US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4499

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 004499 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY: KURDS SLAM PKK "REINTEGRATION" BILL AS 
SAME OLD, SAME OLD 
 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 3974 
     B. ANKARA 4355 
 
 
(U) Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch; reasons 1.5(b) and (d). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Parliament is reviewing a "reintegration" law 
that would offer reduced prison sentences to combatants 
belonging to the PKK/KADEK and other terrorist organizations 
who agree to lay down their weapons and provide information 
to authorities.  The Chairman of DEHAP (Sinn Fein to the 
PKK/KADEK), Kurdish/human rights organizations, and others 
criticize the draft law as inadequate, and call instead for a 
sweeping "political amnesty."  An M.P. from the ruling AK 
party, and DEHAP contacts, told us the military and its 
bureaucratic allies rejected arguments in favor of a broader 
law with fewer conditions.  An Interior Ministry contact 
argued that a general amnesty would allow thousands of 
criminals to go unpunished, causing social unrest -- a view 
echoed by a member of the opposition, Establishment CHP.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
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Parliament Reviewing "Reintegration" Law 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
2. (U) The parliamentary Internal Affairs Committee July 16 
approved the GOT's draft "Reintegration Into Society" law, 
aimed at encouraging members of the PKK/KADEK and other 
terrorist organizations to lay down their weapons.  The GOT 
expects the full Parliament to adopt the law before going 
into recess in August.  Key elements of the draft include: 
 
 
-- Surrender: Anyone guilty of terrorist crimes (i.e. 
involvement in armed activities) can take advantage of the 
law if they surrender and provide information about the 
"structure and activities" of their organizations.  Crimes 
normally carrying life sentences will be punished by 7-9 
years imprisonment, depending on the nature of the crimes. 
For crimes carrying lesser punishments, sentences will be 
reduced by three-fourths. 
 
 
-- Capture: If captured, militants guilty of terrorist crimes 
can benefit from the law if they provide information about 
their organization.  If they provide information prior to 
being convicted, life sentences will be reduced to 10-12 
years imprisonment, and lesser sentences will be reduced by 
two-thirds.  If they provide information only after being 
convicted, life sentences will be reduced to 15-18 years 
imprisonment, and lesser sentences will be reduced by half. 
 
 
-- Aid and Shelter: Those guilty of providing shelter and 
non-weapons supplies to terrorist organizations will not/not 
be punished.  Those guilty of providing arms and ammunition 
will be subject to the terms listed above. 
 
 
-- Verification: The Interior Ministry will verify the 
validity of the information provided.  Anyone providing false 
information will be sentenced to an additional prison term of 
at least five years and will not benefit from the law. 
 
 
-- Exclusions: Members of a terrorist organization's "highest 
administrative unit" are excluded from the benefits of the 
law.  In addition, anyone who benefited from previous 
"repentance" laws and later committed new terrorist crimes 
will be excluded. 
 
 
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Kurdish Groups Call for General Amnesty 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
3. (C) The Kurdish/human rights community has universally 
panned the reintegration law as inadequate.  Several 
Kurdish/human rights organizations -- including: the Peace 
Mothers, comprising mothers of both PKK fighters and Turkish 
soldiers; an ad hoc group of 340 members of civil society 
organizations across the southeast; leaders of the 
pro-Kurdish DEHAP party; and two organizations representing 
PKK/KADEK prisoners -- have sought meetings with us over the 
past couple of weeks to criticize the law (as reported in the 
press) and call on the U.S. to press for a broader form of 
amnesty.  Making identical arguments, members of these 
organizations argued for a "general political amnesty" that 
would: 1) allow members of the PKK/KADEK and other terrorist 
organizations to lay down their weapons and re-enter society 
without doing time in prison or providing information about 
their organizations, and 2) release all "political" 
prisoners, i.e. anyone held on charges of membership in an 
illegal organization, or on speech crimes (which often amount 
to verbal support for terrorist organizations). 
 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
HRA: Despite Flaws, Law Could Be Implemented 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
 
4. (C) Husnu Ondul, Human Rights Association chairman, told 
us July 14 that the reintegration law is not significantly 
different from the seven "repentance" laws issued between 
1985 and 2000, which persuaded a total of only 834 PKK 
members to surrender.  Though the word "repentance" has been 
left out, this law, like previous ones, requires PKK/KADEK 
fighters to provide information about the organization.  The 
only improvement over past laws, Ondul said, is a greater 
reduction in sentences.  Still, Ondul believes the law can be 
made to work if the "State" (the military and bureaucracy) 
and PKK/KADEK ignore the text and commit to a solution. 
Ondul argued that the State should agree to interview and 
then quickly release surrendering militants, while PKK/KADEK, 
in turn, should call on its members to surrender in groups of 
500-1,000.  However, he said, for this to happen the two 
sides will have to negotiate, either directly or through the 
U.S.  He said that would mean talking with jailed PKK leader 
Ocalan.  "To surrender as an organization is a big decision," 
Ondul said.  "Ocalan cannot make this decision by himself, 
but it cannot be made without him." 
 
 
----------------------------------- 
MOI: Law Reflects Balanced Approach 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
5. (C) However, Nezih Dogan, Interior Ministry Secretary 
General, defended the law as a sound effort to resolve a 
complex problem.  The GOT, he told us, has to balance the 
interests of the terrorists' families with those of the 
families of the "martyrs" killed fighting terrorists.  Rather 
than bringing peace, a general amnesty would allow thousands 
of criminals to go unpunished, causing widespread resentment 
and anger, he said.  Dogan said the GOT must collect 
information from surrendered or captured terrorists in order 
to determine the nature of their crimes.  He claimed 
terrorists would not be forced to provide information about 
other members of their organizations. 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
"Nationalists" Reject Broader Law 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
6. (C) In June, several contacts assured us the reintegration 
law would be broader than the past repentance laws (ref A), 
omitting any requirement for surrendering terrorists to 
provide information about their organization.  However, over 
the past couple of weeks we began hearing that the scope of 
the law was being scaled back.  Ersonmez Yarbay, an 
ethnically Turkish AK M.P. critical of the Turkish State's 
approach to Kurdish issues (and long an advocate of peaceful 
"dialogue" with Kurds in the mountains), told us the bill was 
reviewed by a committee comprising representatives of: the 
Justice and Interior ministries; the Turkish National Police; 
the Jandarma; the Turkish General Staff; the Turkish National 
Intelligence Organization; and the Diyarbakir State Security 
Court prosecutor.  Yarbay said this committee, dominated by 
"nationalists," rejected arguments in favor of a broader law 
placing fewer conditions on surrendering or captured 
militants.  Yarbay, who favors a general amnesty, said 
nationalist elements of the bureaucracy and military favor a 
more limited law because they want to keep the PKK/KADEK 
"bogeyman" alive. 
 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Opposition CHP: "We don't want them back" 
----------------------------------------- 
7. (C) Although the parliamentary Internal Affairs committee 
approved the reintegration bill, CHP members of the committee 
voted against it.  In a July 16 meeting with poloff, senior 
CHP M.P. Fuat Cay explained that Turkey had already dealt 
with the PKK/KADEK by expelling them from Turkey and by 
maintaining a military presence in N. Iraq to keep them out. 
"Now, you are trying to make them return to Turkey; we don't 
want them to come back," he said. 
 
 
--------------------- 
DEHAP: This Won't Fly 
--------------------- 
 
 
8. (C) As reported in ref B, DEHAP Chairman Bakirhan said 
"hawks" in the NSC and military were using the recent 
incident in N. Iraq to undermine the AK Government's efforts 
to pass a workable reintegration law.  He speculated to us 
that the Turkish State may have determined that the U.S. will 
force PKK/KADEK fighters in northern Iraq to surrender, 
obviating the need for a more flexible reintegration law.  In 
its present form, he argued, the draft will do nothing to 
break the unity of PKK/KADEK forces in the field or encourage 
returns to Turkey.  The U.S. will then be forced to deal with 
an intact PKK/KADEK.  Given the sympathy Kurds in Turkey and 
N. Iraq feel for the "boys in the mountains" (vice the 
PKK/KADEK as an organization) this would only increase USG 
difficulties in dealing with the Kurds.  It will also do 
nothing to solve Turkey's own Kurdish problem; to the 
contrary it will exacerbate it, he said. 
 
 
9. (C) A long-time source with excellent access to, but 
independent of, DEHAP/PKK/KADEK and Islamic political circles 
echoed to us July 16 that the inadequacy of the draft law was 
due to the influence of hard-liners both in the NSC and among 
"Turkish nationalists" within AK itself.  He added that the 
issue is playing into the hands of PKK/KADEK/DEHAP 
hard-liners trying to undercut the growing influence of more 
moderate elements.  According to the source, some senior 
DEHAP officials, lead by Diyarbakir Mayor Feridun Celik, are 
eager for closer relations with the U.S. but cannot support 
such a limited draft -- particularly in the face of 
ideological and other pressure from the hard-line socialists 
who dominate the organization. 
 
 
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KADEK-Related Tensions on the Rise 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
10. (C) As Parliament reviews the controversial law, 
PKK/KADEK-related tensions are on the rise: 
 
 
-- KADEK terrorists July 8 killed two soldiers in an 
assassination attempt against the Tunceli Governor; our 
contacts say KADEK has claimed responsibility for the attack. 
 
 
 
 
-- On July 13, four people were killed in an apparent 
PKK/KADEK attack in Bingol.  However, our independent Kurdish 
nationalist/"Islamic" source was adamant that the attack was 
actually a "provocation" carried out by the Turkish State. 
 
 
-- Gulbahar Gunduz, head of the DEHAP Women's Wing in 
Istanbul Province, was allegedly abducted, tortured and raped 
June 14 by assailants claiming to be policemen who angrily 
castigated her for supporting a general amnesty for PKK/KADEK 
members. 
 
 
-- Folk singer Ferhat Tunc was arrested following a 
DEHAP-organized concert in Mugla Province for allegedly 
referring to his audience as "PKKers," a statement he denies 
making. 
 
 
--------------------- 
Comment: Implications 
--------------------- 
 
 
11. (C) The uniformity of views across the Kurdish spectrum 
-- including by contacts who can be assumed to be close to 
the PKK/KADEK -- is striking, and suggests that the 
"reintegration" law: 1) is destined to be seen simply the 
latest in a long line of unsuccessful "repentance" laws; and 
thus 2) in its current form will not bring militants down 
from the mountains.  In any case, Turkish security forces 
have always said the PKK/KADEK keeps its own people in the 
camps under tight control.  Thus, whatever the inducements 
offered to bring the PKK/KADEK back to Turkey, making the 
safe haven in N. Iraq tenuous would be necessary to change 
the equation. 
PEARSON