US embassy cable - 04ANKARA6692

UNCLAS ANKARA 006692 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G. INL, INL/CTR, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE 
DEPARTMENT FOR VALERIE KWOK USAID E&E/ECA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, PGOV, SMIG, PREF, KWMN, TU, TIP IN TURKEY 
SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: SHELTERED VICTIM LEADS POLICE TO 
TRAFFICKERS 
 
REF: 04 ANK 6309 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY: Characterizing the events that led to the 
arrest of at least one human trafficking network member in 
Corum, Turkey as a "real success story for the shelter," 
Human Resources Development Foundation (HRDF) Executive 
Director Demet Gural told Emboff that an Azeri victim 
resident at the Istanbul shelter led police to her 
traffickers.  The victim did so despite her initial fears 
that she may be subjected to similar traumas at the hands of 
police or returned to the traffickers from whom she had 
escaped. END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) "When she came to our shelter she was so frightened" 
that she refused to provide any details about her traffickers 
or the network of forced prostitution into which she was 
sold, Gural said. In three weeks at the shelter, however, the 
woman reportedly developed "a sense of security and 
confidence in HRDF staff and police investigators", 
ultimately volunteering to return to Corum and lead 
investigators to her traffickers.  According to IOM Ankara's 
Countertrafficking Program Coordinator Meltem Ersoy, the 
victim identified at least one of the traffickers and 
provided written testimony to her police escorts. Police 
arrested the trafficker and recovered the victim's passport. 
IOM repatriated the victim on November 30. 
 
3. (U) The case demonstrated a so-far effective system of 
cooperation between law enforcement officials and victims' 
assistance NGOs.  Gural commented, "All through this process, 
the police cooperation was excellent.  Police in both Ankara 
and Istanbul did whatever we asked them to do, including 
safely escorting the victim for her last visit to Corum." 
 
4. (U) Both Ersoy and Gural were quick to caution, however, 
that luck, and not the still-evolving system for managing 
victims (reftel), played a pivotal role in the success of the 
operation.  "It's not normal, but the woman was cooperative. 
We were lucky again because the victim shared a common 
language.  We still need training for our shelter staff, we 
still need funding to pay their salaries, we still need money 
to run the hotline, we still need security for facilities, 
and we still need to find a permanent location." 
EDELMAN