TERRORIST FINANCE: DISCUSSIONS OF CHECHEN AND

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001276

SIPDIS


STATE FOR EUR/SE, EB/ESC/ESP AND S/CT; GENERAL COUNSEL
(DAVID AUFHAUSER) AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST FINANCING;
TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF U/S FOR ENFORCEMENT (MICHAEL LEARY);
OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL (MUNRO); OFFICE OF
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (SCHROEDER); DOJ FOR CRIMINAL
DIVISION/SECTION ON ASSET FORFEITURE (SUZANNE HAYDEN)


E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2006
TAGS: CVIS EFIN ETTC PTER TU
SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCE: DISCUSSIONS OF CHECHEN AND
OTHER DESIGNATIONS


REF: A. (A) SECSTATE 48257

B. (B) ANKARA 1158

C. (C) ANKARA 126


(U) Classified by Economic Counselor Scot Marciel for reasons
1.5 (b),(d).



1. (S) Summary: On February 25, we met with Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) Deputy Director General for Research
and Intelligence Hakan Okcal and his associate Firat Sunel to
discuss past, recent and upcoming US/UN designations of
terrorist financiers. We noted that the US designation of
three Chechen groups (SECSTATE 48257) is scheduled for
February 28, and stressed the importance of the GOT
designating these groups. Okcal said the GOT would designate
them as soon as possible after a formal UN designation. End
Summary.



2. (S) We began by asking Okcal about follow up GOT action to
the USG recommendation made in the December 2002 visit of our
C/T finance experts (ref C). Okcal said the MFA has recently
proposed an amendment to existing counterterrorist
legislation, aimed at expediting the GOT's currently
cumbersome process of terrorist financier designations. (We
have not seen the proposed amendment but will follow up
septel.) The MFA had not yet received comments from other
agencies, though Okcal understands informally that MASAK
(Financial Crimes Investigation Board) and the Finance
Ministry will support it. At present, each designation
requires a Council of Ministers decree, meaning each minister
must approve. The MFA is preparing the latest Cabinet
decree, and Okcal stated that it would include some 20 names,
including groups/individuals recently designated by the USG
(Lashkar i Jhangvi, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and Ansar al-Islam).
However, the Cabinet has not issued a decree for designating
terrorist financiers since before the AK Party took power in
November. Okcal commented that this would be the first C/T
finance decree for the AK Government.


Chechen Designations
--------------



3. (S) We shared with Okcal information in ref A previously
passed to MFA (ref B). Okcal acknowledged that Turkey is a
focal point for Chechen support and contains a significant
Chechen diaspora. He pointed out that some politicians,
including Deputy PM Abdullatif Sener, were of Caucasian or
Chechen descent. He also noted the importance of not
designating "the whole nation" (referring to Chechnya) a
terrorist group (we pointed out that Chechen separatist
leader Aslan Maskhadov was not included in the designation).
Okcal, however, emphasized that the GOT's secular
establishment had every intention of freezing funding of all
UN-designated terrorist groups, including these Chechen
groups. He said that if the UN designation immediately
followed the US designation on February 28, he would
undertake to include the Chechens in the latest Cabinet
decree, which the MFA was planning to circulate interagency
this coming weekend.


ETIM
--------------



4. (S) We also queried whether the GOT had seized any assets
in Turkey belonging to the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement
(ETIM),a group that was designated by the UN in September

2002. Okcal said ETIM was designated in the GOT's last
Cabinet decree of October 2002. As for ETIM asset seizure,
"Nothing has been reported to us," Okcal said, adding that
the Chinese Embassy has been vocal about pushing the GOT but
had not provided any specific intel.


Yasin al-Kadi
--------------



5. (S) Finally, Okcal said that al-Qaida financier Yasin
al-Kadi had lost his appeal in Turkey. The appellate court
decision noted that any name designated by the UN would be
designated in Turkey, "end of story." Okcal said that this
decision establishes a useful judicial precedent for future
cases.



6. (S) Comment: We will work closely with USUN later this
week to get an assessment of when exactly the UN will move
forward with Chechen designation. In addition, we will
continue to monitor progress on their draft Cabinet decree,
including the Chechen groups.
PEARSON