Turkey cois report November 2006
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Country of Origin Information Report turkey 21 November 2006 RDS-IND Country of Origin Information Service Contents
Intelligence Agency (MIT) 8.02 Police 8.03 Jandarma/Gendarmerie 8.11 Village Guard 8.13 Torture 8.19 Armed Forces 9.01 Discrimination in armed forces 9.04 Extra-judicial killings 9.12
Military Criminal Courts (Askeri Ceza Mahkernesi) 11.14 The Military Criminal Court of Cassation (Askeri Yargitay) 11.18 State Security Courts (DGM) 11.19 The Constitutional Court (Anayasa Mahkemesi) 11.22 Fair trial 11.26 Penal code 11.31 Code of criminal procedure 11.36 Arrest and detention – Legal Rights 12.01 Detention for questioning prior to formal arrest 12.10 Right to legal advice 12.15 Prison conditions 13.01 E and F-Type Prisons 13.06 Monitoring of prison conditions 13.15 Death penalty 14.01 Political affiliation 15.01 Freedom of political expression 15.01 Freedom of association and assembly 15.04 Freedom of speech and media 16.01 Journalists 16.14 Media and Press 16.24 The High Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) 16.34 Internet 16.40 Human Rights institutions, organisations and activists 17.01 Human Rights Advisory Board (IHDK) 17.06 Reform Monitoring Group 17.10 Human Rights Presidency and Human Rights Boards/Councils 17.12 Parliamentary Human Rights Commission/Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Committee 17.17 Ministry of Interior’s Investigation Office 17.21 Prison Inspection Committees/Prison Monitoring Board 17.22 The Gendarmes Investigation and Evaluation Centre for Human Rights Abuse Issues (JIHIDEM) 17.25 European Court of Human Rights (ECTHR) 17.30 Corruption 18.01 Freedom of religion 19.01 Headscarves 19.13 Alevis including Alevi Kurds 19.19 Beliefs and practices 19.21 Mystical Sufi and other religious social orders and lodges 19.29 Non Muslim minorities 19.30 Christians 19.35 Jews 19.41 Ethnic groups 20.01 Kurds 20.05 Kurdish language 20.10 Teaching in Kurdish 20.16 Pro Kurdish political parties 20.22 Hadep 20.23 Relatives of Hadep 20.25 Dehap 20.26 Democratic Society Movement (DTH)/ Democratic Society Party (DTP) 20.33 PKK/Kadek Kongra-Gel and the conflict in the south east 20.37 Newroz/Nevruz celebrations 20.51 Arabs 20.55 Caucasians 20.58 Armenians 20.59 Greeks 20.62 Roma 20.64 Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons 21.01 Transvestites 21.11 Transsexuals 21.13 Disability 22.01 People with disabilities 22.01 Women 23.01 Background 23.01 Legal Rights 23.12 Political Rights 23.16 Violence against women 23.18 Women’s Organisations in Turkey 23.25 Virginity testing 23.29 Honour killings 23.35 Women suicides in Turkey 23.45 Treatment of women in detention 23.52 Employment and Gender Equality 23.55 Children 24.01 Basic Information 24.01 Education 24.09 Child care 24.22 Health issues 24.30 Torture and mistreatment in detention 24.36 Trafficking 25.01 Recent developments in counter trafficking 25.14 Training activities 25.16 Medical issues 26.01 Overview of availability of medical treatment and drugs 26.01 Pharmacies 26.08 HIV/AIDS – anti-retroviral treatment 26.10 Cancer treatment 26.14 Kidney dialysis 26.16 Mental health 26.17 Home health care 26.24 Freedom of movement 27.01 Freedom of movement of workers 27.07 Nüfus card/identity card 27.09 Internally displaced people (IDPs) 28.01 Foreign refugees 29.01 Treatment of foreigners seeking asylum in Turkey 29.01 Citizenship and nationality 30.01 Exit/entry procedures 31.01 The problem of falsified documents 31.03 The General Information Gathering System (GBTS) 31.05 Employment rights 32.01 Major Trade Union Confederations 32.07 Main Employers’ Associations 32.11 Annexes Annex A – Chronology of major events Annex B – Political organisations Annex C – Prominent people Annex D – Administration of Justice Annex E – The Court System Annex F – List of abbreviations Annex G – References to source material Preface i This Country of Origin Information Report (COI Report) has been produced by Research, Development and Statistics (RDS), Home Office, for use by officials involved in the asylum/human rights determination process. The Report provides general background information about the issues most commonly raised in asylum/human rights claims made in the United Kingdom. The main body of the report includes information available up to 15 November 2006. The ‘latest news’ section contains further brief information on events and reports accessed from 16 November 2006 to 21 November 2006. ii The Report is compiled wholly from material produced by a wide range of recognised external information sources and does not contain any Home Office opinion or policy. All information in the Report is attributed, throughout the text, to the original source material, which is made available to those working in the asylum/human rights determination process. iii The Report aims to provide a brief summary of the source material identified, focusing on the main issues raised in asylum and human rights applications. It is not intended to be a detailed or comprehensive survey. For a more detailed account, the relevant source documents should be examined directly. iv The structure and format of the COI Report reflects the way it is used by Home Office caseworkers and appeals presenting officers, who require quick electronic access to information on specific issues and use the contents page to go directly to the subject required. Key issues are usually covered in some depth within a dedicated section, but may also be referred to briefly in several other sections. Some repetition is therefore inherent in the structure of the Report. v The information included in this COI Report is limited to that which can be identified from source documents. While every effort is made to cover all relevant aspects of a particular topic, it is not always possible to obtain the information concerned. For this reason, it is important to note that information included in the Report should not be taken to imply anything beyond what is actually stated. For example, if it is stated that a particular law has been passed, this should not be taken to imply that it has been effectively implemented unless stated. vi As noted above, the Report is a collation of material produced by a number of reliable information sources. In compiling the Report, no attempt has been made to resolve discrepancies between information provided in different source documents. For example, different source documents often contain different versions of names and spellings of individuals, places and political parties etc. COI Reports do not aim to bring consistency of spelling, but to reflect faithfully the spellings used in the original source documents. Similarly, figures given in different source documents sometimes vary and these are simply quoted as per the original text. The term ‘sic’ has been used in this document only to denote incorrect spellings or typographical errors in quoted text; its use is not intended to imply any comment on the content of the material. vii The Report is based substantially upon source documents issued during the previous two years. However, some older source documents may have been included because they contain relevant information not available in more recent documents. All sources contain information considered relevant at the time this Report was issued. viii This COI Report and the accompanying source material are public documents. All COI Reports are published on the RDS section of the Home Office website and the great majority of the source material for the Report is readily available in the public domain. Where the source documents identified in the Report are available in electronic form, the relevant web link has been included, together with the date that the link was accessed. Copies of less accessible source documents, such as those provided by government offices or subscription services, are available from the Home Office upon request. ix COI Reports are published regularly the top 20 asylum intake countries. COI Bulletins are produced on lower asylum intake countries according to operational need. Home Office officials also have constant access to an information request service for specific enquiries. x In producing this COI Report, the Home Office has sought to provide an accurate, balanced summary of the available source material. Any comments regarding this Report or suggestions for additional source material are very welcome and should be submitted to the Home Office as below. Country of Origin Information Service Home Office Apollo House 36 Wellesley Road Croydon CR9 3RR United Kingdom
PO Box 1539 Croydon CR9 3WR United Kingdom Email: apci@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk Website: www.apci.org.uk Latest News Events in Turkey from 16 November 2006 to 21 November 2006 21 November “The European Union will reportedly make a decision regarding Turkey and the Cyprus crisis on Dec. 11 during the EU foreign ministers summit in Finland. The EU Commission is supposed to make a recommendation about the Cyprus problem by Dec. 6 so a decision can be reached on Dec. 11.” Zaman Daily News, EU's Turkey Decision Set for Dec. 11. http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20061122&hn=38509 Date accessed 21 November 2006 20 November “Illegal migrants attempting to relocate to Western countries prefer Turkey as a transit country mainly because they have confidence in its Muslim identity. In regards to the illegal immigration issue, and the fact that Turkey is a major transit country, the Turkish prime minister said that Turkey’s neighbors were not doing enough to deal with the problem. Erdogan said that 600,000 people have been captured over the last ten years trying to cross Turkey’s borders, many coming from the East.” Zaman Daily News,Turkey Major Transit Country for Illegal Migrants. http://www.zaman.com/?bl=national&alt=&hn=38456 Date accessed 21 November 2006 Reports on Turkey published or accessed between 16 November and 21 November UNAIDS/WHO AIDS Epidemic Update: December 2006 The annual AIDS epidemic update reports on the latest developments in the global AIDS epidemic. With maps and regional summaries, the 2006 edition provides the most recent estimates of the epidemic’s scope and human toll, explores new trends in the epidemic’s evolution. http://www.unaids.org/en/HIV%5Fdata/epi2006/ Date accessed 21 November 2006 Background Information Geography 1.01 The Republic of Turkey covers an area of approximately 780,000 square kilometres (approximately 301,000 square miles). According to official figures the population in 2001 numbered 68.6 million. The capital city is Ankara, other principal cities include Istanbul, Izmir and Adana. (Europa Regional Surveys of the World: The Middle East and North Africa 2005) [1d] (p1186) According to UN estimates, the country’s population at mid-2003 totalled 70,885,000, giving an average density per sq. km of 90.9 inhabitants. Europa further reports that Turkey is a passage of land between Europe and Asia, boasting land frontiers with Greece, Bulgaria, Armenia, Georgia, the Nakhichevan autonomous enclave of Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria. [1d] (p1151) 1.02 “Turkey’s population as of the end of June [2005] surpassed 72 million, an increase of 4.3 million since 2000. According to Anatolia news agency reports compiled from Turkish Statistical Institute (DIE) data, Turkey’s population increased by 6.3 percent since 2000, when it was 67.8 million. The population of Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, increased to 11.3 million from 10 million five years ago.” (Turkish Daily News, 21 July 2005) [23t] 1.03 As noted in Europa, the Turkish language is spoken in most, but by no means all, of the country. In addition there are a number of non-Turkish languages. Kurdish [Kurmanji and Zaza] is widely spoken in the southeast along the Syrian and Iraqi frontiers. Smaller language groups include Caucasian, Greek and Armenian. [1d] (p1152) The CIA World Factbook – Turkey (updated on 10 January 2006) mention Kurdish, Arabic, Armenian and Greek as languages in addition to the official language Turkish. [103] 1.04 The US State Department Report on International Religious Freedom, published on 12 September 2006, reported that: “According to the Government, approximately 99 percent of the population was Muslim, the majority of which was Sunni. According to the human rights nongovernmental organization (NGO) Mazlum-Der and representatives of various religious minority communities, the actual percentage of Muslims was slightly lower. The Government officially recognized only three minority religious communities–Greek Orthodox Christians, Armenian Orthodox Christians, and Jews–although other non-Muslim communities existed. The level of religious observance varied throughout the country, in part due to the influence of secular traditions and official restrictions on religious expression in political and social life.” [5e] (section 1) 1.05 The USSD 2006 report further stated that: “In addition to the country’s Sunni Muslim majority, there were an estimated fifteen to twenty million Alevis, followers of a belief system that incorporates aspects of both Shi’a and Sunni Islam and draws on the traditions of other religions found in Anatolia as well… There were several other religious groups, mostly concentrated in Istanbul and other large cities. While exact membership figures were not available, these religious groups included approximately 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians; 23,000 Jews; and fewer than 2,500 Greek Orthodox Christians.” [5e] (Introduction) Map 1.06 Map of Turkey courtesy of CIA World FactBook: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/tu.html 
See also links to more detailed maps of Turkey: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ/opendoc.pdf?tbl=PUBL&id=4487e9280 http://www.factmonster.com/atlas/country/turkey.html http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/turkey_pol83.jpg Return to contents Go to list of sources Economy 2.01 The European Commission Turkey 2006 Progress Report, released on 8 November 2006, noted that: “In examining the economic developments in Turkey, the Commission's approach was guided by the conclusions of the European Council in Copenhagen in June 1993, which stated that membership of the Union requires the existence of a functioning market economy, and the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. The rapidly growing Turkish economy ran into fast growing external imbalances. This was predominantly caused by too slow structural reforms and a sizeable increase in investment spending. The authorities reacted promptly by fiscal and monetary tightening. In conclusion, economic growth has remained quite strong and has become more balanced.” [71a] (p25-26) 2.02 The British Embassy in Ankara reported on 18 April 2005 that: “Turkey was the world’s 18th largest economy in 2003 and had the fastest growth rate (9.9% GNP) among OECD countries in 2004. Textiles, automotive and electronic appliances are the fastest growing sectors, with many of the goods exported to Europe. An IMF backed stability programme has helped bring down annual inflation to single digits (CPI was 8.9% in March 2005), and prudent fiscal policies have brought about reductions in the budget deficit and national debt stock as measured against GNP. High unemployment and large income disparities are the biggest economic challenges facing Turkey. The official unemployment rate was 10.3% in 2004, but youth unemployment is much higher and there is a significant degree of hidden unemployment. Real wages have not recovered from the recession in 2001 and the large gap in income inequalities between the more prosperous west and the disadvantaged east remains.” [4c] 2.03 The Hurriyet, a Turkish newspaper, printed an article on the 2 September 2006 stating Turkish exports reached US $80 billion over the last 12 months, rising 14.18 per cent since August 2005, setting a new record. [108a] 2.04 The Hurriyet also noted on the 11 September 2006 that the Turkish economy had broken new records in continues growth over the past four years. In the second quarter of 2006, the economy grew by 8.5 per cent, while the Turkish Institute for Statistics (TUIK) had announced that the first six months of this year saw a growth speed of 7.5 per cent. Growth was recorded in 2005 as being at 7.6 per cent, while the first quarter of 2006 saw 6.3 per cent growth. [108b] 2.05 As reported by the World Travel Guide the New Turkish Lira (TRY) was introduced on January 1 2005. The old Turkish Lira (TL) was withdrawn from circulation on January 1 2006 [109] 2.06 According to BBC Market Data on 7 July 2006, showed that the exchange rate was then 2.87 [New] Turkish Lira (YTL) to £1 sterling. [66f] Return to contents Go to list of sources 2.07 The World Bank Data and Statistics for Turkey – World Development Indicators database, April 2006 (website accessed 7 July 2006) recorded a GNI per capita [average annual income] in 2004 of US$3,750 [corresponding to £2,125 in January 2006]. The GNI for 2003 was US$ 2,800. [45] 2.08 The European Commission 2005 Report, noted that as regards to employment policy, the labour market continued to display poor performance. [71d] (p95) 2.09 The 2006 EC report however noted that: “As regards employment policy, little progress can be reported. Low labour force participation and employment rates, in particular of women, high levels of youth unemployment, the large size of the informal economy and the strong rural/urban labour market divide remain the main challenges. The overall employment rate in 2005 decreased to 43.4%, whereas unemployment rate remained at 10.3%. The scale of unregistered employment continues to be of concern.” [71a] (p53) 2.10 As noted in a letter from the British Embassy in Ankara to the Home Office dated 11 April 2006: “During 2005 the real gross domestic product recorded a 7.4% increase and year-on-year consumer prices as of March 2006 increased by 8.2%. (Source: Turkish Institute of Statistics, DIE). According to OECD figures, Turkey was the world’s 16th largest economy in 2005 and recorded the highest cumulative growth rate in the last three years following China (source: Turkish Treasury Minister)…The official unemployment rate was 11.2% in 2005 (source: DIE), but youth unemployment is much higher and there is a significant degree of hidden unemployment…The overall employment rate in 2005 stood at 41.7% with a slight decrease compared to 2004. However, female employment is still low at just under 25% and female employment decreased from 64.7% in 2004 to 63.1% in 2005 (source: DIE).” [4m] 2.11 As reported by the Turkish Daily News on the 22 August 2006: “Turkey’s unemployment rate for May 2006 is 8.8 percent, according to data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TUIK), down from 9.2 percent last May. The unemployment rate is 11 percent in urban areas and 5.7 percent in rural areas. According to the TUIK data, Turkey’s total workforce increased by 866,000 over the last year, reaching 51,561,000 people in May. Unemployment figures for both genders are down from last year, with male unemployment falling 0.8 percent to 10.6 percent and female unemployment down 2.2 percent to 15.1 percent. The rate of unemployed job-seekers looking for work through a ‘friend or acquaintance’ is high, at 30.3 percent.” [23i] History General Election 2002 3.01 As recorded by the Office of the Prime Minister of Turkey in November 2005: “Following the November 3 [2002] elections, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) received 363 seats in the 550-seat assembly. Only one other party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), exceeded the 10 per cent vote threshold to enter parliament. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) won an overwhelming victory and thus a majority in parliament in the general elections held on November 3... While, [sic] the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has 14 female deputies, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has 12...The Justice and Development Party (AKP) claimed victory in the November 3 elections, paving the way for Turkey’s first single-party government to assume power in over a decade. According to the official results, the AKP and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) were the only two parties out of 18 to attain the 10% threshold required to enter parliament. In addition, nine independent candidates won seats in parliament. Some 10 million of Turkey’s total 41.5 million voters did not cast their ballots in the elections. The AKP won 34.29% of the votes, which amounts to 363 seats in parliament, while the CHP won 19.38% of the votes, winning 178 seats... On November 10, the Supreme Election Board (YSK) announced the official results of the November 3 general elections. According to the official results, 32,768,161 out of 41,231,967 voters cast their ballots in the elections. A total of 31,528,783 votes were considered valid. The YSK announced that the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which received 10 million 808 thousand 229 votes, and the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which won 6 million 113 thousand 352 votes, were the winners in the elections. On November 21, independent Elazıg Deputy Mehmet Agar joined the True Path Party (DYP). With this action, the DYP has become the third party represented in parliament, along with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).” [36i]
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