US embassy cable - 03ISTANBUL953

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000953 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, SOCI, TK, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: SULTANBEYLI: A HIGHWAY RUNS THROUGH IT... AND 
DOESN'T STOP 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary and Comment: A recent visit to Sultanbeyli, 
one of Istanbul's poorer Asian districts, highlights how 
Turkey's uneven economic gains in recent years have widened 
the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots."  The modern 
Istanbul-Ankara highway runs right through this conservative, 
pious neighborhood, but with the nearest exit/on-ramp 15 
minutes away, Sultanbeyli residents are reminded that theirs 
is a less privileged district.  Voters here have turned out 
in large numbers to support successive Islam-oriented parties 
and gave the Justice and Development (AK) Party over 53 
percent of the local vote in 2002 national elections. 
Although support for AK currently remains strong, success in 
future elections will also depend on whether the AK 
government can deliver a locally popular 
property-registration amnesty and long-term economic 
development and opportunities.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
 
2. (SBU) Less than thirty years ago, Sultanbeyli was a 
sparsely populated rural area inland from the Bosphorus and 
the Gulf of Izmit.  Massive immigration from Erzurum, Sivas, 
and the Black Sea region made this one of the fastest-growing 
districts in the country.  It was also widely known as one of 
the most conservative and religious districts of Istanbul by 
the mid-1990s.  Since becoming a district (ilce) in 1989, the 
mayoralty has been held by Islamic-oriented Welfare (Refah), 
Fazilet (Virtue), and Saadet (Felicity) party candidates. 
Local residents confirm that as recently as five years ago, a 
large percentage of the women wore not just headscarves, but 
the full carsaf (chador).  The appointment of a dynamic 
district governor and the increasingly pragmatic approach of 
the mayor marked a shift that gave the district a more 
moderate feel.  However, in the main, Sultanbeyli residents 
remain conservative.  The imam at one of the town's largest 
mosques claimed that the local mosques attract sizable crowds 
for daily prayers and overflow with faithful on Fridays, 
although it was impossible for us to have a free conversation 
with him since the district mufti (representative of the 
state's religious affairs directorate) showed up to monitor 
the imam and dominate the conversation. 
 
 
3. (SBU) Saadet Party Mayor Yahya Karakaya told poloffs that 
the population growth had exceeded the district's ability to 
extend municipal services.  Although immigration and growth 
have tapered off, his principal challenges as mayor are to 
expand the basic water, natural gas, and road infrastructure 
to the full population.  Additionally, up to 75 percent of 
Sultanbeyli residents lack building authorization and 
property deeds, leading them to complain that they have no 
protection or guarantees that they won't be evicted and/or 
have their property confiscated.  Although there is some 
local industry, Karakaya said, it does not go far in 
providing local employment opportunities.  Unemployment is 
high and is demonstrated by the fact that some of the 30,000 
unemployed line up daily along the main street hoping to find 
day jobs with contractors looking for cheap labor.  Most of 
those lucky enough to have full-time jobs must board buses 
each morning for the hour-long journey to Mediyekoy, Sisli, 
and other Istanbul European districts. 
 
 
4. (SBU) Local politicians from several parties told visiting 
poloffs that Sultanbeyli is a Justice and Development (AK) 
Party stronghold.  Although the mayor is from rival Necmettin 
Erbakan's Saadet Party, he, too, professed a deep admiration 
for AKP Chairman Tayyip Erdogan and open support for the AK 
government's policies because he sees them as reasonable, not 
radical.  In the November 2002 elections, 53 percent of 
Sultanbeyli voters turned out to support AK, compared to only 
37 percent in Istanbul  as a whole.  Although no specific AKP 
candidate has emerged, newly-elected local AK Party Chairman 
Omer Ozkartal told poloffs that he expects the party to get 
as much as 60 percent or more of the vote in the spring 2004 
municipal elections.  Local Republican People's Party (CHP) 
officials made no effort to dismiss such claims.  In a sign 
that he doesn't take such support for granted, however, 
Ozkartal was quick to echo the mayor's call regarding the 
need to push forward with a property amnesty and to note that 
as long as the Istanbul-Ankara highway that bisects their 
neighborhood merely passes them by, Sultanbeyli residents 
will not be satisfied. 
 
 
5. (SBU) Staunchly "secularist" CHP reps acknowledged that 
Sultanbeyli has moderated considerably from what they 
described as an oppressively Islamist atmosphere until 
several years ago.  More interested in a real exchange of 
views with us than the more openly anti-American local CHP 
organizations in other parts of the country, the reps 
nevertheless displayed a strong conspiracy-theory approach in 
peppering us with questions about U.S. intentions. 
 
 
6. (SBU) The district chairman of Motorola deadbeat Cem 
Uzan's Genc Party acknowledged that Genc would not win the 
mayoral elections on its own, but might have a chance if it 
combined with other parties under a unified candidate.  With 
a portrait of Uzan, considered by a majority of Turks as 
corruption personified, on the wall behind him, he went on to 
criticize the widespread nature of corruption in Turkey. 
ARNETT