US embassy cable - 04ANKARA3675

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 003675 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2014 
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, PGOV, SMIG, PREF, KWMN, TU, TIP IN TURKEY 
SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: JOINT OPERATION RESULTS IN ARRESTS, 
VICTIM ASSISTANCE 
 
REF: ANKARA 3673 
 
 (U) Classified by Polcounselor John Kunstadter; reasons: 1.5 
(b,d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY. Turkish National Police (TNP) officials 
confirmed press reports (reftel) that a joint anti-TIP 
Turkish-Romanian Police operation (Mirage 2004) netted an 
international trafficking ring and freed seven Romanian TIP 
victims ages 17 to 20. TNP Foreigners, Borders and Asylum 
Department Director Mehmet Terzioglu asserts that the 
operation is evidence of 1) Turkey's successful international 
cooperation with counterpart law enforcement organizations; 
and 2) a growing focus on humanitarian assistance for 
victims.  Despite the operation's success, Embassy contacts 
privately associate Terzioglu with police corruption in 
Turkey. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
THE TRAFFICKERS 
 
2. (U) On May 31, 2004, Turkish National Police (TNP) 
officers launched Mirage 2004, an anti-TIP raid on Hotel 
Flash in Istanbul's Tarlabasi District.  Though the 
investigation continues, Mirage 2004 produced multiple 
arrests in Turkey and Romania and yielded nine logbooks which 
reportedly contain thousands of customers' names, home and 
cellular telephone numbers, references, and notes on 
customers' particular sexual preferences. 
 
3. (C) TNP Director of Security Mehmet Terzioglu, who 
oversees the Department responsible for the raid, asserts TNP 
furnished evidence obtained during the Mirage 2004 
investigation to Romanian Police forces who subsequently 
arrested Bucharest-based ring leaders Anton Chelaru Gica and 
Gheorghe Relu Rotari. Victims later identified Gica and 
Rotari from arrest photos forwarded by Romanian Police 
officials to the TNP.  Along with bank transfers to Gica and 
Rotari totaling USD 182,450, statements obtained from victims 
led investigators to the organization's financial manager 
Anca Carpusca and chauffeurs Fevzi Yesil and Cemal Izgi.  All 
are currently incarcerated and awaiting further judicial 
proceedings. 
 
 
THE CUSTOMERS 
 
4. (U) Turkish Pop Star (Mustafa) Akin, unnamed famous 
national football players, actors, prominent businessmen, and 
police officers were reportedly among the customers listed in 
the logbooks. Newspapers report that following the raid, TNP 
officers detained 11 suspected customers, including Akin, for 
"illegal sexual intercourse with minors".  A prosecutor in 
Beyoglu, Istanbul, released the 11 detainees pending formal 
charges.  The daily Hurriyet News quotes Akin, "They showed 
me pictures of some women.  I told them that I did not know 
any of them.  Maybe we happened to be at the same venues, but 
I was not with any of them.  My name was written in a woman's 
notebook. Maybe it's because I'm famous." 
 
 
THE VICTIMS 
 
5. (U) Following the raid, officers from the TNP Department 
of Foreigners, Borders and Asylum moved the victims into a 
police guest house and contacted Turkey's anti-TIP NGO, the 
Human Resources Development Foundation (HRDF).  HRDF 
Executive Director Dr. Demet Gural visited the victims, 
including 17-year-old Daniele Ostaci, who is reportedly 7 
weeks pregnant. "As you can imagine, their stores were all 
very desperate," Gural commented.  Gural noted that the 
victims were given medical exams and treated at Haseki 
Hospital in Istanbul, where Ostaci first learned of her 
pregnancy.  According to Gural, a psychotherapist concluded 
initial interviews on Sunday, June 13, 2004, just before the 
victims returned to Romania on June 16, 2004. 
 
6. (U) Gural praised police officers as "very cooperative." 
She also noted that each of the victims, in separated, 
private and confidential settings, confided through 
interpreters that 'there were no problems with policemen 
throughout the process. No one treated us badly.' 
 
7. (U) Asserting that HRDF lacks the financial and physical 
resources to properly care for the victims, and noting that 
each of the victims requested to return to Romania, Gural 
said she contacted the International Office of Migration 
(IOM) for repatriation assistance.  On behalf of the victims, 
HRDF also requested from IOM ongoing psychological counseling 
and medical treatment "especially for two of the victims who 
are extremely traumatized." 
 
8. (U) According to Acting Director Meltem Ersoy, IOM Turkey 
coordinated with IOM Romania to place the victims in a 
Romanian shelter for reintegration counseling, and additional 
medical and psychological treatment. Both Ersoy and Gural 
asserted the victims requested time to recover (in Romania) 
before returning to their families.  Ersoy noted that the 
repatriation process flowed smoothly; IOM was permitted to 
accompany the victims beyond the Istanbul Ataturk Airport's 
no access security zone, and directly to the flight. When the 
plane landed in Bucharest, Ersoy noted, IOM Romania escorted 
the victims from the flight to a shelter. 
 
9. (U) In a follow-on story published June 17, 2004, Turkey's 
Hurriyet News carried victim Daniele Ostaci's statement on 
page 3.  Gural confirmed the statement is accurate based on 
her personal interview. 
 
BEGIN TEXT: "Last year in August my father died.  I was in 
9th grade.  My mother was an alcoholic.  She moved in with 
another man.  She kicked me out of the house.  I started 
staying with a friend.  I went to a disco.  I met a man named 
Relu.  He told me that he would find a job for me in Istanbul 
as a baby sitter or a cleaner.  He told me that I would earn 
good money.  After staying at his home that night, we went to 
Piatra Neamt.  He introduced me to Alex (Anton Chelaru Gica). 
 Alex gave me $100 in advance and placed $300 in my bank 
account but told me not to spend it.  On October 2, 2003, a 
man working for Gica took me to a Turk named Fevzi Yesil.  I 
came to Istanbul together with the other girls on a bus owned 
by Yesil.  A taxi driver named Cemal Izgi met us.  We went to 
a hotel in Taksim.  I met with Anca Carpusco in the hotel. 
She runs the money-laundering network.  Anca tore my 
documents up, including my passport and identity card.  She 
told me that I would work for them.  She took all my money. 
They issued fake passports and IDs for us.  She made me 
memorize a telephone number.  If there were ever any 
problems, she told me to call this number.  She also said 
that they would kill me if I said anything to the police. 
Cemal Izgi was transporting us to the customers.  According 
to Anca's instructions, we were taking notes about the 
demands and preferences of these people.  In 8 months, I had 
sex with about 200 people.  From time to time we were 
involved with lesbians and in orgies.  I found out later that 
one of the customers was a famous singer.  He was calling me 
with another girl.  His friend was meeting with her, and I 
was with A." END TEXT. 
 
 
THE NUMBERS 
 
10. (U) In the first 6 months of 2004, IOM has received 27 
referrals from law enforcement offices, compared to less than 
5 in all of 2003, according to Ersoy.  An additional 20 women 
have applied for and received humanitarian visas this year, 
Ersoy asserted.  Many of these victims are currently seeking 
medical assistance, legal aid, and psychological counseling. 
"The process is definitely getting better," she noted.  Ersoy 
and HRDF Executive Director Demet Gural both noted a "direct 
impact between the number of trainings and the number of 
victim referrals."  "One of the Jandarma officers involved in 
the raid had previously attended IOM TIP training.  He knew 
what to do."  "We need more money to keep this program 
going," both noted repeatedly. 
 
11. (C) COMMENT: In past meetings, General Security 
Directorate Commissioner for Children's Issues Murat Guller 
has criticized TNP Director of Security Mehmet Terzioglu's 
commitment to battling TIP, repeating, he said, allegations 
that Terzioglu and other police officials, including Turkish 
Jandarma officers, are profiting from human trafficking. 
While this is an unusually blunt criticism, particularly 
considering Guller is Terzioglu's subordinate, other Embassy 
contacts also associate Terzioglu with corruption. 
EDELMAN