SHUTTING DOWN THE PKK IN FRANCE AND GERMANY:

S E C R E T BERLIN 000889

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2016
TAGS: PTER EFIN KCRM PINR PREL FR GM
SUBJECT: SHUTTING DOWN THE PKK IN FRANCE AND GERMANY:
EMBASSY BERLIN STRATEGY

REF: A. STATE 35685


B. FEB 16 KOUMANS - SNOW/HUNT/FISHER EMAIL

C. 05 BERLIN 3168

D. 05 BERLIN 3506

E. 05 BERLIN 3796

F. 05 BERLIN 4162

G. MARCH 16 KOUMANS - SNOW/HUNT/FISHER EMAIL

Classified By: DCM John A. Cloud for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (S) Upon receipt of Ref A, DCM chaired a meeting of
relevant members of the country team and post raised the
issue of PKK support in Germany with the Turkish DCM and
senior members of the German government. German officials
state an awareness of the threats posed by the PKK and a
readiness to do more to combat them, but express some
frustration at Turkish efforts to date regarding requests for
extradition and other assistance, and note resource
constraints and obstacles posed by German courts. The
Turkish Embassy, while angry over PKK activity in Germany and
eager for more German action, did not appear heavily engaged
in dialogue or other efforts with German officials to improve
the status quo. Post will continue to engage and push German
officials on the PKK, particularly in the context of overall
cooperation in fighting terrorism, but it may be necessary
for the Turkish government to energize further its embassy
and to ensure they take an active lead.
Country Team Meeting
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2. (S) The DCM and EMIN chaired an interagency meeting March
7 with Legat and others to discuss the requests in ref A, to
examine what German law enforcement and other authorities are
currently doing, and to map out a strategy for working with
the Turkish Embassy here as well as with the Germans to
ratchet up the efforts. An integral part of the effort would
be raising the PKK in discussions regarding fighting other
terrorist groups as well as direct approaches to German
authorities to achieve specific steps regarding the PKK.
Some of the agencies present noted it would be useful if they
received specific instructions from their headquarters as
well regarding the higher USG focus on the PKK.

Interior Ministry
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3. (S) EMIN raised the PKK issue with Interior Ministry State
Secretary August Hanning March 14. Hanning in reply referred

SIPDIS
to ongoing German efforts to prosecute PKK ringleaders (refs
C-F) and said Germany takes a "hard line" with the PKK.
Hanning noted the Interior Ministry's ban on E. Xani
Publishing (publisher of Ozgur Politika, which the Interior
Ministry said was tied to the PKK when the MOI moved to ban
it in late 2005; refs E and F). Hanning regretted the German
court's decision to block the ban, but stressed E. Xani
remains under close surveillance by German authorities and
that the investigation continues. "We are watching money
collection and transfer," said Hanning and elaborated that
the PKK raised money -- sometimes forcibly -- in Germany and
moved it to Turkey. Interior Ministry staff told emboffs the
German government is still deliberating whether and how to
reinstate the ban by redrafting the law.

Turkish Embassy, Part One
--------------


4. (C) EMIN met with Turkish DCM Adnan Basaga March 16 (ref
G) on the issue and the need to coordinate approaches to the
Germans. Basaga, who is serving for the third time in
Germany, described a prior tour when he was assigned to a
Turkish Consulate in Germany during a period of PKK attacks
on Turkish missions. He recounted coming to work after the
PKK had attacked and burned his office. Basaga said Germany
at the time had cited the PKK's social and political goals
and had remained ambivalent until the early 1990s, when the
PKK attacked German law enforcement personnel. In 1994 came
the German ban on the PKK. Basaga blamed the PKK for "the
majority of drug smuggling and sales in Germany" (NOTE: DEA
at post cannot confirm the allegation, but notes Turkish
nationals, whether PKK members or not, are important players
in heroin imports into Germany, as are Russians and nationals
of other countries. End Note.) Basaga also stated the PKK
is engaged in extortion and other fundraising among the 2.5
million Turks and other individuals in Germany. He estimates
the PKK raises 40 million Euros a year here and said the
organization's "brains" are in Germany. Reiterating some of
the points Counselor Kemal Tuzun made previously (para 6
below; ref B) Basaga said the PKK also recruits fighters and
trains them in northern Iraq. Basaga provided EMIN with a
copy of Ozgur Politika, which is written in Turkish and

Kurdish, and pointed to advertisements he says are
inflammatory, including one showing the PKK flag and calling
for Kurds to participate in a March 18 demonstration in
Frankfurt. Basaga showed his frustration when he claimed
Kurdish demonstrators in Germany openly wear T-shirts and
carry signs featuring the PKK flag and imprisoned leader
Ocalan, but alleged that "surely" German authorities would
not let demonstrators wear Usama Bin Laden T-shirts.


5. (C) Basaga asked EMIN to wait before contacting German
authorities; he said their instructions from Ankara are that
"they go first." EMIN replied the two Embassies should stay
in close touch, but we were reluctant to change an
appointment with MFA Counterterrorism Commissioner Georg
Witschel (para 7 below). EMIN agreed, however, to delay
talking further to the MOI until the Turkish Embassy had a
chance. We provided the Turks with the names of some key
people they might meet, and designated Tuzun and Acting
Global Affairs Counselor as our working points of contact
(NOTE: Basaga and Tuzun gave the impression they were not in
regular contact with German CT officials; they were
unfamiliar with names and titles. END NOTE).


6. (C) On the subject of German legal assistance, in an
earlier meeting February 15 with Global Affairs Acting
Counselor, Tuzun complained German courts reject nearly all
Turkish extradition requests. He admitted some requests had
thin documentation, but not all; some he said were well
documented. Tuzun said Turkey gave Germany a "four page
proposal" on a German-Turkish exchange program for CT
scholars, prosecutors and judges to try to address this
problem.

Foreign Ministry
--------------


7. (S) EMIN met MFA Counterterrorism Commissioner Georg
Witschel and a member of his staff March 20 to continue to
press USG concerns. Witschel noted the size of the Turkish
population and its dispersal in Germany. He said the German
police had a surprising shortage of Turkish, let alone
Kurdish, speaking personnel. They nevertheless, he said,
watched carefully for possible violent acts, including by PKK
youth and splinter groups. Germany sees demonstrations, fund
raising, propaganda and "low level violence," but no serious
violence or killings. The PKK was still suffering in the
aftermath of the Ocalan capture, Witschel stated;
organizationally it was not as strong as it had been. That
said, Witschel believes a new leadership was emerging as the
recent violence in Turkey suggested. According to Witschel,
the PKK has a well-organized system of about 14 subgroups
with a European, German, and regional hierarchical
military-style structure. Several thousand PKK members in
Germany are involved in fund raising, but a smaller number
are in the leadership, he said. There are tens of thousands
of PKK supporters in Germany, Witschel said, some voluntary
and some forced. It would overwhelm German law enforcement
to target all PKK supporters, so it targeted the leadership.
Witschel claimed French, Belgian, and Dutch authorities faced
the same problem. Witschel referred to the September 2005
arrest (ref E) of PKK leader Halil Dalkilic in Germany. EMIN
provided Witschel with information about Sakine Cansiz.


8. (S) Turning to international cooperation, Witschel said
Germany and Turkey had an annual counterterrorism dialogue,
the next meeting of which is scheduled to take place in late
summer or early autumn in Ankara. Turkish extradition
requests, he said, were "spotty," with some merely containing
transcripts of newspapers articles. Witschel discussed
possible ways the Germans might move the issue to the front
burner in the EU, e.g., raising it in the context of the
international counterterrorism conference the Germans are
planning in June, raising it in EU fora and meetings of the
Schengen countries. He also proposed law enforcement
agencies from key countries -- e.g., France, Germany and the
Benelux -- meet to consider a better way forward. Witschel
agreed to discuss these ideas with the Interior Ministry.


9. (C) Witschel followed up the meeting with a call to EMIN
March 24 reporting that he had looked into the situation
regarding Sakine Cansiz with the Interior Ministry and others
and found out that German authorities are concerned about her
and regard her as dangerous. The Turkish government has
requested her extradition from Germany and the Federal Office
of Criminal Investigation (BKA) has a detention order on file
for Cansiz dated November 2002. Witschel said German
authorities continue to be on the look out for her, but could
provide no further information at this juncture.

Turkish Embassy, March 31 Update

--------------


10. (C) Tuzun responded March 31 to emails and phone calls
from Acting Global Affairs Counselor. He said he met with
MFA Counterterrorism Acting Office Director Suzanne Welter
March 29 and DCM Basaga met MOI Counterterrorism Gerhard
Schindler on March 30 to convey "talking points agreed to
between Ankara and Washington." Tuzun outlined German
responses (which were similar to those in para 7 and 8).
Both ministries had also stressed German intentions to renew
the ban on Ozgur Politika / E. Xani via a change to the law;
but that the process of drafting the law and obtaining its
approval would take time. (Note: Tuzun seemed somewhat
surprised and encouraged by this news. End Note.) Tuzun
also noted the German Justice Ministry March 28 sent the
Turkish Embassy a one sentence rejection to the Turkish
Justice Ministry's extradition requests for 26 PKK leaders
resident in or located in Germany. Asked about the strength
of the cases, Tuzun said he had to check. Tuzun said he used
the opportunity to renew and refine the Turkish proposal for
intensified bilateral dialogue between the Turkish and German
Ministries of Justice; he awaits the German reply.
TIMKEN JR