US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1776

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001776 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, KCRM, PHUM, KWMN, SMIG, KFRD, PREF, TU, TIP IN TURKEY 
SUBJECT: TIP in Turkey: Developments in regional law 
enforcement cooperation 
 
1. (U) Summary: Turkey's Mobile Training Team is training 
law enforcement authorities in the Balkans, Caucasus, and 
Central Asia on measures to counter human smuggling and 
trafficking in persons.  The foreign ministers of Turkey and 
Georgia recently signed a protocol on cooperation in anti- 
trafficking efforts.  While continuing to push bilateral 
protocols, the GOT has been active in regional and 
international fora, and some GOT officials would prefer to 
rely on regional bodies to address common problems with TIP. 
End Summary. 
 
2. (U) The Mobile Training Team (MTT) formed by the Turkish 
Military Forces Partnership for Peace Training Center 
Command (TSK-BIOEM) has launched a program training law 
enforcement authorities in the Balkans, Central Asia, and 
the Caucasus on ways to combat human smuggling and human 
trafficking.  The first stage of the program will take place 
March 7-April 15, 2005, and train law enforcement personnel 
in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Romania, Albania, and 
Ukraine.  The second stage scheduled for July-August 2005 
will cover Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, 
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Moldova. 
 
3. (U) The training program covers general information on 
human trafficking, investigation techniques, operational 
activities and analysis, preventive measures, and 
international cooperation on combating human trafficking. 
During this program, experts from the Turkish General Staff, 
Turkish Land Forces, General Directorate of Security, and 
Gendarmerie aim to share their experience in the struggle 
against human smuggling and human trafficking with the other 
countries and improve cooperation. 
 
4. (U) Another positive development in regional cooperation 
against TIP is the recent protocol signed between Turkey and 
Georgia.  On March 10, Foreign Minister of Georgia Salome 
Zourabichvili met with FM Abdullah Gul and signed a protocol 
providing for cooperation between the two countries in anti- 
TIP efforts.  While draft protocols have been sent to the 
main source countries in the region (Ukraine, Moldova, 
Russian Federation, Bulgaria, Romania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, 
Belarus, Uzbekistan), to date the only other country to sign 
the counter-trafficking protocol is Belarus.  Moldova and 
Ukraine have expressed interest in signing protocols as 
well.  The protocol signed by FM Gul and Zourabichvili must 
be ratified before taking effect. 
 
5. (SBU) Comment: While Interior Ministry officials still 
cling to the idea that a bilateral protocol must be signed 
in order to ensure meaningful cooperation, they also 
highlight cooperation in recent operations (particularly 
between Ukraine and Turkey) and international settings.  MFA 
Migration Department Head Iskender Okyay recently expressed 
hope that Turkey can move away from bilateral protocols and 
focus on regional fora (such as BSEC) to enhance cooperation 
on anti-trafficking efforts.  It remains to be seen whether 
the Interior Ministry will give up its insistence on 
protocols in favor of a regional approach. End comment. 
 
6. (U) The text of the anti-TIP protocol provided by the MFA 
follows. BEGIN TEXT: 
 
PROTOCOL BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY AND GEORGIA ON THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NINTH ARTICLE OF THE AGREEMENT ON 
COMBATING TERRORISM, ORGANIZED CRIME AND OTHER MAJOR CRIMES 
BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY, GEORGIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF 
AZERBAIJAN 
 
Pursuant to Article 9 of the "Agreement among and the 
Republic of Turkey, Georgia and the Republic of Azerbaijan 
on Combating Terrorism, Organized Crime and Other Major 
Crimes", the Republic of Turkey and Georgia hereinafter 
referred as "Parties"; 
 
Deeply concerned by the fact that trafficking in human 
beings, which constitutes one of the transnational organized 
crimes and is spread out every other day in the world and in 
our region, provides huge profits to organized crime 
networks and is also related to narcotics and arms 
trafficking, as well as smuggling of migrants; 
 
Realizing that trafficking in human beings can be coped 
with, through timely and effective international 
cooperation; 
 
Emphasizing the importance of providing judicial, 
humanitarian, psychological and medical assistance to 
victims of trafficking in human beings, facilitating their 
return to their countries and assuring their reintegration 
and taking the necessary measures in arresting the 
perpetrators and creating public awareness; 
 
Recognizing the importance of the efforts in stopping the 
trafficking in human beings by bringing to light the crime 
networks; 
 
Stressing the need to strengthen the cooperation and 
coordination between the Republic of Turkey and Georgia in 
combating trafficking in human beings; 
 
Have agreed, to promote measures, in accordance with their 
respective national legislation and procedures with a view 
to: 
 
1. Completing the necessary national legal infrastructure in 
the field of trafficking in human beings and taking the 
other necessary administrative and institutional measures; 
 
2. Establishing a regional network between the Non- 
Governmental Organizations (NGO) in the countries which face 
this problem; 
 
3. Supporting the victims of trafficking in human beings, 
following the establishment of the conditions by the Parties 
in the framework of humanitarian, psychological and medical 
care; 
 
4. Ensuring the victims to testify in the framework of the 
national legal systems of the Parties, in order to arrest 
the perpetrators and protecting these victims; 
 
5. Creating public awareness and awareness in the relevant 
institutions on trafficking in human beings; 
 
6. Creating awareness, in their respective countries, among 
the persons traveling abroad and might be subject to 
trafficking in human beings; 
 
7. Designating point of contacts in their respective 
countries, where information on victims of trafficking in 
human beings will be collected and which will coordinate the 
issue of trafficking in human beings and sharing the 
collected information with the other Party; 
 
8. Training of law enforcement agents in combating 
trafficking in human beings, organizing joint training 
programmes, exchanging experts of each country and 
increasing cooperation opportunities; 
 
9. Providing cooperation between the scientific and academic 
institutions, exchanging experts of each country in order to 
share experience and knowledge; 
 
10. Tasking the competent authorities in the two countries 
with the implementation of this Protocol. 
 
This Protocol shall enter into force upon notification in 
writing by both Parties to each other that they have 
completed their national procedures. 
 
Each Party may propose amendments to the present Protocol. 
Amendments shall enter into force upon their acceptance by 
all parties in accordance with the provisions of the above 
mentioned paragraph. 
 
Each Party may give notice of withdrawal from the Protocol 
by written notification to the other Party. 
 
In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorized 
thereto by the Governments of the Republic of Turkey and 
Georgia, have signed this Protocol. 
 
Done in Ankara, on March 10, 2005, in two copies, each of 
them in Turkish, Georgian and English languages, all texts 
being equally authentic. 
 
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY 
ABDULLAH GUL 
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
 
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA 
SALOME ZOURABICHVILI 
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
END TEXT. 
 
EDELMAN