US embassy cable - 05ANKARA4276

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004276 
 
SIPDIS 
 
ISTANBUL PLS PASS TO ADANA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINS, TU 
SUBJECT: TRABZON: A CITY PASSED BY 
 
REF: ANKARA 4117 
 
(U) Classified by PolCounselor John Kunstadter for reasons 
1.4 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Trabzon on the Black Sea has the potential 
to be a beautiful city.  It falls short of that potential, 
however.  As with the rest of Turkey, the city suffers from 
economic under-development and high real unemployment.  The 
city has a reputation for being strongly nationalistic. 
However, Islam-oriented AKP remains the dominant party and in 
the aftermath of the recent capture of a young local soldier 
by the PKK, we saw no indication that nationalism is out of 
control.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Trabzon's Reputation:  A Conservative, Religious, 
Patriotic, and Well-Armed City 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
2.  (C) With its ancient heritage (including a church with 
important late-Byzantine frescoes), delicious regional 
cuisine, and inimitably recalcitrant sense of humor, Trabzon 
should be a beautiful city on the Black Sea coast.  Flying 
into the birthplace of the great 16th century sultan Suleyman 
the Magnificent, we saw the vivid greens of hazelnut trees 
and tea bushes growing on mountainsides.  However, lack of 
another kind of green (capital) and unemployment, however, 
has left the city under-developed and dominated (as is much 
of urban Anatolia) by ugly Turco-Stalinist architecture. 
There has been an attempt to turn the waterfront west of the 
harbor into a public park, but the result is a dirty and 
haphazard collection of tea gardens and deathtrap 
playgrounds. 
 
3.  (C) At the Trabzon airport we were reminded that many men 
in the region are armed when we saw fifteen of the roughly 
sixty men on the plane lined up to retrieve their handguns 
from the airport authorities after the flight.  In other 
words, 25 percent of the men from this admittedly 
unscientific sample were "packin' heat." 
 
4.  (C) Though the city has a reputation for being religious 
and conservative, we were surprised to see that about half 
the women were not wearing a headscarf, and that the other 
half that did donned brightly colored scarves, not at all 
like their sisters in other cities in Anatolia. 
 
5.  (C) Travel guides warn tourists that prostitution is 
prevalent in Trabzon.  It is (reftel). 
 
6.  (C) As elsewhere in Turkey, the people in Trabzon are 
feeling the economic pinch.  We were hard-pressed to find a 
taxi at the airport and throughout our stay we saw very few 
taxis.  We were told that most of the population use 
minibuses (dolmus) because they are cheaper.  All but one of 
our contacts in Trabzon said unemployment is the city's 
biggest problem.  The exception was the mayor.  In an effort 
to keep the focus on something he could actually fix, he 
asserted that trash removal is Trabzon's number one concern. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Is Nationalism on the Rise in Trabzon? 
----------------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) In the spring, on the heels of the trampling of a 
Turkish flag by Kurdish youths in Mersin, Trabzon witnessed 
the near-lynching of five young adults who were purported to 
be brandishing a Kurdish flag.  No contact brought up the 
incident, but each, when probed, repeated to us that the 
situation was grossly exaggerated by the media, and that 
while Trabzon residents are fiercely patriotic, events were 
not as dire as reported.  One businessman did offer that the 
event had been a provocation, though there has been no 
evidence of such.  There was no noticeable surplus of Turkish 
flags waving in the Trabzon breeze (when there was one) 
either. 
 
8.  (C) The right-wing ultra-nationalistic Nationalist Action 
Party (MHP) refused to meet with us.  The governing Justice 
and Development Party (AKP), the left of center Republican 
People's Party (CHP) and the center-right Motherland Party 
(ANAVATAN) officials, as well as a group of businessmen and 
people on the street rejected claims of MHP's increasing 
popularity and disproportionate strength. 
 
9.  (C) Though many commentators have said that nationalism 
is on the rise in Turkey, we do not believe it is out of 
control in Trabzon.  All the leaders we saw in Trabzon--from 
the deputy governor, the mayor, the chief prosecutor, deputy 
police chief, local businessmen, to the leaders of three main 
parties--realize that the spring's near-lynching episode hurt 
Trabzon's national and international image and seem keen to 
keep a similar event from re-occurring.  While we were in 
Trabzon, a young man from the province serving in the 
military was taken hostage by PKK insurgents in the southeast 
of Turkey.  There were no rallies, riots or displays of rabid 
nationalism in the aftermath of his capture, providing a 
further indication that this patriotic region is not 
currently bubbling over with jingoistic violence. 
-------------------------------------- 
Politics, Soccer & Conspiracy Theories 
-------------------------------------- 
 
10.  (C) AKP remains the dominant political party in Trabzon. 
 AKP controls a majority of seats on the city council and 
sent six of the eight Trabzon MPs to the national parliament. 
 Trabzon's mayor Volkan Canalioglu, however, is from CHP. 
Two local university professors told us that his being a 
well-known local soccer star and PM Erdogan's admission to 
being a Fenerbahce (Istanbul) fan helped at the polls.  The 
local Trabzonspor soccer team last won the national 
championship almost a generation ago.  Nevertheless, unlike 
most Turkish soccer fans who support one of the three main 
Istanbul teams, regardless of where they live in Turkey, 
Trabzonites remain fanatical Trabzonspor supporters.  Erdogan 
has now appointed a former Trabzonspor star as his Minister 
of Public Works and has apparently funneled millions of 
dollars into the teams coffers in an attempt to buy back 
Trabzonites' loyalty. 
 
11. (C)  Meetings with AKP, CHP and ANAVATAN all started with 
pledges of friendship and denial of anti-American sentiments. 
 All conveyed disappointment in their perception of a lack of 
U.S. support in fighting the PKK and asserted that the U.S. 
must "let the Turks know what its plans are." 
 
12.  (C) Conspiracy theories abound in Trabzon, no different 
than any other city in Turkey.  A member of ANAVATAN asked if 
we were there to scout out areas for "the new U.S. military 
base."  The press, too, was interested to learn our "real" 
motive for the visit.  Conversely, several contacts did say 
that it was good of the USG to take an interest in Trabzon by 
sending us there. 
 
13.  (C) With the passing of a well-known Black Sea folk 
singer from cancer, rumors abound that the rate of cancer 
deaths in the region has skyrocketed due to Chernobyl 
fallout.  Our physician contact in Trabzon as well as the GOT 
have seen no evidence that this is the case, though there 
have been no real scientific data collection and analysis. 
Two attorneys we met with plan to organize (with the help of 
local pharmacists) an informal survey to satisfy their strong 
feelings that there is a significant increase in cancer 
deaths, especially among young adults, be it from Chernobyl 
or another source. 
MCELDOWNEY