US embassy cable - 03ANKARA6160

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006160 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PINS, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY:  THE VIEW FROM THE HEARTLAND, PART TWO 
 
 
REF: ANKARA 6060 
 
 
 (U) Classified by Political Counselor John Kunstadter, E.O. 
12958, reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Public support for the AK government is 
solid in the conservative central Anatolian provinces of 
Konya and Karaman.  If the AK government takes the lead, the 
local public, although wary, appears willing to go along with 
sending Turkish troops to Iraq.  Government officials and 
residents support EU reforms, notably without nationalistic 
resentment about the imposition of outside standards. 
Meanwhile, reform has not come to the sclerotic central 
bureaucracy that controls most government services.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
2.  (C)  Konya and Karaman are conservative provinces with 
agricultural bases and growing industry.  Konya has a 
reputation as a center of more religiously-oriented political 
thinking.  Residents and state officials are sensitive about 
Konya's religious image and are quick to claim that "this is 
not Qom."  Konya is home to Selcuk University, whose 70,000 
students make it Turkey's second-largest university and give 
the provincial center a more cosmopolitan air than the rest 
of the region.  AK dominated the region in November's 
parliamentary elections, taking 14 of 16 seats in Konya and 2 
of 3 in Karaman.  However, a mix of parties have filled 
municipalities since the last local elections in 1999, 
including the left of center CHP, right-wing MHP, and 
Islamist SP. 
 
 
Solid Support for AK Government 
 
 
3.  (C) Public support for the AK government is solid in 
Konya and Karaman.  Even opposition party mayors agreed that 
the AK government is popular with the local public.  Konya 
Chamber of Commerce leaders claimed that according to a 
private poll they conducted, local support for AK had 
increased 5% since the November elections.  Residents, 
government officials and opposition party members credited 
the AK with continued effective grassroots political work in 
cities, unlike previous parties who only focused on contact 
with the public as elections neared.  Small farmers expressed 
satisfaction that since November the AK government had not 
increased the price of their most expensive input, diesel 
fuel for tractors. 
 
 
4.  (C) There is widespread local optimism about the AK 
government, partially because it came to power without a 
coalition, unlike recent governments, and is perceived as 
potentially more effective.  But optimism is also buoyed by a 
sense that the November elections wiped the slate clean of 
old, discredited parties and opened a new political chapter. 
Konya Chamber of Commerce leaders said people had confidence 
in AK "because it started from scratch."  Karaman provincial 
AK leaders, most of whom were under 40, claimed they had not 
been involved in politics previously but that AK had given 
them a reason to become involved.  A retired police officer 
in the town of Ayranci, in Karaman province, compared the AK 
government to a new building:  "The old building collapsed," 
he said, "now a new one is going up." 
 
 
Wary Support for Troops to Iraq -- If the Government Leads 
 
 
5.  (C)  The Konya and Karaman publics appear wary but ready 
to support Turkey sending troops to Iraq -- if the AK 
government leads.  However, locals expressed a mix of 
uncertainty about U.S. intentions in Iraq, fear of a Kurdish 
state in Northern Iraq, and desire for U.S. action on 
PKK/KADEK in Iraq.  A Konya attorney predicted the local 
public would support the AK government's position on troops, 
but added "the U.S. must declare its intentions."  Karaman AK 
leaders predicted the same in their city, also saying the 
U.S. needed to clarify its intentions.  Even Yesildere's very 
partisan CHP mayor said that the local public would follow 
the AK government's lead on the troop question "if U.S. 
support for the Kurds is withdrawn."  Karaman's AK Chairman 
chided the U.S. for inaction on KADEK -- and was unaware the 
U.S. had already declared it a terrorist organization. 
 
 
Positive on the EU 
 
 
6.  (C) Konya and Karaman officials and residents expressed 
positive views on Turkey's EU reforms.  Security directors 
said they welcomed EU-related reforms to the criminal justice 
system, which they asserted were being implemented.  Security 
directors in Konya and Karaman claimed they were applying to 
judges for search warrants when they had not done so 
previously.  Konya's chief public prosecutor said Turkey 
needed to continue to keep up with the EU in the area of 
criminal law.  Owners of a local Konya TV station predicted 
EU membership would bring expanded freedom of expression. 
Librarians in the town of Eregli (Karaman province) saw EU 
membership as holding out the prospect of expanded freedom of 
thought. 
 
 
7.  (C) Amid the support for reforms, there was no expression 
of nationalistic resentment over pressure from reforms coming 
from the outside.  The only hint came from Eregli's 
right-wing MHP deputy mayor, who declared Turkey was making 
too many concessions to the EU.  He furnished no examples, 
and hastily added that he was not opposed to Turkey's EU 
membership but was simply saying reforms should be in 
Turkey's interest. 
 
 
The Sclerotic Central Bureaucracy 
 
 
8.  (C)  One area that has not seen reform is Turkey's 
sclerotic central government bureaucracy, which controls most 
government services but appears only sporadically effective. 
Offices of centrally-appointed state governors, who command 
most resources, were filled with officials, but few citizens, 
in contrast to the offices of elected mayors and local 
political parties.  In the provincial capital of Aksaray, 
north of Karaman, a group of residents praised the governor, 
but none knew his name or any projects he had completed (they 
all knew the mayor).  The central bureaucracy does appear to 
work sporadically, especially writ small.  The sub-governor 
of Ayranci (pop. 3200), his outer office filled with 
citizens, said local residents even contacted him for help 
when their cars broke down.  The village headman of tiny Uc 
Bas (pop. 70) said the governor's office was responsive to 
requests at monthly meetings with village headmen. 
 
 
9.  (C) But when it comes to getting things done, the state 
system is more a hindrance than a help to most residents. 
Small merchants in Konya said they took their problems to the 
mayor's office, not the governor.  Konya Chamber of Commerce 
leaders emphasized their economic independence from the state 
but worried that the "unwieldy structure" of the state 
economic bureaucracy would nevertheless "cast a shadow" over 
their businesses.  Owners of a Konya TV station recalled that 
the governor brushed off public demands to increase the 
number of stores selling required school uniforms, relenting 
when their station ran a series of feature stories on the 
subject. 
 
 
10.  (C) The system is frustrating even to those who work 
within it.  The sub-governor of  Eregli in Karaman province 
described Turkey as "one of only two communist states left", 
the other being North Korea.  He blamed the Turkish 
bureaucracy for stifling dairy exports from his town's 
factories.  The state, he said, required "200 signatures in 
order to export" and no factory was brave enough to initiate 
the time-consuming process.  The sub-governor added with 
disgust that he had to ask Ankara for permission even to 
replace a broken window in a schoolhouse.  Ayranci's 
sub-governor, who used to work in the private sector, 
expressed disappointment at the lack of initiative in the 
state system.  He said that he would like his office to work 
longer hours, but could not require employees to do so. 
Eregli's state-appointed librarians, who receive books from 
Ankara instead of selecting their own, complained they had to 
request Ankara's permission in order to accept donated books. 
 
 
11.  (C) Comment:  It is noteworthy that AK is not resting on 
its laurels even in natural strongholds like Konya and 
Karaman, although the party is avoiding getting out front on 
sending troops to Iraq.  In contrast, EU reforms appear to 
enjoy genuine official and grassroots support.  End Comment. 
 
 
EDELMAN