US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4787

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004787 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/29/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKISH PARLIAMENT PASSES "RE-INTEGRATION" LAW FOR 
PKK/KADEK 
 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 4499 
     B. ANKARA 4682 
 
 
(U) Classified by Charge d'Affaires a.i. Robert S. Deutsch. 
Reason: 1.5 (b)(d). 
 
 
1. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
 
2. (U) This is an action request.  See paras 9 and 10. 
 
 
3. (U) Parliament by a vote of 356 to 71 (there were 123 
no-shows) passed the GOT's "re-integration" law for PKK/KADEK 
militants.  During the debate, AK M.P. Ahmet Isik stated that 
the law comes in the context of the AK Government's wider 
emphasis on democratization and human rights generally.  On 
behalf of the opposition CHP, Antalya deputy Tuncay Ercenk 
argued that "it is impossible" for CHP to vote for the law, 
which he criticized as disrupting social peace; he also 
stressed that the USG had "ordered" what was in effect an 
outright "amnesty" for terrorists.  CHP M.P. Onur Oymen, a 
retired senior Ambassador and former MFA Undersecretary, went 
further in claiming that to support the law would be to 
succumb to U.S. pressure.  Oymen accused the USG of a double 
standard on terrorism and indifference to Turkish interests, 
implying that the U.S. is tough on al-Qaida but soft on 
PKK/KADEK. 
 
 
4. (C) Privately, just before the vote July 29, AK Erzurum 
M.P. Ibrahim Ozdogan, an ethnic Turk, offered to us that the 
law would be a welcome sign of intent to heal social 
divisions in Turkey, though he expressed skepticism that the 
law would be applied in a way sufficiently liberal to work. 
Moreover, he added that President Sezer's view of the law 
could be key.  The President, Ozdogan noted, has long been 
extremely sensitive to anything that in his view could 
threaten the national or territorial integrity of Turkey 
(note: presumably, in Sezer's view, by letting the PKK/KADEK 
off the hook. end note).  It remains an open question whether 
Sezer will veto the law, Ozdogan said. 
 
 
5. (C) In a private conversation with us July 29, Sami 
Selcuk, former President of the High Court of Appeals and a 
leading reformist voice, characterized the law as a positive 
and long-overdue step.  However, he was guarded about the 
prospects that it would actually induce PKK/KADEK militants 
to give up their arms, emphasizing that as with other reforms 
implementation will be crucial to any success. 
 
 
6. (C) In a separate pre-vote meeting at Embassy, Veli 
Buyuksahin, Vice Chairman of DEHAP (Sinn Fein to PKK/KADEK) 
reiterated to us the view shared by Kurdish contacts across 
the political spectrum: the law will not bring significant 
numbers of militants down from the mountains (reftel).  He 
noted that a senior DEHAP delegation -- including Chairman 
Tuncer Bakirhan and Diyarbakir mayor Feridun Celik -- would 
like to travel to N. Iraq to meet with PKK/KADEK 
representatives and others there.  According to Buyuksahin, 
DEHAP has run the idea by AK officials, including Interior 
Minister Abdulkadir Aksu (an ethnic Kurd) and Justice 
Minister/Government Spokesman Cemil Cicek.  Buyuksahin said 
that the AK officials were non-committal: "They were neither 
positive nor negative" regarding the plan.  He noted, 
however, that the Turkish State Establishment likely would 
have a decidedly more hostile view, but asserted nevertheless 
that the PKK/KADEK must be considered an interlocutor in the 
interests of social peace.  He allowed that there is an 
element of domestic political theater in DEHAP's initiative. 
We told Buyuksahin that we would not facilitate permission or 
security for travel to Iraq and reiterated the U.S. view of 
the PKK/KADEK as a terrorist organization. 
 
 
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Comment 
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7. (C) We note that the law appears to reinstate full 
political rights to those who turn themselves in -- and do 
not in the final analysis wind up behind bars; as always the 
key lies in precisely how the law will be given practical 
effect by the judicial system.  In this context, it is worth 
noting the possibility that the law could apply to other, 
non-PKK/KADEK terrorists -- again depending on interpretation 
and implementation. 
 
 
8. (C) The law now goes to President Sezer for consideration. 
 Sezer has 15 days to deliberate, after which he must either 
sign or veto the legislation.  In the event of a veto, it 
returns to Parliament for further action.  Under normal 
circumstances, if Parliament passes and re-submits to Sezer 
an unchanged law, the President must sign.  There is a 
wrinkle, however.  As reported ref B, Parliament by-laws 
dictate that laws "in the nature of an amnesty" require a 
qualified majority (330 of 550 seats), which was achieved 
July 29 but may not be easy to duplicate given: 1) that a 
legislative recess begins the end of this week; 2) Sezer's 
notorious penchant for using vetoes and other slow-ball 
tactics to obstruct AK legislative and other actions; and 3) 
the ever-present possibility of emerging "provocations" that 
could color the political atmosphere. 
 
 
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Action Requests 
--------------- 
 
 
9. (U) While the law is not perfect, it provides a overture 
to PKK/KADEK members interested in abandoning the armed 
struggle and returning to normal Turkish society.  It 
represents an opportunity to move ahead on the problem both 
in northern Iraq and Turkey.  We therefore offer the 
following press guidance for use by Washington officials. 
 
 
Begin press guidance: 
 
 
-- The Turkish Parliament today passed legislation to 
encourage members of the PKK/KADEK to lay down their arms, 
return to Turkey, and reintegrate themselves into a Turkish 
society in the midst of a wide-ranging and comprehensive 
reform process. 
 
 
-- The United States welcomes the Parliament's action as an 
important step forward toward ending the threat posed to 
Turkey by the PKK/KADEK, and we encourage members of those 
organizations to take advantage of Turkey's offer. 
 
 
-- The United States remains committed to working with Turkey 
to eliminate the PKK/KADEK presence in Iraq, and to ensure 
that a free Iraq does not serve as a sanctuary for terrorists. 
 
 
End press guidance. 
 
 
10. (S) Action requests, continued: now that the long 
anticipated "re-integration" law has been enacted, we need to 
proceed with our commitments on ending the terrorist safe 
haven in Iraq.  We recommend immediate consultations with the 
Turks on coordinating info operations that will convince as 
many PKK/KADEK members as possible to take advantage of the 
new law.  In addition, we need to exchange intel on PKK/KADEK 
presence in Iraq in order to prepare our activities.  Embassy 
recommends that CENTCOM send a team to Ankara as soon as 
possible to conduct these consultations.  We stand ready to 
provide all possible assistance. 
DEUTSCH