TURKEY: POL-MIL ROUND-UP, June 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004129 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MASS MARR PREL TU AS PK AL CG AJ KZ IT SUBJECT: TURKEY: POL-MIL ROUND-UP, June 2006 (Note: This is one of a regular series of unclassified reports on significant Turkish defense and national security issues in the press and other open sources. End note.) Contents -------------- -- National Security Council Convenes -- Media Visits Military Units in Southeastern Turkey -- Anatolian Eagle Exercise-2006/2 Takes Place in Konya -- International Security Conference Held in Istanbul -- Defense Industry Executive Committee Convenes -- Turkey's Security Relations with Other Countries -- Defense Industry Activity National Security Council Convenes -------------- ¶1. Turkey's National Security Council (NSC) held its bi-monthly meeting on June 22. National and international security issues and the fight against terrorism topped the agenda of the meeting. Palestinian governance, the Israeli general election, the EU accession process and the Single European Sky project's impact on Turkey were among the other issues discussed. Media Visits Military Units in Southeastern Turkey -------------- -------------- ¶2. Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) opened military units in the southeast to the Turkish media for the first time since 2002. The tour, organized by the Turkish General Staff (TGS) due to the ongoing EU criticism of the military's role in Turkey, conveyed the message that the war on terrorism would continue. Anatolian Eagle Exercise-2006/2 Takes Place in Konya -------------- -------------- ¶3. The joint air force Anatolian Eagle Exercise-2006/2 (second exercise of the year) took place in Konya June 12-23. Six F-16s from Pakistan, five Mirage F-1s from France, ten F-16s from the US, 38 aircraft from Turkey and one NATO AWACS participated in the exercise. The first Anatolian Eagle Exercise had taken place in ¶2001. International Security Conference held in Istanbul -------------- -------------- ¶4. The Eighth International Security Conference organized by the Ari Movement in association with the German Marshall Fund, NATO and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation was held in Istanbul June 29-30. The conference focused on Black Sea security, NATO's PfP Program, and the EU's European Neighborhood Policy; 220 participants from 13 countries attended. The conference, which included speeches by Georgian Vice Premier Girogi Barmidze, MFA Deputy Undersecretary Rafet Akguna, Ambassador Wilson, and Ukrainian Ambassado Olexandr Mischenko, also discussed the role f the US and NATO in the Black Sea as well as nergy security. Defense Industry Executive Committee Convenes -------------- ¶5. Turkey's top decision making body on defense industrial procurement, the Defense Industry Executive Committee (DIEC), convened under Prime Minister Erdogan on June 27. DIEC selected the South African Denel and the Italian Agusta Westland companies for the ATAK helicopter tender, from which Bell Textron and Boeing had previously withdrawn. DIEC eliminated the Eurocopter and Russian Rosoboronexport companies from the tender. Agusta Westland proposed joint production for its A-129 helicopters in Turkey. DIEC also instructed Defense Industry Undersecretariat (SSM) to launch 10 projects within the framework of TAF's 10 year arms procurement ANKARA 00004129 002 OF 002 program, according to the center-left Radikal daily. Turkey's Security Relations with Other Countries -------------- --- ¶6. Italy: Italian Air Forces Commander General Leonardo Tricarico met his Turkish counterpart General Faruk Comert on June 6. Gen. Comert noted that four Italian pilots were trained in Turkey on F-16s under a bilateral agreement between the two air forces in 2005, according to the semi-official Anatolian News Agency (ANA). Turkish Land Forces Commander General Yasar Buyukanit decorated his Italian counterpart General Filiberto Cecchi with the Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Merit on June 12. ¶7. Australia: Turkey signed a defense cooperation agreement with Australia on June 13. The agreement covers cooperation in military and defense and educational exchanges, as announced by the Australian Defense Ministry. ¶8. Pakistan: Turkish Air Forces Commander General Faruk Comert decorated his Pakistani counterpart Tanvir Mehmood Ahmed with the Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Merit on June 19. ¶9. Albania: Chief of Turkish General Staff General Hilmi Ozkok met with his Albanian counterpart as well as Prime Minister Sali Berisha in Tirana on June 21. Berisha expressed his appreciation for Turkey's support for Albania's NATO membership and TAF's logistics and financial assistance to Albanian naval and air forces (ANA). ¶10. DROC: The Turkish parliament approved the deployment of Turkish troops with C-130 military aircraft, 15 crewmen and two officers to the EU peacekeeping mission in the DROC. Turkish troops will be deployed in Congo from July 30 to November 30 (ANA). ¶11. Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan Defense Minister General Muhtar Altinbayev met with CHOD GEN Ozkok in Ankara on June 28. No information on the subject of their meeting was made public. ¶12. Azerbaijan: CHOD GEN Ozkok met Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev in Baku on June 29. GEN Ozkok was decorated with a medal of merit by President Ilham Aliyev for his contribution to development of relations between the two countries (ANA). Defense Industry Activity -------------- ¶13. The Turkish Jandarma Command will spend a significant portion of its TL 2.5 billion (approximately $ 1.6 billion) budget for 2006 to improve the maintenance and technical infrastructure of its units, according to the semi-official Anatolian News Agency. Jandarma is expected to purchase 50 crime scene investigation vehicles, 125 patrol vehicles, two explosive-detection-and-destruction vehicles, a bomb shield, a bomb blanket, a remote control detonation vehicle, fingerprint equipment, evidence collection equipment, 1700 metal detectors, 500 loudspeakers, 3000 tubes of tear gas, 2400 bulletproof helmets, 400 bulletproof jackets, and 7000 nine-millimeter handguns (ANA). ¶14. Turkey's Otokar exhibited two different models of its Cobra tank at the Eurosatory 2006 Exhibition of June 12-16 in Paris. 45 countries participated in the exhibition with 1100 companies. ¶15. SSM extended its Request for Proposal (RFP) deadline for the Turkish Basic Trainer Aircraft Program until July 14. WILSON