US embassy cable - 03ANKARA3974

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003974 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT: SIXTH EU-RELATED REFORM PACKAGE IN PARLIAMENT, 
SEVENTH IN THE WORKS 
 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 2909 
     B. ANKARA 3410 
     C. ANKARA 3618 
 
 
Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; Reasons 1.5(b) and 
(d). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: With the Turkish Parliament beginning its 
consideration of the GOT's sixth EU-related reform package in 
the past two years, the ruling AK Party has moved forward 
despite an attempt by the military-dominated National 
Security Council (NSC) to delay the legislation and the 
outspoken opposition of military leaders to elements of the 
package.  The GOT plans to pass a seventh reform package, 
aimed at reducing the political influence of the military, 
and may adopt an "amnesty" for PKK terrorists before 
Parliament goes into recess.  End Summary. 
 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Committee Approves Controversial Reforms 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
2. (U) The full Parliament June 19 began to review the sixth 
EU-related reform package following the Justice Committee's 
unanimous decision to approve it with no significant changes. 
 The Committee left intact controversial measures relating to 
anti-terror legislation, Kurdish language rights, and 
international election observers that had been opposed by 
leading elements of the military (reftels).  The lone 
concession to the military was the removal of an article that 
would have allowed the establishment of places of worship in 
apartments (Note: A separate amendment reported reftel (A) 
removing an obstacle to the construction of free-standing 
non-Muslim places of worship was left intact.  End Note). 
The package is part of a series of reforms the GOT plans to 
adopt before the parliamentary recess, which is scheduled to 
begin July 1 but could be postponed. 
 
 
3. (C) The AK Party moved forward with the package despite an 
attempt by the military-dominated NSC to delay the process by 
deciding at its May 28 meeting to continue discussion of the 
package at its next meeting, June 26 (reftel C).  Mehmet 
Elkatmis, chairman of the parliamentary Human Rights 
Committee, called this move "a victory not for AK, but for 
the country," and predicted to us that the full Parliament 
would quickly pass the package with no significant changes, a 
view echoed by other contacts. 
 
 
--------------------------- 
New Definition of Terrorism 
--------------------------- 
 
 
4. (C) All of the measures described reftel A remain in the 
package.  These include the revocation of Article 8 of the 
Anti-Terror Law, which outlaws written and oral communication 
"aiming at damaging the indivisible unity of the State." 
Some GOT officials have reportedly argued that the "vacuum" 
created by the abolition of Article 8 should be filled by 
expanding other speech-related laws, such as Article 312 of 
the Penal Code, or enforcing them more aggressively.  In 
addition to abolishing Article 8, the package also narrows 
the legal definition of terrorism.  Under the new definition, 
an act must be carried out through the use of "force" or 
"violence" to be considered terrorism; under current law, 
acts involving "intimidation" or "threats" could also qualify 
as terrorism.  (Note: Turkey has been widely criticized for 
charging people with terrorism for controversial speech, 
often involving comments promoting a Kurdish identity or 
criticizing the State.  End Note). 
 
 
-------------------------- 
Private Kurdish Broadcasts 
-------------------------- 
 
 
5. (U) The package would also allow private radio and TV 
outlets to broadcast in Kurdish and other traditional 
non-Turkish languages.  Previous reforms allowing Kurdish 
language broadcasts were followed by restrictive implementing 
legislation limiting such broadcasts to the state-owned TRT 
media company, as well as placing strict time limits.  TRT 
has not produced any such broadcasts, and recently lodged a 
legal challenge to the regulation directing it to do so. 
This latest amendment is an attempt to break the logjam by 
opening up non-Turkish broadcasts to the private sector. 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Seventh Package To Reduce Military's Influence 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
 
6. (C) Meanwhile, the GOT is working on a seventh package, 
which PM Erdogan has vowed Parliament will pass before going 
into recess, even if that means extending the session until 
August.  Our contacts say the seventh package is still in 
draft form and under review in the Justice Ministry, and 
therefore there is no firm information on the details. 
However, a number of contacts -- including Elkatmis; Seref 
Iba, deputy director of the parliamentary Legislative 
Department; and Murat Yetkin, Radikal newspaper columnist -- 
confirmed reports that the seventh package will challenge the 
political influence and independence of the military more 
directly than any of the previous legal reforms.  The 
legislation may be changed significantly before it is 
introduced in Parliament, but our contacts said recent press 
reports on the package, though vague, accurately reflect the 
draft in its current form.  Reported elements of the package 
include: 
 
 
-- Parliamentary discussion of the Defense Ministry budget 
will be open to the public.  The government will be given 
more power over the details of the budget. 
 
 
-- Military spending will be included in the general budget. 
 
 
-- The number of military representatives on the NSC will be 
reduced from five to two (or one, according to one report), 
and force commanders will not serve on the NSC. 
 
 
-- The provision stating that the NSC Secretary General must 
be a general will be revoked, opening the position up to 
civilians and lower-ranking officers. 
 
 
-- The Jandarma -- under joint military and Interior Ministry 
control -- will transfer some of its law enforcement 
authority in urban areas to the (civilian controlled) Turkish 
National Police. 
 
 
--------------------- 
PKK "Amnesty" Planned 
--------------------- 
 
 
7. (C) In addition, Elkatmis said the GOT is considering 
including an "amnesty" for PKK terrorists in the seventh 
package.  Elkatmis and Yetkin both told us AK leaders are 
discussing the details of a law that would be narrower than a 
full amnesty, but broader than past "repentance laws"  (Note: 
These laws were ineffective because they required PKK members 
to "confess" and apologize for their actions, which very few 
were willing to do. End Note).  Yetkin said the new law will 
exclude only the top PKK leaders from benefits, and will 
require other PKK fighters only to lay down their weapons and 
forswear future violence.  Elkatmis said controversial terms 
like "amnesty" and "repentance" will not be used in the law; 
its title will be along the lines of "Social Peace Law." 
 
 
-------------------------- 
Transparency in Government 
-------------------------- 
 
 
8. (C) Elkatmis said the GOT is also developing a 
Transparency in Government Law that, he claimed, Parliament 
intends to pass before going into recess.  He said the law 
will grant Turkish citizens greater access to Government 
information by narrowing the definition of "secret" 
information.  He said the new definition of secrecy will 
include only information directly related to national 
security.  He said the law will also require Government 
offices to be more responsive to citizens; for example, under 
the law, officials will be required to perform quickly 
routine transactions, such is issuing licenses, or provide a 
written explanation of any delay. 
 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
9. (C) Though PM Erdogan and FM Gul publicly vowed to protect 
the sixth package from dilution and pass it before the June 
26 NSC meeting, our AK contacts, wary of stiff military 
resistance, were skeptical.  Now the advancement of the sixth 
package is a victory for Erdogan and his government.  AK has 
thus earned, at least for now, the right to claim it is in 
control of the human rights reform/EU membership process.  As 
always, however, reforms adopted by Parliament will not be 
realized unless they are implemented by the bureaucracy, 
which to date has consistently undermined legislation deemed 
threatening to the Kemalist State.  Reducing the number of 
military NSC members will not necessarily reduce the 
military's influence over the body.  Eliminating Article 8 of 
the Anti-Terror Law may, in the short run at least, mean only 
that prosecutors will rely more on some of the other 
authoritarian, speech-related laws still on the books. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PEARSON