US embassy cable - 03ANKARA728

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000728 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT: DESPITE REFORMS, BUREAUCRATS BLOCK KURDISH COURSES 
 
 
REF: A. 02 ANKARA 6116 
     B. 02 ANKARA 8564 
     C. 02 ANKARA 7290 
 
 
Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.5 b and d. 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Despite reform legislation allowing Kurdish 
language courses, bureaucratic regulations place prohibitive 
costs by requiring that the courses be established in 
separate institutions, rather than added to existing schools. 
 The owner of a chain of language schools says there is not 
enough demand for Kurdish courses to cover the costs of 
establishing a separate institution.  End Summary. 
 
 
2. (C) As part of its August 2002 reform package (Reftel A), 
Parliament passed legislation allowing the establishment of 
private courses in Kurdish and other "languages and dialects 
traditionally used by Turkish citizens in their daily lives." 
 Nazif Ulgen, the Istanbul-based owner of the English Fast 
language schools, told Poloff January 23 that he had applied 
for approval to open a Kurdish course shortly after the new 
law was adopted.  However, Education Ministry officials in 
October told him the regulations implementing the law do not 
allow Kurdish courses to be added to existing institutions; a 
new institution must be created, with a separate building, 
management, and secretarial staff.  Ulgen said interest in 
private Kurdish courses is limited, and the costs of creating 
a separate institution are prohibitive.  If he were allowed 
to add Kurdish courses to his five schools -- which offer 
English, French and German -- he estimated he could attract a 
total of about 100 students.  There is no profit to be made 
in teaching Kurdish, but, as a Kurd himself, he would do it 
on principle.  However, he said, the roughly USD 100,000 it 
would cost to create a separate institution will prevent 
anyone from establishing Kurdish courses.  Both Ulgen and our 
GOT contacts said they believe Ulgen is the only one to apply 
so far for Kurdish courses. 
 
 
3. (C) Inan Ozyildiz, international affairs advisor to the 
President, told Poloff he had heard about Ulgen's situation. 
Ozyildiz opined that it will "eventually" be resolved.  The 
Education Ministry may revise its interpretation of the 
regulation, or, if necessary, the GOT may draft a new 
regulation.  He said Turkey is in the early stages of a 
reform process.  There are still many flaws, but the overall 
trend is clearly positive.  "We want to see these rights and 
freedoms fully implemented.  We don't want to see them only 
on paper," he averred.  Ulgen too is surprisingly optimistic. 
 He is frustrated that he is unable to take advantage of the 
language reforms, despite 25 years' experience running 
language schools.  "If you don't trust established 
organizations, whom will you trust?" he asked.  Still, he 
believes the regulations will eventually have to be loosened 
as Parliament continues to lift restrictions on freedom of 
expression, though it may take years.  He blamed the current 
roadblock on a bureaucracy dominated by a "nationalistic 
mentality" that views expanded freedoms as threats to the 
State. 
 
 
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Comment 
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4. (C) Ulgen is one of a number of Embassy contacts who have 
recently stressed their belief that the Turkish bureaucracy 
opposes GOT reforms and is working to undermine them.  It is 
a difficult argument to refute, as there have been a series 
of bureaucratic regulations undermining the spirit of reform 
legislation.  In addition to the restrictions on Kurdish 
courses, the bureaucracy has also placed tight limits on 
Kurdish broadcasts (Reftel B) and the rights of minority 
foundations to own property (Reftel C). 
PEARSON