US embassy cable - 03ANKARA2998

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002998 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU, OSCE 
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION: "POLICE RAID A WARNING 
TO KURDS AND TO GOT" 
 
REF: ANKARA 1624 
 
 
Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.5 b and d. 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Police May 6 raided the Ankara offices of the 
Human Rights Association (HRA), seizing records and computers 
as part of an investigation of alleged support for terrorism. 
 The HRA President believes the action is an attempt to warn 
NGOs and the GOT against supporting a planned conference on 
the Kurdish problem.  Prosecutors have repeatedly taken the 
HRA to court over the years, but have failed to prove ties to 
terrorism.  GOT reaction will be reported septel.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
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Police Seize Records from Ankara Offices 
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2. (C) On May 6 Ankara police raided both the national 
headquarters and the branch office of the HRA, hauling away 
numerous paper files, computer discs, and computers.  HRA 
President Husnu Ondul told us 15 police and a State Security 
Court prosecutor entered the headquarters shortly after 9 
a.m. and began searching and seizing documents.  He said the 
prosecutor claimed the raid was part of an investigation of 
the HRA for providing aid and shelter to an illegal 
organization (Note: presumably referring to the terrorist 
PKK. End Note).  Police later searched the Ankara branch 
office.  Ondul claimed police did not keep detailed records 
of the seized documents.  He said they include reports of 
human rights violations by security officials, some of which 
may reveal the names of the accusers. 
 
 
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Raid Coincides with Meeting on EU Reform 
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3. (C) Ondul believes the action was staged by nationalist 
elements of the military and intelligence services (i.e. the 
Deep State) as a warning to the Kurdish community and the 
GOT.  He noted that the raid took place on the same day he 
and other NGO leaders were scheduled to meet with FM Gul to 
discuss the GOT's plan for enacting human rights reform in 
order to meet EU membership criteria.  Ondul averred that the 
timing was no coincidence, and speculated that the raid was a 
reaction to the well-known plans of the pro-Kurdish Democracy 
People's Party (DEHAP) to organize a national conference on 
the Kurdish problem.  DEHAP is seeking broad sponsorship for 
the conference, which would include on its agenda the 
possibility of an amnesty for PKK supporters and other 
"political" prisoners.  Ondul believes the police action was 
a warning to the GOT and NGOs against participating in the 
conference or supporting any reform proposals it might 
generate. 
 
 
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HRA Frequently Harassed, Attacked Over Years 
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4. (U) Ondul noted that over the years police and prosecutors 
have frequently raided HRA offices and taken the organization 
to court, but each closure case has ended in acquittal.  He 
averred that this raid was yet the latest example of State 
harassment; no legitimate evidence will be found and there 
will be no convictions. 
 
 
5. (U) The HRA is Turkey's largest human rights organization, 
with an estimated 14,000 members and 34 branches nationwide. 
More than 400 court cases have been opened against the HRA 
over the past two years.  In August, prosecutors indicted 
Ondul and 46 other HRA leaders in an ongoing case tied to a 
January 2001 raid of HRA headquarters.  Since the 1990s, 14 
HRA officials have been killed under suspicious 
circumstances.  In 1998, then HRA President Akin Birdal was 
shot and critically wounded in his Ankara office; a former 
Jandarma sergeant was among those later convicted for the 
attack. 
 
 
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Comment 
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6. (C) We think the timing of this raid is not a coincidence, 
and it does appear to be a warning from nationalist elements 
of the State.  This tactic is all too common in Turkey -- 
reftel reports on the nearly simultaneous March 13 
announcements of the closing of the pro-Kurdish HADEP party 
and the launching of a closure case against DEHAP.  Like the 
HRA, HADEP and DEHAP have repeatedly been accused of 
supporting terrorism.  However, despite intense scrutiny, 
prosecutors have not been able to prove these charges in 
court.  We will raise this issue with the Foreign, Justice, 
and Interior ministries and report septel. 
PEARSON