US embassy cable - 05ANKARA589

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000589 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, INL/CTR, DRL, PRM, IWI 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PGI 
DEPARTMENT FOR USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, PHUM, KWMN, SMIG, KFRD, ASEC, PREF, ELAB, TU, TIP IN TURKEY 
SUBJECT: TURKEY: FIFTH ANNUAL TIP REPORT: PROTECTION 
 
REF: SECSTATE 273089 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. 
 
2. (U) Post's responses are keyed to questions in Reftel A. 
This is part 4 of 4 (septel). 
 
 
Protection and Assistance to Victims 
------------------------------------ 
 
A. (U) The GOT issued 26 humanitarian visas to allow victims 
to remain in the country for rehabilitation, medical care, 
and legal assistance.  The humanitarian visas carry a 
six-month residence permit and the option to extend for an 
additional one month. Most victims, however, choose to return 
to their country of origin, according to shelter 
psychotherapist Serra Akkaya, who counsels victims at the 
shelter.  Victims were not required to pay normal departure 
fees or fines and the GOT did not take steps to bar re-entry 
to Turkey. 
 
Foreign women detained for illegal sex work are routinely 
screened for sexually transmitted diseases.  Victims of 
trafficking, however, are given the choice to seek free of 
charge psychological and medical attention, coordinated by 
HRDF and/or IOM, at any point after they are referred to the 
NGOs. In one extreme example, a victim who survived a jump 
from the sixth floor of an apartment building in September, 
is confined to a hospital where she receives continuing 
treatment valued at tens of thousands of USDs. Once in the 
shelter, victims may also seek legal services. 
 
According to IOM and HRDF, the GOT has halted its past 
practice of summarily deporting victims of trafficking, 
referring victims instead to the HRDF shelter in Istanbul or, 
when unavailable, providing other housing arrangements.  By 
late January 2005, more than thrity-two women were treated at 
the Istanbul shelter with another twenty to thirty victims 
waiting for access at any given time.  IOM notes that many 
victims may have possession of their travel documents when 
they are rescued.  In these cases, victims often choose to 
return directly home or to an NGO in the source country. 
 
B. (U) In September 2003, the GOT signed an anti-TIP protocol 
with HRDF (see para D in the Prevention section) that 
includes shelters.  No other Turkish NGOs currently provide 
such services.  The GOT paid membership dues to IOM totaling 
152,000 Swiss Francs.  The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality 
directly finances rent and overhead costs for HRDF's shelter 
in Istanbul.  The GOT, in partnership with Turk Telecom, 
financed set-up and monthly charges for the HRDF-administered 
hotline for victims of trafficking. 
 
C. (U) IOM and HRDF say the sharp increase in victims 
identified in 2004 (more than two hundred in 2004 vice two in 
2003) substantiates police claims that they screen victims 
regularly.  Since January 1, 2005, IOM says victim referrals 
for voluntary repatriations average about one per day. 
Jandarma and IOM participated in numerous training programs 
focusing on treatment of victims.  IOM and HRDF note that 
police are "much more sensitive to trafficking issues" and 
that they "ask the right questions", a direct result of the 
training and the GOT's stepped-up TIP agenda.  IOM is also 
organizing an April 2005 training conference for source 
country consular officers. 
 
D. (U) The GOT claims, and IOM and HRDF independently 
confirm, that law enforcement authorities have halted the 
practice of summary deportation of victims.  Instead, victims 
are immediately referred to HRDF for a case-by-case review. 
Officials note that many victims do not wish to remain in 
Turkey, in which case the GOT, IOM and HRDF cooperate to 
expedite the victims' safe return.  Victims are not jailed, 
fined for visa overstays, or barred from reentry.  Victims 
are not prosecuted for prostitution, narcotics, or other laws 
that would apply to non-victims. 
 
In September 2004, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said 
nearly half a million illegal migrants were deported from 
Turkey within the previous five years.  Aksu noted that, over 
the same period, about 3000 smugglers had been arrested.  It 
is a long-standing police practice to deport illegal 
migrants, and foreign women detained for illegal 
prostitution.  In the past, subjects of most such cases are 
generally deported within two weeks of detention.  In a 
survey of victims referred to the Istanbul shelter, only one 
victim complained that police had mistreated her. 
 
E. (U) The introduction of humanitarian visas, residency 
permits, and the shelter for victims of trafficking has 
cleared the way for victims to seek medical, legal, and 
social services.  Victims have also begun to cooperate with 
police to seek action against their traffickers.  In one case 
described by HRDF Executive Director Demet Gural, an Azeri 
victim of trafficking refused to provide any details about 
her traffickers or the network of forced prostitution into 
which she was sold. 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, Turkey, 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 days later.  The case demonstrated 
a so-far effective system of cooperation between law 
enforcement officials and victims' assistance NGOs.  Gural 
told us, "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." 
 
F. (U) We have no evidence that the GOT provides protection, 
beyond the Istanbul shelter, to victims or witnesses of any 
crimes, including trafficking in humans.  The government 
currently operates one shelter in Istanbul, though plans are 
underway at the MFA to open NGO-supported shelters in Ankara, 
Antalya, Izmir, Trabzon and Van.  Currently, the Istanbul 
Municipality funds the rent for the shelter facilities and 
provides the national hotline free of charge. 
G. (U) See para G in Investigation and Prosecution section. 
 
H. (U) With the exception of one Turkish citizen victim 
currently refusing voluntary repatriation to Turkey, we have 
no evidence that Turkey qualifies as a significant source 
country.  Turkey does however, provide assistance such as 
medical aid, shelter, and financial help to internally 
trafficked victims. 
 
I. (U) The International Organization for Migration works 
with trafficking victims in Turkey and in the majority of 
source countries.  Through its partnership with IOM and the 
GOT, the Human Resources Development Foundation (HRDF) 
coordinates shelter, medical services, psychological and 
legal counseling, and repatriation services in both Turkey 
and the source country.  Both IOM and HRDF highly complement 
the cooperation and support they receive from the GOT. 
EDELMAN