US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4013

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 004013 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2013 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, TU 
SUBJECT: ASSESSMENT OF TURKISH OSCE MEDIA REPRESENTATIVE 
CANDIDATE: AHMET TAN 
 
 
REF: SECSTATE 163479 
 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador W. Robert Pearson for reasons 
1.5 (b)(d). 
 
 
1. (U) Bio: Ahmet Tan, currently the head of the Turkish 
Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, is a 
journalist, former member of Parliament for Bulent Ecevit's 
left-of-center DSP, and former Minister of Tourism.  He 
graduated from Ankara University's Faculty of Political 
Science, and received his graduate education in media studies 
from London City University.  He speaks fluent English.  As a 
journalist, he has written for more than twenty-five years 
for leftist-statist "Cumhuriyet", center-left/Kemalist 
"Sabah", center-left "Vatan", and center-left "Aksam", all 
daily newspapers.  As a member of parliament, Tan was elected 
on the DSP ticket in 1995 and re-elected in 1999, serving 
until DSP bombed in the 2002 national elections.  He served 
as the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee 
studying traffic safety.  Tan's first wife died.  His second 
wife, Aylin, is a leading Turkish archeologist and expert on 
the Hittites; they have one daughter. 
 
 
2. (C) Assessment: Tan has been a close contact of the 
Embassy for many years and has proved a valuable ally in many 
USG efforts.  Tan is known as social democrat and has a 
friendly, amiable personality.  Our contacts' views of Tan 
range from dismissive to very positive.  Two of our contacts 
call him an unquestioning supporter of DSP party chairman and 
former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, an "Ecevit clone"; 
leading national security analyst Faruk Demir characterized 
him the equivalent of an "empty suit" ("hiyar", literally 
"cucumber") and a man with no political vision of his own. 
However, others dispute how close Tan is to either Ecevit or 
the DSP inner core.  Some of our contacts describe him as 
"very intelligent."  In our experience, as an MP Tan hewed to 
the party line and served in politically insignificant 
positions.  His journalistic career, combined with his status 
as a Turkish MP, has provided him a comfortable position in 
the Turkish secular establishment. 
 
 
3. (C) Recommendation.  Tan's credentials are sufficient for 
the OSCE job.  Moreover, his candidacy presents an 
opportunity to ensure there is a friendly voice in an 
important OSCE position.  We believe the political impact of 
such an appointment would lend credence to a more 
geographically diverse OSCE leadership.  The US would be 
fully justified in supporting Tan given many of the 
alternatives -- including candidates from countries, such as 
Russia, with problematic records on free press. 
 
 
4. (U) Ahmet Tan's Curriculum Vitae will be sent via fax. 
PEARSON