COUNTER TERRORISM FINANCE WORKING GROUP (CTFWG):

UNCLAS ANKARA 006676 SIPDIS SENSITIVE TREASURY FOR OFAC, FINCEN AND TFFC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN PTER ETTC TU KTFN SUBJECT: COUNTER TERRORISM FINANCE WORKING GROUP (CTFWG): MINUTES OF 11/22/04 MEETING ¶1. (SBU) On November 22, DCM and Terrorism Finance Coordination Officer (TFCO),Robert S. Deutsch, chaired the meeting of the Counter Terrorism Finance Working Group (CTFWG). Other participants included representatives from ECON, RSO, RAO, DEA, FBI, CONS, and OSI. ¶2. (SBU) ECON gave an update on the status of preparations for two upcoming training programs on money laundering and terrorist financing provided by the USG to GOT officials. Both programs will be held in Ankara. The first will be conducted by the FBI and take place on December 6-10 and the second will be conducted by the Department of Justice Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development (OPDAT) December 13-15. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and OPDAT officers will also meet a range of Turkish officials. ¶3. (SBU) ECON also gave a brief overview of developments on terrorism finance. Following receipt of a letter from the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee putting pressure on Turkey to better comply with resolutions 1267 and 1373 and the International Convention to Combat Terrorism, the GOT has established a working group with representatives from the Ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Interior, plus the Treasury, MASAK (Turkey's financial intelligence unit),and the Turkish General Staff, to develop new legal language to criminalize terrorism finance and re-define terrorism in accordance with the International Convention on Terrorism Finance. ¶4. (SBU) The GOT is also working to improve its internal capabilities on combating terrorism financing by re-writing the law which governs MASAK's structure, operations, and duties. The drafting for MASAK's new law has been moving slowly. Though MASAK officials hope the law will be enacted by early next year, they are wary that other government agencies will pose objections and changes to the law and cause further delays. EDELMAN