Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ANKARA7068
2005-12-01 16:02:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

UPDATED SCENESETTER FOR FEDERAL BUREAU OF

Tags:  ASEC PTER PGOV KTFN TU 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007068 

SIPDIS

FBI FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS ATTN: REBECCA
MOLONEY AND JOYCE MCCLELLAND

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2015
TAGS: ASEC PTER PGOV KTFN TU
SUBJECT: UPDATED SCENESETTER FOR FEDERAL BUREAU OF
INVESTIGATION (FBI) DIRECTOR ROBERT S. MUELLER, III

Classified By: CDA Nancy McEldowney, reason 1(b) and (d).

SUMMARY
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007068

SIPDIS

FBI FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS ATTN: REBECCA
MOLONEY AND JOYCE MCCLELLAND

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2015
TAGS: ASEC PTER PGOV KTFN TU
SUBJECT: UPDATED SCENESETTER FOR FEDERAL BUREAU OF
INVESTIGATION (FBI) DIRECTOR ROBERT S. MUELLER, III

Classified By: CDA Nancy McEldowney, reason 1(b) and (d).

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (U) Embassy Ankara looks forward to welcoming you to
Turkey. This will be the first high-level FBI visit to
Turkey since Director Freeh came in 1998, prior to the
opening of the Legat office in Ankara in October 1999.
Turkish government and press interest in your visit will be
very high. Your visit provides an opportunity to further
strengthen our excellent working relationship with the
Turkish National Police and the Turkish National
Intelligence Organization and to advance our cooperation
with the Government of Turkey in their anti-terror and
anti-crime efforts. As you are likely to encounter in
other countries you will visit on this trip, there is
intense interest in the Turkish press in CIA-leased
airplanes transiting the region and allegations of detainee
abuse, and you are likely to be asked about these issues.



2. (C) As you are aware, the single largest terrorist
threat to Turkey is Kurdish separatist insurgency Kongra-
Gel (KGK),which is also referred to by the name of its
predecessor organization, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The perception that the coalition forces in Northern Iraq
have not done enough to suppress Kurdish separatist
activities remains a major irritant between our two
countries. In addition to action against the PKK in Iraq,
we are working with Turkey to convince European countries
to crack down on PKK criminal activities, terrorist
financing, networks, and propaganda outlets.

BILATERAL RELATIONS
--------------


3. (C) You will arrive in Ankara at a time when bilateral
relations have been steadily improving from a low point
early this year, brought on mainly by events in Iraq. The
turning point came with Prime Minister (PM) Erdogan's June
visit to Washington, when the President urged him to take
ownership of the relationship. Since then, both sides have
been publicly defending the importance of good bilateral
relations. Both sides have also sought to expand and

intensify our official dialogue. Your visit is part of
that, something you may wish to point out publicly and
privately. We continue to work closely with Turkey on a
number of issues including Afghanistan, Turkey's EU
candidacy, Cyprus and Turkey's IMF program.

POLITICAL ATMOSPHERICS
--------------


4. (C) PM Erdogan remains Turkey's most popular politician
and his pro-Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) is
firmly in control of parliament. Secularists, including
the bureaucracy and the military, worry about what they
view as AKP efforts to advance an Islamic agenda on issues
like restrictions on headscarves in universities or on
graduates of religious schools, but the AKP government has
had little success on these issues. Turkey has been rocked
by allegations that the Interior Ministry's paramilitary
Jandarma were involved in a November bombing in the heavily
Kurdish southeastern province of Hakkari; several
investigations are underway.

ECONOMIC SITUATION
--------------


5. (U) The Turkish economy has recovered strongly from the
financial crisis of 2000-2001 under an IMF-sponsored
economic reform program. Through fiscal austerity and the
independent Central Bank's right monetary policy, Turkey's
economy has stabilized after years of booms and busts with
strong growth, an improving debt situation, and increased
foreign investment. The Government of Turkey occasionally
backslides on economic reform, but is broadly moving ahead
under IMF and EU pressure. The October 3, 2005 start of EU
accession talks, though a long-term process, has added to
business confidence. Although Turkey's economic situation
has improved substantially in the past three years, the
country remains vulnerable to unforeseen events that could
send investors fleeing the country's thin financial markets.

JUDICIAL
--------------


6. (U) The criminal justice system in Turkey is
administered by the Ministries of Justice and Interior.
The Justice Ministry consists of the public prosecutors
offices, the courts, and the prisons. The Interior
Ministry consists of the Turkish National Police (TNP) and
the Jandarma. Crimes are investigated by the TNP or
Jandarma (based upon their respective jurisdictions);
prosecuted by the Public Prosecutor; and tried before a
court consisting of from one to three judges depending on
the type and severity of the criminal offense. The TNP
handles law enforcement responsibilities for urban areas in
Turkey, and the Jandarma handles law enforcement matters in
the rural countryside. The courts apply the law based upon
a "code" system (adapted from Italian criminal law),as
opposed to the "common law" system. Case preparation and
evidentiary standards are not yet up to U.S. or western
European standards.


7. (U) An Extradition Treaty and a Mutual Legal Assistance
Treaty is in effect with the United States Government.

PKK
---


8. (C) Iraq has been the major sore point in U.S.-Turkish
relations for the past three years, and a particular source
of Turkish ire is the continuing presence of the separatist
PKK in northern Iraq. The PKK called off its unilateral
"cease-fire" with Turkey in the summer of 2004, which had
been in place since 1999. Since then, both PKK attacks
(primarily using IEDs) and increased Turkish military
activity in the southeast have resulted in dozens of deaths.
The Government of Turkey blames us for allowing the PKK to
maintain terrorist training camps in northern Iraq, from
which PKK leaders have command and control over operations
in Turkey. Coalition forces are not in a position to take
resources from the fight against the insurgency in order to
fight the PKK.


9. (C) In an effort to take action where we can - and to
improve our relationship with Turkey - there is an ongoing
interagency effort to approach European countries where the
PKK currently conducts criminal activities to support its
terrorist goals (including extortion and narcotics
trafficking). The PKK also runs media outlets in Europe
and its European network provides logistical support to its
operatives in Turkey and Iraq. The USG estimates that
illegal PKK "mafia"-like activities in Europe raise $300
million per year. The U.S. effort on PKK in Europe is
multi-pronged, including diplomatic pressure on European
governments not to allow PKK to use their territory,
pressure on PKK media outlets, and an offer to work more
closely in support of Turkish efforts to secure European
law enforcement and judicial system action against PKK.
This support was offered by APNSA Stephen Hadley when he
visited Ankara in September and by other senior officials.
Complementary to these efforts, Treasury, State and DOJ are
pressing Turkey to strengthen its relatively weak anti-
terrorism finance regime. Additionally, we are providing
enhanced intelligence support to the Turks as they carry
out counterterrorism operations in Turkey.

KEY ISSUES TO RAISE DURING YOUR VISIT
--------------


10. (U) The TNP is the main liaison contact with the Legal
Attache office. We would request that you thank the TNP
for its continued cooperation and support. You may wish to
express condolences for the loss of TNP officers in Iraq in
2005 and for the many deaths over the past two decades as a
result of PKK and other terrorism, noting that we are aware
of the sacrifices the TNP makes daily and we appreciate the
advice and guidance they provide to us.


11. (C) Turkish authorities are to be congratulated on the
recent arrest of Lu'ay Saqa, who supported the Al-Qaeda
role in the 2003 Istanbul bombings. We will seek to assist
the Turkish authorities in confronting the terrorist
activities that are undertaken by the PKK and various
Marxist organizations from safe havens in Europe and
northern Iraq and that continues to threaten Turkish
citizens. We seek to assure the Turkish authorities that
we will follow any lead they provide us regarding anyone in
the U.S. who may be connected to or providing support for
terrorists. We also want the Turks to know that if they
have information about PKK affiliates operating in Europe,
we will work, consistent with U.S. law, with law
enforcement liaison in Europe to bring them to justice.


12. (U) The Embassy is especially proud of the recent
successful cooperation between the FBI and the TNP that
resulted in the arrests in Turkey and Morocco of those
responsible for releasing the destructive ZOTOB virus,
which plagued CNN, ABC News, the U.S. Congress, and
numerous corporations throughout the world.

MCELDOWNEY