US embassy cable - 03ANKARA5993

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005993 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT: PRO-KURDISH PARTY CHAIRMAN AND OTHERS DETAINED IN 
TURKEY AFTER CONCERT IN GERMANY 
 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 2998 
     B. ANKARA 3266 
 
 
 (U) Classified by Political Counselor John Kunstadter, E.O. 
12958, reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  Turkish police detained pro-Kurdish 
Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) Chairman Tuncer Bakirhan 
and several others September 22 in connnection with their 
attendance at a concert in Germany on September 13 where PKK 
flags and posters of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan were 
allegedly displayed.  Justice Minister and AK government 
spokesman Cemil Cicek publicly and immediately criticized the 
detentions as inconsistent with Turkey's recent democratic 
reforms.  The detentions, and Cicek's criticism, reflect the 
split between Turkey's elected AK government and those in the 
security apparatus and judiciary who continue to resist 
democratic reform.  Bakirhan will probably be released soon. 
End Summary. 
 
 
2.  (U)  DEHAP Vice Chairman Nazmi Gur told us September 23 
that Turkish police detained Bakirhan September 22 when he 
presented himself voluntarily at a police station.  Bakirhan 
had heard that a state security court prosecutor had opened 
an investigation regarding his attendance at a September 13 
concert in Germany and presented himself to the prosecutor 
for questioning.  The prosecutor told Bakirhan to go to 
police instead.  Gur said this was an attempt to intimidate 
DEHAP.  Police also detained several others, including a 
singer, two guitarists, and the Chairman of the small Freedom 
and Society Party, which has been set up as a successor to 
DEHAP in the event DEHAP is closed. 
 
 
3.  (U) A State Security Court prosecutor released the 
musicians on the afternoon of September 23 but ordered the 
party chairmen detained pending an appearance in Ankara State 
Security Court.  Gur said no charges had been issued yet but 
speculated that possible charges could include PKK membership 
or aiding and abetting the PKK.  Media accounts of the 
concert claim the detentions stem from the display of PKK 
flags and posters of Abdullah Ocalan at an annual Kurdish 
Festival Concert September 13 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. 
 
 
4.  (U)  Justice Minister and AK government spokesman Cemil 
Cicek immediately and publicly criticized the detentions as 
inconsistent with Turkey's recent democratic reforms.  "It is 
more important to apply these laws than to pass them," he 
said, adding "we did not pass these laws in order to decorate 
the shelf.  Our judges and prosecutors must not violate 
rights when applying the law." 
 
 
5.  (C) Human Rights Association (HRA) Chairman Husnu Ondul 
told Embassy poloff September 23 that the timing of the 
detentions was a deliberate attempt to derail Turkey's EU 
membership by those opposed to democratic reform.  Ondul 
claimed that the prosecutor who opened this investigation, 
Cengiz Koksal, was also behind the raids against the HRA in 
May (reftels). 
 
 
6.  (C)  Comment:  We expect Bakirhan will be released soon 
and that if charges are issued, the case will drag on 
indefinitely.  Like the May raids against the HRA, this 
detention points up the stubborn resistance to democratic 
reform by elements of Turkey's security establishment and 
judiciary.  End Comment. 
EDELMAN