issue with 
all its complexities to the outside world.  With any luck, 
international representatives would leave understanding that 
the problem requires a long-term solution, and Turkey would 
leave with a transparent returns program capable of drawing 
international support.  Ugdul said this would be far more 
effective than the GOT's current "secretive" approach.  "We 
always criticize everyone for not understanding us, but it's 
our own fault," she said. "What are we doing to explain 
ourselves?"  Kaan Esener, head of the MFA Council of Europe 
Department, said the GOT has long resisted the idea of 
outside involvement in the southeast, but, he insisted, 
"there is going to be a change in our approach." 
 
 
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Interior: Turkey Not a "Banana Republic" 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
4. (U) However, a number of contacts have told us the 
Interior Ministry is trying to block the effort.  Nezih 
Dogan, Interior Ministry secretary general, confirmed this 
with his rejection of an international conference: "Turkey is 
not a banana republic.  We don't need other countries telling 
us how to deal with this."  Dogan defended the GOT's current 
returns program as effective and transparent.  He said 
international grants or zero-interest loans could be helpful, 
but not if they come with strings attached.  Dogan argued 
that international organizations impose uniform standards, on 
housing for example, that are not appropriate for Turkey's 
southeast.  The GOT is best qualified to develop programs 
appropriate for its own people. 
 
 
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UNHCR Wants Makhmour Included 
----------------------------- 
5. (U) It is not clear how this internal GOT debate will play 
out.  Gesche Karrenbrock, UNHCR Turkey Representative, told 
us UNHCR is still waiting for a response to a letter sent to 
the GOT in July proposing an international "stakeholders" 
conference on development and returns for the southeast. 
UNHCR is eager to work with the GOT and CPA to assist in the 
voluntary return to Turkey of refugees from the Makhmour camp 
in northern Iraq.  To be successful, a return program for 
Makhmour would have to be tied into a larger effort that 
would include IDPs within Turkey, she said. 
 
 
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Comment 
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6. (C) An international IDP conference would provide the GOT 
with an excellent opportunity to break the logjam on this 
chronic human rights issue.  The Turks are right to argue 
that returns and economic development in the southeast are 
complex, long term problems.  But Turkey's international 
critics are right to accuse the GOT of failing to make 
serious efforts to assist IDPs who want to return to their 
homes.  European contacts have assured us the EU would 
provide funding for a transparent return program meeting 
international standards.  If a conference leads to a program 
with international support, the international community will 
become Turkey's partner in the solution, rather than an 
outside critic.  The returns issue will then be removed from 
the list of Turkey's human rights abuses and placed among its 
areas of progress.  However, we doubt this will be settled in 
favor of international transparency. 
 
 
7. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
 
EDELMAN