TURKISH RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002352 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2026 TAGS: PREL PTER TU CH SUBJECT: TURKISH RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ETLO/SHAT REF: A. STATE 006383 ¶B. ANKARA 000252 ¶C. ANKARA 001748 Classified By: Political Counselor Janice Weiner, reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d) ¶1. (C) We met with Huseyin Ozdemir, Chief of Section in the International Security Department of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on April 27 to follow up on our January demarche (refs a and b) regarding China's request that the UN designate the East Turkistan Liberation Organization (ELTO/SHAT) a terrorist organization. In addition to what we reported in ref c, Ozdemir conveyed to us a number of details regarding alleged ETLO/SHAT activities. ¶2. (C) Abdulcafer Turkoglu was born in Kayseri, Turkey, in ¶1977. He was captured by Turkish authorities on October 7, 1999, and turned over to the court system. -- Turkoglu is accused of conducting a bomb attack on March 5, 1998, against an apartment building where employees of the Chinese Consulate lived in the Sisli district of Istanbul. -- Turkoglu is also accused of killing Yeuchun (Xu) on April 5, 1998. Xu was the owner of a supermarket in the Besiktas district of Istanbul. (Note: Surnames in parentheses. End Note.) -- Turkoglu is also accused of killing Tang (Xin),the owner of a Chinese restaurant, and wounding Yaping (Zhao) on Octber 5, 1999, in the Bakirkoy district of Istanbul. -- Turkoglu was captured by Turkish authorities soon after the third incident. When police searched Turkoglu's apartment, they found an ETLO flag. In his deposition, Turkoglu claimed that he invented the ETLO and was using the ETLO name to protest Chinese treatment of people in Turkistan. -- Turkoglu and two accomplices -- Seyit Taranci and Kadir Karakus -- are currently on trial. Turkoglu is accused of being involved in all three incidents mentioned above; the other two men are only accused of involvement in the Bakirkoy shootings. ¶3. (C) Mehmet Emin Hazret was born in China in 1950. He later emigrated to Turkey and received Turkish citizenship on March 21, 1992. He lives in Istanbul. China has issued an Interpol red warrant (A-1302-12-2003) for his arrest. Turkish authorities are unaware of any connections between Hazret and ETLO. Ozdemir could not say whether Hazret was involved in any anti-Chinese or pro-Turkistan activities. ¶4. (C) Ozdemir told us that he has conveyed the same information regarding Turkoglu, Hazret, and ETLO to Chinese embassy officials. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON