BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3: PRE-LICENSE END USE CHECK ON

UNCLAS ANKARA 002131 SIPDIS PM/DTCC -- BLUE LANTERN COORDINATOR TIM WATKINS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KOMC ETTC TU SUBJECT: BLUE LANTERN LEVEL 3: PRE-LICENSE END USE CHECK ON LICENSE 05-957032 AND 05-950176 REF: STATE 51323 ¶1. On April 7, 2005, Embassy Blue Lantern Officer met with officials from Aselsan Corporation responsible for reftel procurement to Turkey (License Appl. 05-950176). Present were Program Manager Fikri Atmaca, Technical Director for the Electronics Hardware Department Serhat Salih Erzin and Purchasing Agent Fidan Cetinkaya, who were responsible for the acquisition and use of the Digital Frequency Discriminator. Atmaca was the contact named in reftel. ¶2. The Aselsan officials presented documentation regarding the order referenced in the license application, including information on the end user, which matched details contained in reftel. They also provided information regarding previous orders from US firms. Erzin explained that the instrument would be used by Aselsan in signals monitoring and collection research and development. It is a tool in the R&D process that will be kept at Aselsan and not exported. Aselsan officials added that the instrument does not support the fabrication or development of systems that are exported. One instrument will initially be tested, with additional instruments requested if it meets the engineering and other requirements of the basic research it will support. ¶3. As background, Aselsan was founded in 1975 to produce tactical military radios and defense electronic systems for the Turkish Army, but has expanded its customer base since then to include public and private organizations for both Turkish and foreign customers in the area of modern electronic defense systems. ¶4. With respect to case 05-957032, Embassy has submitted a request to Turkish authorities to verify the legitimacy of the transaction described in reftel and is waiting for a reply. Turkish General Staff's (TGS) response will be reported septel. EDELMAN