US embassy cable - 02ANKARA8740

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 008740 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2007 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT: DESPITE REFORM EFFORTS, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMUNITY 
WARY OF NEW GOT 
 
 
REF: ANKARA 8586 
 
 
Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.5 b and d. 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Turkey's three leading human rights 
organizations are wary of the new GOT, despite its nascent 
reform efforts (reftel).  One of the groups, which is 
Islam-oriented, suspects the ruling AK Party will avoid 
promoting Islamic rights; the others, leftist and Kurdish 
oriented, fear AK will pursue a hidden Islamic agenda at 
their expense.  A controversial police inspector report may 
present the first test of the GOT's commitment to progress on 
human rights.  End Summary. 
 
 
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MAZLUM-DER: AK IGNORING ISLAMIC ISSUES 
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2. (C) Yilmaz Ensaroglu, chairman of Mazlum-Der, an 
Islam-oriented human rights organization, told poloff he is 
not convinced that the ruling AK Party, despite its perceived 
Islamist roots, will promote religious freedom.  He said AK 
leaders are making every effort to avoid issues related to 
Islam, such as the wearing of headscarves in universities and 
government offices.  He noted that the new government 
includes more ministers formerly from the center-right ANAP 
party than from the (now closed) Islamist Fazilet Party. 
Even the openly Islamist former PM Erbakan made no progress 
on the rights of Muslims -- during his brief tenure large 
numbers of students were expelled from universities for 
wearing Islamic headcover -- and it is unlikely AK will do 
better.  The GOT's proposed legislative reform package does 
not appear to include many Islam-related issues.  AK Party, 
he said, appears more focused on staying in power than on 
promoting the rights of pious Muslims. 
 
 
3. (C) When pressed, however, Ensaroglu acknowledged there 
are indications the new administration could be more 
supportive of human rights reform than its predecessor, even 
if reform is not focused on Islamic issues.  He is very 
pleased that DPM Yalcinbayir was given the human rights 
portfolio.  He said Yalcinbayir was a strong advocate of 
human rights reform during his tenure on the parliamentary 
Constitutional Committee, often clashing with ANAP leader 
Mesut Yilmaz, who was less supportive of human rights in 
Ensaroglu's view.  The current 550-member Parliament includes 
10-15 deputies sensitive to human rights issues; if the right 
people are selected for the key committees, they could make 
an impact.  He said an "outrageous" report by police 
inspectors released November 28 presents the new 
administration with its first human rights test.  The report 
absolves police officers from charges of beating a student 
during a November demonstration in Ankara, despite the fact 
that the incident was captured by TV cameras, and instead 
blames the police official who freed the student.  He said 
the government's response to this travesty will provide an 
indication of its sincerity. 
 
 
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HRA/HRF: AK HAS HIDDEN ISLAMIC AGENDA 
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4. (C) Husnu Ondul, chairman of the leftist, Kurdish oriented 
Human Rights Association, and Yavuz Onen, chairman of the 
Human Rights Foundation (affiliated with the Association) 
view the issue of AK and Islam from the opposite angle.  They 
suspect AK has a hidden Islamic agenda.  Obviously, they 
argue, AK is planning Islam-related reforms, but no one knows 
what they are.  Ondul was the most dismissive of the proposed 
reform package, asserting that no administration could 
introduce a package without the endorsement of the Deep 
State.  New legislation might look good on paper, but would 
not be faithfully implemented.  Onen noted that the reform 
package did not appear to address many Kurdish issues, or the 
problems of the southeast in general.  AK does not have a 
good image among the Kurds, having opposed previous reforms 
relating to Kurdish language rights. 
 
 
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COMMENT 
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5. (C) Though HRA, HRF, and Mazlum-Der are broad-based, 
nationwide organizations, each has a discrete agenda.  They 
are reluctant to recognize reforms not focused on the issues 
most important for their members.  They are also 
understandably skeptical of AK's ability to implement its 
proposals, having been burned by past reform efforts that 
failed to live up to expectations. 
DEUTSCH