US embassy cable - 03ANKARA1624

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001624 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU, OSCE 
SUBJECT: GOT CLOSES PRO-KURDISH HADEP PARTY, OPENS CASE 
AGAINST SUCCESSOR 
 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 1470 
     B. ANKARA 1303 
     C. ANKARA 972 
     D. ADANA 68 
     E. ADANA 44 
     F. 02 ANKARA 8881 
 
 
Classified by Deputy Polcouns Nicholas S. Kass; reasons 1.5 b 
and d. 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Turkey's highest court announced the closure 
of the pro-Kurdish HADEP party the same day a chief 
prosecutor opened a case to close the closely linked DEHAP 
party.  HADEP is accused of aiding the PKK and other 
offenses; DEHAP is charged with actions against the 
democratic state and legal institutions.  HADEP leaders and 
other Embassy contacts say the actions, timed for maximum 
impact, are part of a broader anti-Kurdish crackdown.  The 
court closed HADEP despite recent reforms designed to raise 
the standard for such actions.  End Summary. 
 
 
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HADEP Closed, Successor Accused 
------------------------------- 
 
 
2. (U) The Constitutional Court March 13 announced its 
decision to close the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party 
(HADEP) on charges of supporting the terrorist Kurdistan 
Workers Party (PKK aka KADEK) and committing separatist acts. 
 The Court banned 46 HADEP members from participating in 
political activity for five years.  Court Chairman Mustafa 
Bumin told reporters the case, filed in 1999, included 
evidence that HADEP had provided (unspecified) aid and 
assistance to the PKK.  "We are talking about an act of 
terrorism; we are not only talking about some statements," he 
told reporters.  The party was closed under Articles 68 and 
69 of the Constitution, which prohibit parties from 
undermining the independence or unity of the State and allow 
for the closure of parties found in violation. 
 
 
3. (C) Almost simultaneously, Supreme Court of Appeals Chief 
Prosecutor Sabih Kanadoglu filed a case with the 
Constitutional Court seeking the closure of the Democracy 
People's Party (DEHAP), which is closely linked to HADEP. 
Kanadoglu charged DEHAP with acts "contrary to the principles 
of a democratic republic" and with causing "loss of 
confidence in legal institutions."  (Note: HADEP created 
DEHAP before the November elections as insurance against a 
possible pre-election closure of HADEP; several former HADEP 
leaders ran in the elections under the DEHAP banner.  In the 
past, the GOT closed two of HADEP's predecessor parties.  End 
note.) 
 
 
4. (C) Ahmet Turan Demir, HADEP chairman, told Emboff the 
actions against HADEP and DEHAP constituted a politically 
motivated effort to crush pro-Kurdish expression and 
undermine democracy.  Demir said the most damaging element is 
the banning of 46 HADEP leaders, a severe measure that will 
have a chilling effect across the political spectrum.  "This 
is a dangerous situation.  It will lead to the isolation of 
Turkey from the world," he said.  Demir said HADEP will 
appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. 
 
 
---------------------------------------- 
"Anti Kurdish, Anti-Democratic" Crackdown 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
5. (C) Contacts espousing widely divergent political 
philosophies expressed to us their concern about growing 
anti-Kurdish sentiments, among both the Turkish State and 
elements of the public, as a possible Iraq war looms. 
 
 
-- Baskin Oran, a noted scholar at Ankara University's 
prestigious Political Science Faculty and a specialist in 
minority issues, characterized to us the actions against 
HADEP/DEHAP as "horrifying, disastrous."  Oran drew attention 
to what he called the suspicious timing of the legal actions, 
which come amid widespread Kurdish fears of a GOT crackdown 
in the Kurdish southeast in the event of war in Iraq (Reftels 
A-E).  Elements of "the State," opposed to human rights 
reform and EU membership, deliberately timed the HADEP 
decision and the DEHAP case for maximum impact, he said. 
 
 
-- Two senior Kurdish politicians -- one Kurmanji- and one 
Zaza-speaker -- in the Islamist Saadet Party called our 
attention to a palpable rise in Turkish-Kurdish tensions. 
Both affiliated with the Naksibendi tarikat, they expressed 
concern that the Turkish State's zeal in repressing dissent 
in the Kurdish southeast will lead to a regional 
"anti-democratic" crackdown -- asserting that, even in 
Ankara, far from the fighting, Kurds will be "afraid to leave 
their homes" if the bombing starts.  On March 12, Saadet 
kingmaker Oguzhan Asilturk told D/Polcouns that the Turkish 
State's "racist" attitude toward the Kurds is deeply rooted 
in the Kemalist State and has been an enduring 
socio-political reality since Ataturk's day. 
 
 
-- The human rights organization Mazlum Der, which focuses on 
both Islamic and Kurdish issues, released a statement 
decrying the decisions as: 1) an abandonment of democratic 
principals and a violation of the Constitution; and 2) a blow 
to Turkey's EU bid. 
 
 
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Recent Reforms Failed to Protect HADEP 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
6. (U) Recent GOT reforms were designed to make it more 
difficult to close political parties.  Parliament in January 
adopted legislation requiring a three-fifths majority of the 
11-member Constitutional Court, rather than a simple 
majority, to close a party.  The legislation also stipulated 
that parties could be closed only for reasons stated in the 
Constitution; previously, closures could also be based on the 
more broadly worded reasons cited in the Political Parties 
Law (Reftel F).  The ruling AK Party, itself facing a closure 
case, strongly backed the legislation.  In March, Parliament 
passed legislation giving the Constitutional Court the option 
of depriving a party of state funds rather than ordering 
closure.  Bumin in September spoke out against a Supreme 
Election Board decision to ban two HADEP leaders and other 
prominent candidates from the November elections, publicly 
arguing that the decision would harm Turkey's relations with 
the EU.  But Bumin on March 13 said HADEP's support for the 
PKK required the maximum sanction. 
 
 
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Comment 
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7. (C) The timing of this crackdown on Kurdish political 
expression is no coincidence.  As recently as December, we 
were told the HADEP closure case could not be completed until 
verdicts were issued in a number of other HADEP cases, a 
process that could "normally" be expected to take a couple of 
years or more to run its course.  It is common practice for 
courts to hold the possibility of an adverse ruling as a 
sword of Damocles over an organization deemed suspicious -- 
the ongoing cases against AK's Prime Minister-Designate 
Erdogan are an example. 
PEARSON