Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ANKARA2916
2005-05-24 07:54:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

TERRORISM FINANCE-TURKEY SCENESETTER FOR CODEL

Tags:  KTFN EFIN TU 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS ANKARA 002916 

SIPDIS

TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF TERRORISM AND FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE
- DGLASER
DEPARTMENT FOR H FOR SENATOR SHELBY

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTFN EFIN TU
SUBJECT: TERRORISM FINANCE-TURKEY SCENESETTER FOR CODEL
SHELBY

UNCLAS ANKARA 002916

SIPDIS

TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF TERRORISM AND FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE
- DGLASER
DEPARTMENT FOR H FOR SENATOR SHELBY

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTFN EFIN TU
SUBJECT: TERRORISM FINANCE-TURKEY SCENESETTER FOR CODEL
SHELBY


1.(SBU) I am glad you and your delegation are taking the
time to visit Turkey and to look into the issue of terrorism
financing. This is an important issue because Turkey's
regime to combat the financing of terrorism remains weak and
not in compliance with international standards. The
financing of terrorism is not yet explicitly criminalized,
nor are bank employees that report suspicious transactions
free from liability. Although the laws are in the process
of being changed, progress is very slow and there seems to
be no leadership from the top. Beyond the legal framework,
Turkey's ability to be effective in the fight against
financial crime is hampered by lack of expertise and poor
interagency coordination.

Current Legal Regime:
--------------

2.(SBU) Turkey's current legal regime is inadequate to
effectively combat the financing of terrorism. The Turkish
authorities willingly pass on UN and U.S.-designated names
of terrorists to all law enforcement and intelligence
agencies, as well as to financial institutions, and have a
system for banks to file suspicious transaction reports.
However, Turkish law defines terrorism only in terms of
attacks on Turkish nationals or threats against the Turkish
state. Moreover, the financing of terrorism has yet to be
explicitly criminalized. In order to be able to block UN-
designated terrorist assets, the authorities have relied on
a legally-questionable system of decrees which could be
challenged in court. Indeed, two of the three cases in
which UN-designated assets have been frozen in Turkey are
under legal challenge, a challenge which some Government
officials believe may be successful.

3.(SBU) The enforcement system for designated names is also
lacking. Banks receive the distributed names but bank
employees who file suspicious transaction reports could be
sued and this may explain why the number of reports filed is
very low compared to other countries.

Upcoming Reforms:
--------------

4.(SBU) Thanks largely to prodding from the U.S. and the
U.N., and the imminence of an upcoming review by the
Financial Action Task Force (FATF),the Turkish authorities
began over a year ago to work on reforming their legal
framework. On the one hand, an interagency committee has
drawn up changes to Turkey's penal code that would bring
Turkey into line with international norms: criminalizing
terrorism finance and broadening the definition of terrorism
to include international terrorism. Although the committee
has finished its work, if past legal reforms are any guide,
these reforms could take months or years to be enacted
unless the senior leadership makes this issue a priority.

Institutional Weakness:
--------------

5.(SBU) Beyond the legal regime, Turkey's ability to combat
terrorism finance is hampered by the weakness of the
financial intelligence unit (known by its Turkish acronym,
MASAK),by a broader lack of expertise in investigating
financial crimes, and by poor interagency coordination. A
new law to reorganize and strengthen MASAK has recently
begun to be considered by parliament, but it is not clear
how much real effect this will have.

The U.S. Message:
--------------

6.(SBU) In your meetings here, Minister of Finance Unakitan
and other Turkish officials are likely to tell you they have
an effective regime and are in the process of plugging the
loopholes. Nevertheless, we do not believe that senior
Turkish leaders have made it a priority to strengthen their
anti-terror finance regime, despite the November 2003
Istanbul bombings. Your visit provides an excellent
opportunity to remind senior Turkish officials of the need
for their leadership, emphasizing U.S. and international
community interest in Turkey strengthening its anti-terror
finance regime.