US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1476

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001476 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S SOUTHEAST: LOCAL KURDISH BROADCASTING 
REMAINS BLOCKED 
 
REF: A. 04 ADANA 126 
 
     B. 04 ANKARA 3236 
 
Classified By: Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.4 b an 
d d.  This is a joint Embassy Ankara/Amconsul Adana cable. 
 
1. (C) Summary: Turkey's High Board of Radio and Television 
(RTUK) continues to block Kurdish-language broadcasting at 
the local level, nearly three years after Parliament 
initially passed EU-related legislation aimed at lifting 
restrictions.  The manager of a Diyarbakir station told us 
RTUK denied his application without explanation.  A RTUK 
official claimed the agency needs to establish regional 
monitoring offices and await pending administrative 
legislation before it can move forward.  To date, the GOT's 
minority-language reforms have resulted only in limited 
programming on State TV and radio.  End Summary. 
 
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Diyarbakir Station Applies for Kurdish Broadcasting 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
2. (SBU)  Diyarbakir-based local station Gun TV first applied 
in March 2004 for the right to broadcast Kurdish-language 
news and cultural programming.  Last summer during the 
station's application process, in an apparent evaluation of 
the station's audience profile, RTUK officials called on the 
Governor of Diyarbakir to confirm whether Kurdish was spoken 
by those in Gun TV's viewing audience.  The Governor 
confirmed that it was, which Gun staffers considered to be a 
good sign at the time.  But even that, apparently, was not 
enough to move Gun TV's application forward. 
 
3. (C) Cemal Dogan, Gun TV's broadcasting manager, told Adana 
poloff in February 2005 that the station had received a 
negative response from RTUK by means of a December 2004 
letter.  RTUK stated that Gun TV's application had been 
denied, but did not provide any rationale behind the 
decision, according to Dogan.  Gun TV replied in writing, 
requesting more information and specific reasons why RTUK was 
not able to approve the application.  Dogan said Gun TV's 
letter to RTUK asked whether any part of the application was 
incomplete, and stated that RTUK should consider Gun TV as 
having re-applied with the same materials if RTUK could not 
specify the problems with the application. 
 
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RTUK Has Long Delayed Local Programming 
--------------------------------------- 
 
4. (U) Turkey has been under pressure by the EU to lift 
restrictions on broadcasting in Kurdish.  In 2002, Parliament 
made the first step in addressing the issue by adopting 
legislation allowing news and cultural broadcasts in Kurdish 
and other non-Turkish languages traditionally spoken in 
Anatolia.  However, a subsequent RTUK regulation limited the 
minority-language broadcasts to the State-owned TRT 
broadcasting company, which successfully filed a legal 
challenge on the grounds that RTUK lacked the authority to 
require it to make such broadcasts. 
 
5. (U) Pressed to break the logjam, Parliament in 2003 
adopted further legislation explicitly permitting private 
media outlets to broadcast programming in minority languages. 
 This time, RTUK followed up with a regulation specifying 
that only national outlets would be permitted to make such 
broadcasts until RTUK completes a viewer-lister profile to 
determine which languages are in demand at the local level. 
No private national channels applied for the broadcasts; a 
number of broadcasters maintained that it is cost-prohibitive 
to air minority-language programming at the national level 
because demand for the languages is regional.  Gun TV filed a 
court challenge against the restriction on local 
broadcasting.  When EU officials complained that, once again, 
the legal reforms had resulted in no new programming, GOT 
leaders directed TRT in June 2004 to begin broadcasting 
immediately in Kurdish and other minority languages (reftel 
B). 
 
6. (C) Meanwhile, there has been no progress toward 
permitting minority-language broadcasting at the local level. 
 The TRT broadcasts, though widely hailed at first as a 
breakthrough, are derided in the Kurdish community as 
inadequate.  The TRT programming comprises several-day-old 
news broadcasts dubbed in Kurdish and other minority 
languages, as well as dubbed nature documentaries and some 
music and dance features.  RTUK regulations strictly limit 
the duration of the broadcasts.  One of our TRT contacts 
conceded that the programming is low quality; the novelty of 
the broadcasts drew an audience at first, but interest has 
waned. 
 
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RTUK: Two Obstacles to Local Broadcasts 
--------------------------------------- 
 
7. (C) Ankara poloff discussed Gun TV's application, and the 
overall issue of local minority-language broadcasting, with 
RTUK Co-Chairman Zakir Avsar on March 9.  The RTUK official 
averred that Gun TV's application was not denied but 
"suspended" for the time being.  He said there are 
essentially two obstacles preventing RTUK from permitting 
local minority-language broadcasting at this time: 1) RTUK 
needs to establish regional offices around the country to 
monitor the local broadcasts, and 2) before moving forward, 
RTUK must await pending legislation that will require an 
organizational overhaul of not only RTUK but all of Turkey's 
high councils and boards (on banking, telecommunications, 
higher education, etc.) to conform to EU standards.  Avsar 
said RTUK used to maintain regional offices until they were 
closed under legislation adopted in 2001.  The new regional 
branches will require more resources than the old ones, 
because RTUK will need to hire employees who speak Kurdish 
and other minority languages in order to monitor local 
broadcasters.  He said the viewer-listener profile has not 
been completed, but insisted that would not present a 
significant obstacle.  He also said the Gun TV application 
failed to meet RTUK regulations in some "technical" aspects; 
he claimed he could not recall the details, but averred that 
RTUK will raise them with Gun TV at a later date. 
 
8. (C) Avsar also noted that RTUK has frequently sanctioned 
Gun TV over the years for illegal broadcasts.  He claimed 
these broadcasts included statements advocating terrorism, to 
the point of directing viewers to take up arms and attack 
police (Note: We have no confirmation of this.  RTUK 
typically sanctions stations for controversial speech with no 
direct link to violence.  For example, in September 2004 RTUK 
ordered Gun TV off the air for 30 days for the station's live 
coverage of a symposium on local administration, human 
rights, and the media. End Note).  Avsar averred that Gun 
TV's past behavior does not disqualify the station from 
receiving permission for Kurdish-language broadcasts. 
However, he asserted, Gun TV is a classic example of the kind 
of broadcaster RTUK needs to monitor closely via regional 
offices. 
 
9 (C) When we related Avsar's explanation to Latif Okul, head 
of the TRT Broadcast Supervisory Department, he laughed and 
said RTUK is "making excuses."  Okul said RTUK epitomizes the 
worst characteristics of what he considers an "overbearing, 
meddlesome" State bureaucracy.  There is no need, he averred, 
for RTUK to monitor everything that is said over the 
airwaves; Turkish broadcasters are required to keep 
recordings of all programs for one year, and RTUK should 
investigate only when a complaint is filed, as is done in 
Western countries.  Okul said RTUK's real goal is to postpone 
indefinitely the day when it has to authorize local 
broadcasts in Kurdish.  "When the law on high councils is 
passed and the regional offices are established, they will 
find another excuse," he predicted. 
 
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Comment 
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10. (C) Gun TV's saga epitomizes how Turkey's reform process 
has failed to gain internal momentum despite the GOT's stated 
commitment to EU membership.  Each step in the field of 
minority-language broadcasting has been taken only at the 
direct urging of the EU.  TRT began its tightly restricted 
minority-language broadcasts to much fanfare in June 2004 as 
part of the GOT's effort to persuade the EU to open accession 
talks.  Since the December Summit there has been no progress, 
nor will there be unless the EU, once again, calls attention 
to the issue and insists on further action.  Allowing local 
channels to broadcast in Kurdish would give real meaning to 
the legislative reforms, something RTUK appears determined to 
avoid. 
 
EDELMAN