US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2349

UNCLAS ANKARA 002349 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/OIA, EB/CBA, CA/OCS/EUR AND EUR/SE 
USDOC/ITA/MAC/DAVID DEFALCO 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC, EINV, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT:  Update on Van Hotel Case 
 
REF:  Ankara 952 
 
1. (U) In February, a judge dismissed Amcit Victor 
Bedoian's civil case challenging the sale of his hotel 
in Van (reftel).  The judge has since issued her 
reasoning in this case, which boils down to the finding 
that the hotel manager had written authorization from 
Bedoian, and was entitled to sell the property. 
However, Bedoian does have the right to appeal to the 
Yargitay (Supreme Court of Appeals).  Bedoian claims 
that the judge ignored evidence that his signature on 
documents relevant to the sale had been forged.  He also 
alleges in a letter to the Justice Ministry that the 
judge was bribed, or at a minimum, partial to the buyer 
of the hotel. 
 
2. (U) Separately, Bedoian has filed a case with the 
European Court of Human Rights challenging court 
decisions on his residency and operating permits.  The 
application claims that Bedoian's Armenian ethnic origin 
was a major reason behind the denial of the permits. 
 
3. (SBU) Econoff recently raised the case with officials 
at both the Justice and Interior Ministries.  In March, 
Aykut Kilic, Justice's Deputy Director General for 
International Law/Foreign Relations listened to our 
concerns, but deferred comment until he had the 
opportunity to examine the court's reasoning.  Meeting 
in April, Amb. Ataman Yalgin, a diplomat seconded as an 
advisor to the Interior Minister and chief of the 
International Relations Department, was completely 
dismissive.  He maintained that:  this was a matter for 
the courts; if Bedoian had been denied a residence 
permit, he obviously must have failed to meet the legal 
qualifications for one; and Bedoian's ethnic origin had 
no bearing on court or executive branch decisions.  When 
we pointed out that disputes like this one send a strong 
negative signal to any foreign company contemplating 
investment or other business in Turkey, Yalgin responded 
that any foreign investor who is not satisfied with 
conditions here is free to leave. 
 
4. (SBU) Next Steps:  We believe that the private 
interests involved in this alleged property swindle, 
combined with anti-Armenian sentiment, are likely to 
block any change in the current situation for the 
foreseeable future.  However, we will continue to raise 
our (and Turkey's) interest in a fair and transparent 
resolution to this dispute, and will ask GOT 
interlocutors to look into the allegation of bribery in 
the civil case.  We plan to cite the Bedoian case in 
this year's report on investment disputes and 
expropriations, as we have done for the last several 
years. 
Edelman