US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4193

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY: SEZER UNDER FIRE FOR ANTI-REFORM STANCE 
 
REF: ANKARA 4179 
 
 
(U) Classified by Political Counselor John Kunstadter. 
Reason: 1.5 (b)(d). 
 
 
1. (C) As reported reftel, President Sezer vetoed an article 
in the AK Government's sixth EU Copenhagen Criteria 
harmonization package, which Parliament had passed with a 
unanimous vote -- a rare occurrence in Turkey.  The veto 
overruled a provision abolishing Turkey's controversial 
Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which has long been cited 
as a major obstacle to democratization and free speech. 
According to press, Sezer asserted that lifting Article 8 
"would lead to a strong probability that the existence of the 
Turkish Republic, and the integrity of its territory and the 
nation, would be harmed." 
 
 
2. (C) Reaction to Sezer's move has been swift and critical, 
with not only religious conservatives and liberals but 
influential pro-Establishment columnists July 2 hammering 
Sezer as an opponent of reform and modernization -- and, 
hence, of Turkey's EU candidacy. 
 
 
-- Mainstream secularist columnist Yalcin Dogan of centrist 
mass-circulation "Hurriyet" asserted that President Sezer is 
"acting as a brake on EU reforms."  Similarly, Hasan Cemal of 
left-of-center "Milliyet" criticized Sezer's veto and urged 
both AK and the opposition CHP to cooperate to speed up the 
EU membership process -- the most vital project in Turkey 
since Ataturk's initial reforms, Cemal asserted. 
 
 
-- Liberal Cuneyt Ulsever of "Hurriyet" said that Sezer "is 
influenced by the efforts of some military commanders to 
preserve the status quo and hamper the EU membership drive." 
Left-of-center Mehmet Ali Birand of centrist mass appeal 
"Posta" charged that Sezer "is afraid" of freedom of thought. 
 "We know about the circles...that perpetuate their dominance 
by injecting fear into society.  We had thought that Sezer 
was outside of those circles."  While those accused of being 
"Islamists" are actually trying to bring Turkey into Europe, 
Birand wrote, those who claim to speak in the name of Ataturk 
are trying to stop Turkey. 
 
 
-- Hasan Celal Guzel of secular/conservative "Tercuman" wrote 
that the 1982 constitution (note: written under the 
military's direction) should be abolished as a whole, 
otherwise it will be "impossible to issue and implement 
reforms in this country." 
 
 
-- Ilnur Cevik of the English-language, small circulation 
"Turkish Daily News" called Sezer "morally wrong."  People at 
home and abroad, Cevik asserted, will regard Sezer as a 
supporter of the Establishment "fighting a losing war to 
preserve the status quo." 
 
 
3. (C) In addition to Article 8, Sezer's veto also amounted 
to a rejection of the AK Government's effort to abolish the 
legal justification used to reduce penalties for "honor 
killings," which for procedural reasons had been included in 
the same provision of the package.  As defined in the annual 
Human Rights Report for Turkey, honor killings are "the 
killing by immediate family members of women suspected of 
being unchaste."  Sezer did not offer his reasoning on the 
honor killings issue.  Legal experts at both the Presidency 
and Parliament noted to us that procedurally, Sezer was bound 
to veto the entire provision -- that in order to get at 
Article 8, he would have to veto the other elements of the 
same provision. 
 
 
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Comment 
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4. (C) Public opinion polls have routinely shown Sezer as one 
of the most respected figures in Turkey, largely because of 
his reputed honesty and, as a former Chief Justice, his 
reputation as an expert on the law.  However, he now finds 
himself squarely on the opposite side of a populace that is 
eager for reform and less willing to accept received wisdom 
from above.  The July 2 issue of centrist intellectual 
"Radikal" noted that, according to an academic survey, 73 
percent of Turks believe human rights violations are 
widespread in Turkey.  Only 48 percent of judiciary officials 
hold the same view.  "Radikal's" page-one headline concluded 
that "the people are ahead of the judiciary." 
 
 
5. (C) Turkish citizens are becoming ever more alienated from 
the State apparat, which they see as merely preserving a 
status quo both: 1) hostile to individual rights; and 2) 
irredeemably corrupt.  It is illustrative of the changes 
under way in Turkey that, in order to go after Article 8, 
Sezer had to reject honor killing reform.  This presents 
another irony: that a party with religious roots, and accused 
of a sinister "pro-Sharia agenda" by the Establishment, is 
trying to eliminate a law that: 1) has long been on the books 
in secularist Turkey; and 2) reflects a pervasive, 
religiously-tinged tribal practice. 
PEARSON