US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4313

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004313 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PPD, ECA/PE, AND DRL/PHD 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2008 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, KPAO, TU 
SUBJECT: JUDGE BUMIN'S MAY VISIT TO US DEEMED A SUCCESS 
 
 
REF: ANKARA 3187 
 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador W.R. Pearson; reasons 1.5 b 
and d. 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Turkish Constitutional Court Chairman 
Mustafa Bumin called his May visit to the US "intensive 
and valuable" and said he was exposed to US trial 
alternatives and police practices that could be beneficial 
for Turkey. Bumin also said he plans to follow through on 
a recommendation to establish a Free Speech Committee. 
One of the US-based organizers of Bumin's visit said the 
justice appeared open minded, though defensive at times 
about Turkey's image.  Embassy will continue to engage Bumin 
on the issue of judicial reform. End Summary. 
 
 
2. (U) Bumin traveled to the Washington, D.C., and San 
Francisco areas May 17-24 under an individual program 
sponsored and organized by the Embassy.  Bumin met with 
officials from: the U.S. Supreme Court (including Chief 
Justice Rehnquist); the California State Supreme Court; 
district and superior courts; American University; the 
Department of State; and the Department of Justice. In 
addition, he participated in the Eleventh International 
Judicial Conference in Washington. 
 
 
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Justice Observes Mediation, Meets With Police 
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3. (U) Bumin told Ambassador June 5 that his US trip was 
"intensive and valuable."  Bumin said he observed a 
prosecutor and defense attorney conducting an arbitration, 
the first time he had observed such a process.  He said he 
also observed a two-hour mediation.  He noted that police 
in Turkey are sometimes accused of serious mistreatment and 
torture, particularly troubling given Turkey's EU candidacy. 
He said police officials in the U.S. recommended to him ways 
Turkish police could avoid such accusations.  Bumin said he 
is enthusiastic about organizing a Committee on Freedom of 
Thought and Expression in Turkey, as suggested to him by 
Stephen Mayo, executive director of the Institute for the 
Study and Development of Legal Systems (ISDLS), which 
organized the California portion of Bumin's program. 
 
 
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Impressed By US Trial Alternatives, 
Defensive On Police Issues 
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4. (C) Mayo told Embassy PA Counselor June 9 that Bumin 
recognized the value of the US mediation process, calling 
it "a better way of settling disputes," and saying Turkey 
needed to adopt a similar practice.  Mayo said Bumin 
recognized that such trial alternatives could have avoided 
a recent ruling against Turkey by the European Court of 
Human Rights for the excessive length of the Turkish trial 
process.  Mayo said Bumin also showed interest in police 
oversight groups in California.  However, he said Bumin 
argued that the police-related reforms in Los Angeles were 
fueled by citizen outrage and strong NGO/civil society 
influence, and claimed it would be difficult to enact such 
reforms in Turkey, where, he asserted, anti-police sentiment 
is less intense.  Mayo said Bumin also made occasional 
comments to the effect that American and French police are 
more "abusive" than Turkish police, who have an "impeccable 
record."  Mayo said these comments reflect the typically 
defensive reaction of other Turkish participants in the 
US-Turkey Judicial Exchange Program. 
 
 
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Comment 
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5. (C) Based on our interactions with Bumin, and the ISDLS 
readout of his US visit, we hope Bumin can continue to play 
a valuable role in our Judicial Exchange Program.  Bumin is 
at times deaf to valid criticism of Turkey, and sometimes 
clings to outmoded, Establishmentarian views about the need 
to protect the State from the perceived threat of Islamic 
"fundamentalism" and Kurdish cultural identity.  Still, he 
appears more open to new ideas than most other high-level 
Turkish justices.  This, combined with his stature as chief 
of Turkey's highest court, makes him an important 
interlocutor. 
 
 
PEARSON