LEVERAGING TURKISH EFFORTS AGAINST AFGHAN-

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000452

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INL, EUR/SE, SA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PREL TU
SUBJECT: LEVERAGING TURKISH EFFORTS AGAINST AFGHAN-
ORIGIN OPIATES

REF: Ambassador Wilson-A/S Patterson Meeting, 1/9/06


1. (SBU) Summary: Most of the world's supply of opiates
originates in Afghanistan and passes through Turkey on
its way to Western consumers. Despite Turkey's
relatively low consumption problem, it has worked hard
to stop the flow of these narcotics and is willing to
take on a larger regional role. We believe there is an
opportunity to enhance Afghan-Turkish cooperation on
counternarcotics. If Embassy Kabul concurs, we think
it would be useful to consider developing mechanisms
that would facilitate Afghanistan's collaboration with
Turkey. INL funding targeted to enhancing
counternarcotics cooperation between Afghanistan and
Turkey (and perhaps other Central Asian countries)
would kill multiple birds with one stone: it would
develop Afghan-Turkish synergies through collaborative
efforts, enable Afghan law enforcement to learn from
Turkish counterparts, and bolster Turkey's own efforts
against drugs flowing from Afghanistan.

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First Credible Line of Defense
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2. (SBU) For a country with a negligible consumption
problem, Turkey has taken ownership of the struggle
against narcotics trafficking. The Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) calls Turkey the first credible
line of defense as opiates move from Afghanistan to
consumer markets in the west. In 2004, Turkey seized
nearly 10,000 kilograms of heroin and 4,730 kilograms
of morphine base. Between January and November 2005,
Turkish law enforcement agencies seized 7,760 kilograms
of heroin. On October 21, 2005, Turkish law
enforcement seized a record 1,051 kilograms of heroin,
which DEA believes is linked to a well-documented
Pakistani trafficker. DEA notes that every seizure
made in Turkey reduces the availability and
profitability of Afghan heroin. In contrast to some of
its regional peers, Turkey arrests, tries, and
frequently convicts narcotics traffickers.

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Turkey a Key Ally Against Afghan Heroin
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3. (SBU) DEA's Ankara-based regional office, which
covers 43 countries, cites Turkey as the most
cooperative and engaged partner in stopping the flow of
Afghan heroin. Turkey is one of the most committed
partners in DEA's Operation Containment, developed
after September 11, 2001 to collectively target major
regional drug trafficking organizations and combat the
increasing threat posed by Afghan heroin. Turkey co-
hosted the first multinational Operation Containment
conference in 2002 and a major international Operation
Containment meeting in 2004, in which high-ranking
Afghan counternarcotics officials participated. Under
Operation Containment, Turkey provided sensitive law
enforcement information on a major Turkish drug
trafficker, which led to a significant multilateral
investigation with multiple high-level targets,
including supply sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Turks Engage Afghans through Training Opportunities
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4. (SBU) Turkey perceives Afghanistan's opiate
cultivation and processing as its primary drug threat.
To reduce this threat, the Turkish National Police
(TNP),through its Ankara-based Turkish Academy Against
Drugs and Organized Crime (TADOC),has hosted numerous
training workshops involving Afghan law enforcement
officers. DEA and FBI consider TADOC to be one of the
premier training academies in the region. In 2003, 14
Afghan officers attended anti-drug and organized crime
investigation training, and 13 officers attended the
Anti-Narcotics Training Program for Management-Level
Law Enforcement Officers. Six Afghan officers attended
a DEA-sponsored Drug Unit Commanders School at TADOC in
2004, and 19 officers participated in drug law
enforcement training at TADOC in 2005. TADOC has
several training opportunities for Afghan officers
lined up for 2006, including three drug enforcement

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training courses, a tactical police operations course,
and a train the trainers course.

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INL Funding Key to Turkey's Regional Role
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5. (SBU) Turkish officials, the TNP in particular, are
eager to take on a larger regional counternarcotics
role. One way to support Turkey's highly effective
efforts, and at the same time use Turkey's model of
success to help less developed Afghan and Central Asian
counternarcotics efforts, would be to increase Turkish
collaboration with Central Asian countries, especially
Afghanistan. Training is good; joint work would be
better. TNP is very interested in working more closely
with DEA and Afghan counterparts in Afghanistan, and
would like to station a narcotics liaison officer in
Kabul. In addition, TNP officials would be eager to
travel to Afghanistan for temporary duty assignments to
include training workshops, investigations, operations,
and mentoring.


6. (SBU) We, of course, defer to Embassy Kabul on the
facts, but our assessment is that the Afghans need all
the help they can get on the counternarcotics side.
They could benefit from more training that is closely
connected with Turkey's status as a transit country.
Communication between Afghan and Turkish
counternarcotics personnel is limited. Both sides
would benefit from more organized communication flows,
including on handling ongoing intelligence, buttressed
by joint training in how to collect, analyze, and use
information relevant to the Afghan-Turkey drug trade.
Training in and support of joint Afghan-Turkish
counternarcotics operations would complete the picture
and substantiate what could be really effective
measures to interdict and stop narcotics trafficking
through this area.


7. (SBU) INL funding could support a number of
initiatives to jump start Afghan-Turkish collaboration.
This could include bringing Turkish officials to
Afghanistan for on-the-ground training and enhanced
cooperation on counternarcotics; joint training Afghans
with Turks in intelligence development, sharing, and
utilization and in joint operations, taking advantage
of Turkey's excellent training facilities; and/or the
establishment and support of a Turkish-Afghan bilateral
working group on counternarcotics that would aim to
develop intelligence sharing and joint efforts. There
may be other ways in which U.S. Afghan counternarcotics
goals could be supported through an augmented Turkish
role. Besides the direct benefits that joint Afghan-
Turkish efforts might bring, U.S. support for the
effort could provide collateral gains for our
understanding of the path of Afghan narcotics,
traffickers, and how to interdict shipments.

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Comment
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8. (SBU) While Turkey is a strong ally against the flow
of Afghan heroin, it is not reaching its full
potential. INL funding would for the above-described
activities would bolster Turkish counternarcotics
efforts, increase cross-border coordination against
trafficking networks, and at the same time enabling
less developed Afghan and other Central Asian law
enforcement agencies to learn from their Turkish
counterparts.

WILSON