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### Viewing cable 07ANKARA2014, TURKEY'S NATIONALIST ACTION PARTY DEPUTIES: FRESH SOPHISTICATES COVER UP OLD-LINE BRUISERS

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
07ANKARA2014 | 2007-08-07 09:09 | 2011-04-20 21:09 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Ankara

`

    VZCZCXRO3192
    PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
    DE RUEHAK #2014/01 2190926
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 070926Z AUG 07
    FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3289
    INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
    RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
    RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU
    RUEUITH/TLO ANKARA TU
    RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
    RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU
    RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5//
    RHMFISS/39ABG CP INCIRLIK AB TU
    RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
    RHMFISS/425ABS IZMIR TU//CC//
    RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002014

    SIPDIS

    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/03/2017
    TAGS: PBIO PGOV PREL TU
    SUBJECT: TURKEY'S NATIONALIST ACTION PARTY DEPUTIES: FRESH SOPHISTICATES COVER UP OLD-LINE BRUISERS

    Classified By: A/POLITICAL COUNSELOR KELLY DEGNAN FOR REASONS 1.4(b),(d)

    ¶1.  (C) Summary and Comment.  The far-right Nationalist
    Action Party (MHP) is returning to parliament after five
    years on the sidelines, having carried 14.4 percent of the
    vote in Turkey's July 22 elections (septel).  Since its
    coalition government with the Motherland Party (ANAP) and
    Democratic Left Party (DSP) failed in 2002, MHP has
    capitalized on rising nationalism stemming from terrorist PKK
    violence and bumps in Turkey's EU accession process.  The
    party owes much of its success to its leader, Devlet Bahceli,
    who carefully selected a slew of urbane, intellectual
    candidates to compensate for the party,s more thuggish
    members.  MHP MPs include former diplomats, long-time
    political activists, and several experienced former
    ministers, as well as a couple of murderers -- all of whom
    will potentially play important roles as the new parliament
    grapples with controversial reforms and new approaches to
    Turkey's Kurdish question.  End Summary and Comment.

    Ministers and Intellectuals:
    ============================

    ¶2.  (C) AHMET DENIZ BOLUKBASI. Son of the famous nationalist
    politician Osman Bolukbasi, Ahmet Deniz Bolukbasi is a former
    ambassador turned politician.  After a diplomatic career
    focused on Europe, he is a supporter, albeit a skeptical one,
    of Turkey's EU accession.  He was an especially tough MFA
    negotiator during the talks leading up to the March 1, 2003
    petition on Iraq.  The public considers him one of the
    strongest defenders of Turkey,s interests, especially
    against the United States.  He speaks fluent English.

    ¶3.  (C) GUNDUZ AKTAN. Aktan, a former diplomat, editorialist,
    and advisor to the late PM Turgut Ozal, is a nationalist
    known for isolationism, hawkish views on Cyprus, and strong
    criticism of the EU accession process -- he does not believe
    Turkey should seek EU membership on Brussels' terms.  He sees
    Turkey,s interests as more closely aligned with China and
    Russia.  Described as intelligent and articulate, many expect
    him to be one of MHP,s most effective MPs, particularly on
    foreign policy issues such as the Armenian genocide
    resolution.  He previously served as president of the
    think-tank ASAM and foreign policy advisor to Turkish Chamber
    of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) Chairman
    Hisarciklioglu.  Although he was a leftist advisor to former
    PM Ozal, his views have shifted; we can expect his foreign
    policy positions to be hard-line nationalistic.

    ¶4. (C) MERAL AKSENER.  Affectionately labeled one of the
    "asenas" -- legendary female wolves that led the Turks west
    from Siberia -- Meral Aksener formerly headed the women's
    branch of the True Path Party (DYP) before joining MHP.  As
    Interior Minister during the 1997 DYP-Refah Party coalition
    government under Tansu Ciller, she was accused of creating a
    secret domestic spy service, tapping reporters, phone lines,

    SIPDIS
    and terrorizing Kurdish businessmen to undermine the PKK,s
    finances.  Many PKK-related disappearances occurred during
    her tenure, although no accusations were officially
    substantiated.  Aksener abandoned DYP and joined MHP after
    allegedly attempting to join AKP when the party was founded.
    Considered highly intelligent, she is a former professor of
    sociology.

    ¶5. (C) SABAHATTIN CAKMAKOGLU.  Nearly 80 years old,
    Sabahattin Cakmakoglu returns to parliament after a long
    career in the Interior Ministry, where he served as
    sub-governer, deputy governor and then governor of four
    regions.  First elected in 1999 on the MHP ticket, he served
    as Defense Minister as well as Interior Minister, and remains
    on good terms with the military.  He was quoted in early
    August as agreeing with TGS CHOD General Buyukanit that
    Turkey's president must be devoted not in rhetoric but "in
    essence" to the secular principles of the Republic.

    ¶6. (C) MITHAT MELEN originates from Van but serves as an MP
    from Antalya.  He comes from a political family, his father
    having served in the senate and as Minister of Defense.  He
    was previously involved in ANAP and has run for parliament

    ANKARA 00002014  002 OF 003

    four times before 2007.  He is also currently an economics
    professor at Istanbul University and emphasized to EmbOffs
    that he loves teaching.  He is a frequent columnist, even
    writing for the English language publication, Turkey Daily
    News.  He claims to have advised Bahceli to propose an MHP
    candidate for president so they would have grounds to attend
    the voting session and meet the 367 quorum requirement.

    ¶6. (C) TUNCA TOSKAY.  A former academic elected with MHP in
    1999, Tunca Toskay served as State Minister in the
    DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition.  A good Embassy contact before the
    MHP defeat in 2002, Toskay returned to his hometown, Antalya,
    and taught at Antalya University after AKP came to power in
    ¶2002.

    The Loyalists:
    ==============

    ¶7. (C) KENAN TANRIKULU.  Young and personally loyal to MHP
    leader Devlet Bahceli, Kenan Tanrikulu served as Minister of
    Industry from 1999 to 2002.  He attended schools in Britain
    and the United States and is seen by some as a rising star
    within the party.  The press has dubbed him Bahceli's
    "promising prince".  Tanrikulu earned a PhD in economics from
    the University of Western Illinois.

    ¶8. (C) OKTAY VURAL.  Also personally loyal to Bahceli, former
    Transportation Minister (1999-2002) Oktay Vural is now a
    deputy party leader.  He is known for transcending
    intra-party feuds and will likely provide his boss with
    balanced council.  He is pro-West but very skeptical of the
    EU.  He was a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and
    chairman of the TGNA Industry, Trade, Energy, Natural
    Resources, Information and Technology Committee.  Vural has
    been a useful Embassy contact.  He is intelligent and speaks
    English, though he prefers not to.

    ¶9. (C) FARUK BAL.  Bal entered Parliament in 1999 and headed
    the Interior Affairs Committee during the trial of former
    Kurdistan Worker,s Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.  He
    worked on good terms with the Embassy during this period and
    remains an important contact.  Following MHP's 2002 defeat,
    Bal remained loyal to the party, serving as a vice chairman.

    The Aristocrats:
    ================

    ¶10. (C) TUGRUL TURKES, son of the nationalist movement legend
    Alparslan Turkes and self-styled scion of the movement,
    served previously as deputy party leader.  After his father's
    death in 1997, Turkes ran for election as head of MHP but
    lost to Bahceli, in part because the party rejected the
    notion of a dynasty.  After heading the failed Aydinlik
    Turkiye Partisi, Turkes spent several years running his
    insurance business and only rejoined the MHP on Bahceli's
    invitation shortly before the July election.  He took MHP's
    top slot in Ankara's first district. Although his nationalist
    heritage is indisputable, most MHP members consider his
    blue-blooded background and patrician manners a turnoff and a
    sharp contrast to their humbler backgrounds.  Many
    nevertheless recognize that his presence and excellent
    English are good for MHP,s image.

    ¶11. (C) HAMIT HOMRIS.  Referred to as "the groom" for gaining
    political popularity by marrying Alparslan Turkes's daughter,
    Hamit Homris has been a member of MHP for many years.  MHP
    officials showed their confidence in his abilities and future
    by selecting him to run for the important post of Ankara
    mayor.

    The Thugs
    =========

    ¶12. (C) OSMAN DURMUS, a lifelong radical, was accused of
    murdering a military doctor but escaped punishment under a
    1974 amnesty.  As Health Minister during the 2000 earthquake
    that claimed over 30,000 lives, Durmus gained notoriety for
    rejecting foreign aid in a series of nationalistic
    pronouncements -- most famously he refused to accept Greek

    ANKARA 00002014  003 OF 003

    blood donations for fear of contamination.  He also tried to
    force the US to return the blood samples of a Turk with
    cancer who sought treatment in the US, deeming it
    strategically inadvisable to allow foreigners to unlock the
    secrets of the Turkish genome.

    SIPDIS

    ¶13. (C) ATILLA KAYA formerly managed ultranationalist camps
    during the strive-ridden 1980s.  He served ten years in
    prison for murdering a leftist construction engineer.  After
    his release, Kaya served as an advisor to Bahceli and
    recently wo.#CQBQ;y%
    Society and served as president of the Syrian Bayir Bucak
    Turks Cultural and Solidarity Association.  Embassy officials
    who have met him describe him as difficult and unpredictable,
    regularly disclosing private discussions to the press.

    Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
    http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

    MCELDOWNEY

`