US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2585

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002585 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2015 
TAGS: KIRF, PHUM, PREL, PGOV, ETRD, CASC, TU 
SUBJECT: SE TURKISH GOVERNORS TONE DEAF ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
 
REF: A. ADANA 0095 
 
     B. ADANA 0090 
 
Classified By: POL Counselor John W. Kunstadter for reasons 1.4 (b) & ( 
d). 
 
THIS CABLE IS FROM AMCONSUL ADANA. 
 
1.(C)  SUMMARY:  The Adana and Gaziantep governors have 
demonstrated a lack of interest in religious freedom issues 
when raised by AMCON ADANA PO in recent discussions.  In 
these discussions these same officials also have tried to 
shift discussion of religious freedom into recitals of 
shopworn GoT policy on the PKK and the lack of legitimacy for 
the cultural rights agenda of Turkey's Kurdish citizens. 
Lower level Turkish municipal and police officials, however, 
continue to respond to Christian concerns, albeit in an 
as-yet inconclusive fashion.  End Summary. 
ADANA GOVERNOR RULES OUT POTENTIAL FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
ISSUES, DEFLECT DISCUSSION 
2.(C)  AMCON ADANA PO met 4/28 with Adana governor Cahit 
Kirac, raising the problems of the Adana Catholic Church's 
blocked access to the street (Adana 0095).  Kirac discounted 
the issue as a property dispute for the municipality to 
handle, said that he had seen press reports that AK Mayor 
Aytac Durak wanted to engage on the issue and that the 
Turkish constitution provided for freedom of religion, and 
therefore Christians could not, by definition, have freedom 
of worship issues in Adana.  PO said that many Christians in 
Adana would differ with his assessment and that the small 
Protestant community here would be interested in finding a 
place to open a sanctuary.  Kirac shrugged the issue off as 
little concern of his. (Note: Subsequent more constructive 
engagement with municipal officials in ref. A). 
3.(C)  Kirac deflected the discussion to focus on regional 
issues and his experience in southeast (SE) Turkey, where he 
also did not see a religious freedom issue.  He talked of 
being a former sub-governor in northern Diyarbakir province 
and sub-governor in Sirnak during the conflict-ridden 1990's. 
 Asked his assessment of where SE regional issues stood in 
the Turkish-EU pre-accession dialogue,  Kirac, as an Elazig 
province native who even may be Kurdish, said that the 
problems in the SE were "all development related, nothing 
else."  He rejected out of hand any need to discuss potential 
inclusion of Kurdish in future Turkish school curriculums, 
such as an elective subject, asserting that Kurdish is an 
"unscientific language" and therefore inappropriate for 
academic usage. 
CHRISTIAN ISSUES IN GAZIANTEP BELOW GOVERNOR'S RADAR 
4.(C) On 4/29 AMCON ADANA PO approached Gaziantep governor 
Lutfullah Bilgin, mentioning U.S. appreciation for the 
Turkish National Police (TNP's) investigation of the April 
2005 incidents (Adana 90).  Bilgin initially reacted to the 
comment in a way clearly indicating that he had no prior 
knowledge of the issue, but recovered to say that he would 
mention our appreciation to the Security Director, whom he 
would see later in the day.  He assured the PO that there 
could be no problem for Christians in Gaziantep based on 
constitutional provisions for religious freedom in Turkey and 
the GoT's control of city security.   He asserted in addition 
that Turkey has no religious freedom problems and has proven 
this by construction of a non-Muslim religious center in 
Antalya.  He was referring to the tourist/foreigners church 
which PM Erdogan opened last Fall (note: which the EU 
diplomatic group in Ankara sees as merely for show.  End 
note).  PO reminded him of the November 2005 violent incident 
involving an AMCIT and the string of April 2005 incidents and 
said that the U.S. could not share his confidence, but again 
expressed appreciation for  continuing TNP attention to these 
issues. 
5.(C) Bilgin then shifted gears, saying that he thought that 
the recent Prof. Ceaser anti-Americanism public diplomacy 
presentation in Gaziantep had gone over well, welcoming 
further similar U.S. outreach.  He then offered the "friendly 
observation" that much anti-Americanism in Gaziantep and SE 
Turkey would "evaporate quickly" if the U.S. "just would 
attack the PKK in northern Iraq."  He offered analogies of 
hungry people forgetting their past hunger once they have 
eaten. He also said that Gaziantep's internal migrants (read: 
ethnic Kurdish citizens) literally were hungry and really 
just wanted jobs and better family welfare which the U.S. and 
others (read: the EU) "really could help if you bring 
business and welfare assistance directly here.  That is the 
real answer." 
6.(SBU) In continuation, Bilgin also said that Gaziantep was 
southern Turkey's economic center and that it "deserved to 
have the consulate bring American business to it."  PO 
described the perception of a lack of transparency in the 
Turkish judiciary, shifting tax system vis-a-vis 
international business and lack of protection for 
intellectual property rights which dampens U.S. investor 
enthusiasm for Turkey.  This seemed news to the governor and 
he talked about Italian interest in investing in Gaziantep. 
(Note: an Italian trade minister visited Gaziantep in late 
2004.  End Note.) 
7. (SBU) In closing, Bilgin made a passionate appeal for the 
Packard Humanities Institute to get re-involved with the 
Zeugma archeological project (Packard withdrew in 2004 after 
being grossly mistreated by local nationalist bigots, who 
prefer to keep the mosaics in poor condition rather than let 
them be decently restored by foreign specialists and lent on 
exhibit elsewhere).  He said that new Culture Minister 
Attilla Koc just had visited Gaziantep and had said that 
Zeugma was one of his highest priorities.  He said that the 
Culture Ministry would give the museum project another USD 
three million.  He hoped that the new museum extension, which 
PO also visited and found interesting yet incomplete, would 
open in mid-June 2005. Another consulate contact, who also 
saw the Culture Minister that day, said that PM  Erdogan had 
told the new Minister that Zeugma was to be one his top three 
national priorities. 
 
EDELMAN