US embassy cable - 04ISTANBUL1953

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ISTANBUL 001953 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ASEC, CASC, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: ISTANBUL ORGANIZATIONS ADDRESS STREET CHILDREN AND 
INCREASE IN PICKPOCKETING 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Pickpocketing incidents, particularly those 
involving cellular telephones, have risen sharply throughout 
Turkey in 2004, with the highest jump in Istanbul.   National 
attention following an incident leading to the death of a 
student in Istanbul in November prompted the formation of a 
ministerial commission, increased security and greater 
punishments for pickpocketing.  Government officials 
attribute the growth in pickpocketing to poor economic 
conditions leading to immigration from eastern and 
southeastern Turkey, and an increase in street children 
coming from broken families.   Incidents continue, one 
resulting in the arrest in Istanbul of a group of youths from 
Diyarbakir in early December.  State Minister Aksit predicted 
the number of street children in Istanbul could rise to 
625,000.  Istanbul security officials contend that they do 
not have sufficient funding to do more than arrest leaders of 
groups of child criminals.  Organizations such as the 
Istanbul Social Services Directorate and NGOs addressing the 
street children issue contend that pickpocketing is related 
more to organized crime, and should be dealt with separately 
from the increase in street children.   End summary. 
 
Istanbul Pickpocketing Incident draws National Attention 
 
2. (U) There were 11,886 pickpocketing incidents throughout 
Turkey in the first nine months of 2004, an increase of 23 
per cent nation-wide, compared to 9700 in the first nine 
months of 2003.   The incidents in Istanbul alone numbered 
6000 in the first nine months of 2004, a 60 per cent increase 
over the comparable period in 2003.   The death of a 
university student thrown from a train near Haydarpasha in 
November by a group of youths who stole the student,s 
cellular phone drew national attention to the rise of 
pickpocketing and the related increase of street children. 
Three youths were arrested in connection with the death of 
the student, who was returning to his home in Istanbul via 
the express train after classes at a university in Izmit. 
The father of one of the youths arrested admitted that he 
forced his two middle-school aged children to work to 
contribute to the family budget, so his son started to sell 
pismaniye (a sweet special to Izmit) on the train, but he had 
fallen in with a bad group of friends. 
 
3. (U) In response to public outcry after the incident, the 
Council of Ministers formed a commission consisting of four 
ministers (State Minister Aksit, Interior Minister Aksu, 
Education Minister Celik and Health Minister Akdogan) to 
research the causes of pickpocketing and the related issue of 
street children.   After the first meeting of the commission, 
Aksit called the cause of the problem totally economic: 47 
per cent came from the east and southeastern Anatolia; 42 per 
cent had left primary school; 49 per cent came from broken 
families; and 53 per cent had been exposed to violence. 
Deputy General Director of Security, Ramazan Er, who 
announced that additional police have been assigned to trains 
to curb pickpocketing incidents, echoed Aksit, attributing 
the cause to the immigration of families with many children 
from rural areas to large cities, along with the separation 
of the parents, who encourage their children to commit 
crimes.   Er also announced that the punishment for these 
pickpocketing crimes would increase from three to seven years 
in the new Turkish Punishment Law coming into effect April 1, 
2005.   The Supreme Court also placed the crime of cellular 
telephone robberies within the category of extortion, and 
increased the punishment for those indicted of extortion from 
10 to 20 years. 
 
4. (U) According to the last census, Aksit announced that 
625,000 children in Istanbul are at risk of becoming street 
children.  Aksit added that 95 per cent of children working 
in the streets are male, and that the working children issue 
should be addressed separately from children living in the 
streets.   Based on the Security Directorate's 2003 estimate 
of 88,313 street children addicted to drugs and involved with 
crime, Aksit noted that 15 per cent of these children are age 
10 and under, and 85 per cent are between 11 and 18 years 
old.   44 per cent of these children are addicted to 
cigarettes and other substances, and of this 4 percent are 
addicted to alcohol, 2 per cent to paint thinner, 2 per cent 
to glue, and 2 per cent to narcotics. 
 
5. (U) In November 2004, some Belgian tourists in Istanbul 
were injured by a group of young glue addicts in Cihangir 
demanding money, and an Israeli tourist in Istanbul was also 
attacked by glue sniffers.   The number of street children in 
Istanbul who are addicted to easily-obtainable inhalants such 
as glue and paint thinner is apparently increasing, and some 
may commit crimes such as pickpocketing on an individual 
basis.  However, Istanbul Governorate social services and NGO 
officials believe that child glue addicts who commit crimes 
are generally not controlled by organized crime, as they do 
not produce a flow of money.  These officials insist that the 
street children problem must be dealt with separately from 
the rise in pickpocketing, which is generally committed by 
professionals controlled by mafia groups. 
 
Child Crime in Istanbul on the Rise... 
 
6. (U)  Statistics from the Istanbul Children's Crime 
division from January 1 - May 15, 2004 revealed that 5,569 
children in Istanbul during that period were apprehended by 
police and accused of committing 4,285 different crimes. 
4,740 of those apprehended were released by the court and 
returned to their families, 289 were sent back to their 
countries, and 395 were sent to prison.   192 were accused of 
pickpocketing theft; 310 of robbery, 546 of wounding others, 
394 of fighting, and 131 of driving without a license. 
Interestingly, of the children aged 11 years and under 
accused of robbery, 191 were girls and 41 boys. 
 
...but Limited Funds to Deal with Child Criminals 
 
7. (SBU) Although National Security officials increased 
punishments for the crimes, limited financial resources for 
Istanbul security districts are preventing implementation of 
policies to address the increase in pickpocketing.  Beyoglu 
Police Chief Gedik informed ARSO that he has stationed teams 
of plainclothes police officers and additional uniformed 
police in the Istiklal area to deal with increased crimes by 
gangs of children.   Gedik had made a proposal to the 
Istanbul Chief of Police to develop a national program to 
deal with gangs of children who commit pickpocketing and 
other crimes, but was informed there were no funds for such a 
program.   Gedik also said that beyond arresting and 
incarcerating several of the leaders of the gangs of street 
children, he did not have the authority or resources to 
combat the ongoing activities of the child criminals. 
Reacting to public pressure about pickpocketing and street 
children, Gedik began to round up children in his district 
and transfer them to the Beykoz district, the responsibility 
of the Jandarma, who Gedik is convinced have more resources 
to address the problem. 
 
Amcit Pickpocketing incidents centered in Taksim 
 
8. (U) Istanbul ACS unit advises that the locus of 
pickpocketing reported by American citizens has moved in 2004 
from the tourist center of Sultan Ahmet to the business and 
nightclub area in Taksim -- in the Beyoglu district. 
However, there have thankfully been virtually no violent 
incidents involving Americans in Istanbul over the past two 
years in connection with pickpocketing. 
 
Social Services and NGOs Address Street Children Problem 
 
9. (SBU) While the government ministers and security 
officials are convinced that the increase in street children 
is a primary cause of the surge in pickpocketing incidents, 
both municipal government officials and NGO directors assert 
that the two issues are separate. Fevzi Yirtik, director of 
the Istanbul Governorate,s Social Services Division, which 
operates eight shelters for street children in Istanbul, 
contends that most of the children in his shelters are not 
involved in crime, and that it is important to distinguish 
between street children and children involved in crimes such 
as pickpocketing.   Yusuf Ahmet Kulca, Director of the Umut 
Cocuklar Dernegi (Association for Hope for Children), 
believes that the pickpocketers are controlled by different 
mafia groups, and attributes the rise in pickpocketing to the 
annual influx of approximately 300,000 immigrants from 
eastern and southeastern Turkey to Istanbul. 
 
10. (SBU) Both the social services directorate and the NGO 
deal with children from broken homes, due to divorce, 
violence and abuse, and their goal is to reunite the children 
with their families.  Pediatricians and other experts in both 
organizations work together to rehabilitate the children. 
The Social Services Directorate, which has addressed the 
problem of street children since 1998, deploys teams 
monitoring the streets to look for children who should be 
brought to the shelters, but will not do so by force.  The 
governorate,s 8 shelters have a capacity of 250, but 
currently there are approximately 150-200 children in the 
shelters, between the ages of 8 and 18, after which the state 
is not responsible.  The shelters have an open-door policy 
for the children, so that they can come and go whenever they 
want.  Yirtik claims his directorate has not had a problem 
with funding, and has been successful in reuniting one-third 
of the children with their families.   However, as many 
involved in pickpocketing incidents are between age 18 and 
25, the social services directorate,s ability to reduce 
street crime for children over 18 is limited. 
 
11. (SBU) The Hope for Children Association, one of 14 NGOs 
in Istanbul dealing with street children, works with children 
from age 7 to 27, 7 per cent of whom are girls.   The 
Association,s single shelter in Bakirkoy has a capacity of 
50, but currently is housing 35-40 children.   The NGO has 
developed vocational projects to encourage children to stay 
off the streets, including working in a laundry service.  The 
Association is supported only by private donations -- one of 
their facilities was donated by Philip Morris -- and depends 
on volunteers, including medical staff.  Director Kulca 
complained that they have recently had to cut staff severely 
and cancel a project due to lack of funding. 
 
12. (SBU) Comment: A continuing flow of immigrants from the 
east and insufficient funding handicap the ability of 
municipal, security and NGO organizations to deal with the 
growing numbers of street children and the increase in child 
crime.  A city-wide effort to combat these problems, 
including greater cooperation between security officials and 
social organizations in Istanbul, is needed to reduce the 
increase in pickpocketing and the involvement of children in 
street crime. 
ARNETT