Cablegate: Tip in Turkey: Turkish Media Attention, August 16-

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 005621

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF TU
SUBJECT: TIP IN TURKEY: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, August 16-
31, 2005

1. In response to G/TIP inquiries, national and
international media sources published the following news
articles about TIP in Turkey. Text of articles
originally published in Turkish is provided through
unofficial local FSN translation.

2. Published by Hurriyet on Thursday, September 1:

TITLE: They tricked us by saying we would be models

BEGIN TEXT: Three Moldovan and Ukrainian university
students who were brought to Turkey and taken to Mersin
to be forced into prostitution were rescued in a sting
operation after calling the 157 Human Trafficking
Victim Rescue Line.

A 23-year-old medical student from Moldova called the
157 Line from the Erdemli District (of Mersin), and
reported that she and two of her friends had been
forced into prostitution for 11 months in a Kizkalesi
Township hotel. Upon notification, the police raided
the Kizkalesi hotel.

5 Suspected Turks Arrested

Teams, through four concurrent operations, rescued L.C.
and Ukrainian university student Y.C. (21) and S.B.
(21) from a prostitution ring. The operations netted
in the arrests of C.B. (24), a hotel manager A.A. (42),
N.D. (43), I.D. (30) and C.N. (37). The five suspects
were remanded to the court and a bench warrant was
issued for M.D. The three women claim to have been
promised to be paid $2,500 each to work in the modeling
and tourism sector in Turkey. After the necessary
paperwork is completed, the three women who were forced
into prostitution will be repatriated to their
countries. END TEXT.

3. Published by Turkish Daily News on Thursday, September
1:

TITLE: Police rescue three foreign girls from human
traffickers

BEGIN TEXT: Police rescued three female university
students brought to Turkey from Moldova and Ukraine for
sexual exploitation in the southern province of Mersin
after they contracted the 157 hotline and requested
help, reported the Dogan News Agency yesterday.

Turkey is a destination for many women, mostly from the
former Soviet republics, who are seeking better living
standards and job opportunities. They are trafficked
primarily for sexual exploitation.

Twenty-three year-old L.C., a student from the School
of Medicine in Moldova, reportedly dialed 157 and
claimed she and her friends were forced into
prostitution and sold to men for 11 months by
unidentified traffickers at hotels in the Erdemli
district of Mersin.

Acting on the tip-off, the police rescued the girls
from suspected human traffickers and arrested five,
including a hotel manager. Police issued an arrest
warrant for M.D., claimed to have links with human
traffickers.

Officials say the human traffickers in Mersin have
connections in Ukraine since, according to a bank slip
found in their possession, they sent money to that
country. The foreign girls were brought to Turkey
believing they would become top models and be paid
$2,500 each. The three girls will be deported to their
countries following the completion of legal procedures.
END TEXT.

4. Published by Vatan on Tuesday, September 6, 2005:

TITLE: Prostitution Mafia Kidnapped My Wife

BEGIN TEXT: Suleyman Cali (26), who works as an acting
teacher in Kagithane, Istanbul, met with the older
sister of his student six years ago. Nural Cali (25),
who recently divorced her former husband, became
friends and later they fell in love with each other.

When the families did not approve of this relationship,
the two fled and got married. She gave birth to a
daughter whom they named Sule Can.
When Cali returned home from work about four months
ago, he found Sule Can alone. When he looked for his
wife and could not find her, he filed a report with the
police. Cali claimed that his wife might have been
kidnapped by the prostitution mafia.

Cali claimed that after she disappeared, threat
messages began to come to his unlisted cell phone
number. Callers told me, "Leave your wife alone or
else things will get bad." He filed a report with the
Sisli Public Prosecutor's office.

Cali said that he was still in love with his wife and
added, "My daughter Sule Can is asking about her mother
every day. She asked, `Dad, when will mom come back?'
I filed reports in many places in vain. I'm concerned
about my wife's life. If anyone knows her whereabouts,
please inform me." END TEXT.

5. Published by TurkishPress.com on Thursday, September 8:

TITLE: Aksu and Cicek Leave for Britain

BEGIN TEXT: Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu
and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek left for Britain on
Wednesday to attend the EU Interior and Justice
Minister's informal meeting.

Prior to their departure, Aksu told reporters at
Ataturk Airport in Istanbul that fight against
terrorism, organized crimes, human trafficking, illegal
migration and drug smuggling would be discussed at the
meeting.

Aksu indicated that he would also hold bilateral talks
during his visit to Britain.

- "I'M PLEASED WITH THE DECISION OF GERMAN AUTHORITIES"-

Stressing that he was pleased with the decision of
German authorities to ban the Ozgur Politika (Free
Politics) newspaper, (spreading news for terrorist
organization PKK/KONGRA-GEL)Aksu indicated, "I
appreciate the decision of the German government
affirming that it is willing not to tolerate any kind
of terrorist action and take measures to prevent them.
I also sent a letter to German Interior Minister Otto
Schily due to the decision of German authorities." END
TEXT.

6. Published by Sabah on Friday, September 9:

TITLE: When one pays careful attention to despotic
love on a serial

BEGIN TEXT: M.K. (32), who is involved in the
wholesale business in the Fatih District, with the help
of his consultant friend, Z.A. (45), recruited E.A.
(21), a Turkmen citizen, to help him with the housework
two months ago.

According to allegations, M.K. fell in love with the
woman and held her hostage for two months. E.A. could
no longer stand the situation and she fled. She took
shelter with another person. M.K. was detained.

M.K. was detained along with F.K. (22) and Z.A. (45)
who helped him to take her hostage, raping, being
involved in human trafficking and restricting one's
freedom.

During his interrogation at the police station, M.K.
said that he loved E.A. and that this was why he took
her hostage. He denied the rape allegations.

Police searched the home and office of M.K. and found
two toy guns and a book with some pages carved out to
accommodate a pistol. M.K. said that he cut the pages
to hide a pistol in it and that he kept the toy guns to
replace with the real one during a police search. He
said that he did all this after he watched with
admiration the movie The Godfather years ago and The
Valley of Wolves TV series more recently. END TEXT.

7. Published by Vatan on Sunday, September 11:

TITLE: The Police Search for Anastasia

BEGIN TEXT: Six Kyrgyz women forced into prostitution
were saved by a police sting operation. The women
claimed that a Russian woman named Anastasia sold them
by force and called for her capture.

Six Kyrgyz women lured to Turkey under the guise of
making $500 as childcare workers and then being forced
into prostitution were saved in a police sting
operation on a hotel in Fatih (Istanbul). The six
women were taken to the police station to give their
statements. The women, whose visas were expired,
claimed that a Russian woman named "Anastasia" brought
the women to Turkey, and hardly by the time they
settled in a hotel, a person named K.K., with ties to
her, started to sell them to men. The police, who have
her photo, say that the name is an alias and have
started an operation to capture her. END TEXT.

8. Published by Athens News Agency on Tuesday, September
13:

TITLE: Greece: Thessalonica Police Disband Human
Trafficking Ring

BEGIN FBIS TRANSCRIBED TEXT: Thessalonica police
disbanded one of the biggest human trafficking rings
that smuggled illegal immigrants from Turkey to western
European countries through Greece.

Police arrested five suspects on Monday morning: a
truck driver who was transporting 30 illegal
immigrants, a driver who was riding ahead of the truck
and is believed to be the ring leader, along with his
wife; the driver of a second escort car; and a fifth
suspect.

According to the Thessalonica Police Chief Stergios
Apostolidis, the illegal immigrants arrived from Turkey
by boat and were met by the traffickers in Evros.

The 30 immigrants had each paid $1,000 to two Turkish
smugglers.

Police believe that at least another 10 ring members
from Greece, Turkey and Germany remain at large. END
FBIS TRANSCRIBED TEXT.

9. Published by Milliyet on Wednesday, September 14.
Hurriyet gave abbreviated coverage on the same day:

TITLE: Escape from Death

BEGIN TEXT: The police stopped a truck carrying 50
Bangladeshi and Pakistani illegal migrants in Gebze.
Two illegal migrants, trying to escape from the police,
were run over and killed.

Yesterday morning there was a disaster in Gebze. A
truck carrying 50 Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, who had
made an agreement with human traffickers, heading to
Eskihisar to take the ferry to Topcular to get to the
Aegean Sea to make the cross onto a Greek island,
arrived in Gebze at about 4:00 AM. In error, the
driver of a truck with the plate number 34 AZ 9391 took
Yenimahalle Road.

19 Escaped

The driver realized that there was a police-controlled
stop and stopped the vehicle on the side of the road.
The illegal migrants, after being told what was
happening by the driver, fled the scene. Police
pursued the fleeing Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. Some
escaped to side-streets, while others headed to the
D100 Highway. Two illegal migrants who wanted to cross
the highway were struck by two cars and killed. One of
the automobiles had the plate number 54 TD 404, but one
was a hit and run. Twenty-nine illegal migrants were
arrested and taken to the Kocaeli Foreigners Branch.
END TEXT.

10. Reported by ITAR-TASS on Wednesday, September 14:

TITLE: Russia, USA aircraft build plane for Russia Far
East
BEGIN TEXT: Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, September 14 (Itar-
TAss) - The Russian Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft
Production Association and Boeing in Seattle are
working on a regional passenger plane for Russia.

The announcement was made at the tenth session of the
Russian-American Pacific Partnership, which ended here
on Wednesday. This is the most vivid example of
regional cooperation between Russia's Far East and the
Western coast of the USA.

Over 250 business executives, representatives of
government and non-government organizations from
Russia, the USA, China, Australia, Great Britain,
Turkey, France and Japan participated in the forum.

They listed oil-and-gas projects, cooperation in the
customs sphere, the fight against terrorism and the
spread of AIDS, as well as against illegal drug
trafficking and human trade, among priority directions
in regional cooperation. Russia's Far East and the
Western coast of the USA have stated their intention to
keep working on those problems in the future.

American sources participating in the session and U.S.
Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Russian
Minister for Economic Development and trade German Gref
intend to develop a joint program of actions to improve
the trade and investment climate in their countries.
This may give a boost to regional cooperation between
the Far East and the Western coast. END TEXT.

MCELDOWNEY

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