EXBS: TURKEY ADVISORS MONTHLY REPORT- (NOVEMBER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001711 SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/ECC- JFRIEDMAN, ACHURCH, EMCPHERSON DEPT FOR EUR/SE, DMARSH, IGOODMAN DOE/NNSA- TPERRY, LPARKER, RTALLEY, EDESCHLER CBP/INA- TBAILEY, BSUBER DOC FOR DCREED E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC KNNP KSTC MNUC PARM PREL TU SUBJECT: EXBS: TURKEY ADVISORS MONTHLY REPORT- (NOVEMBER 2009) ¶1. Summary: The EXBS Team escorted 21 Turkish Customs officers, 1 Turkish National Police officer and 1 representative from the Under Secretariat for Foreign Trade (UFT) to the Department of Energy's Radiation Academy, at the HAMMER facility in Richland, Washington from November 2-7.Eighteen of the Customs officers continued on to McAllen Texas with the EXBS Team to attend the Customs and Border Protection International Border Interdiction Training November 8-13. The EXBS Coordinator attended LES Training in Frankfurt, Germany during the week of November 16.The EXBS Advisor initiated talks with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of DOE's Second Line of Defense to request authority to upgrade the handheld IdentiFinder NGH Spectrometers granted to the Turkish National Police in 2008. END OF SUMMARY. ¶2. Completed Actions for the Reporting Period: ¶A. Meetings during the Reporting Period by EXBS Advisory Team: ¶1. (U) The EXBS Advisor met with Serhan Yigit, the Head of the Arms Control and Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the upgrade of the Turkish National Police's hand held Identifinder Isotope Identifiers, and the decision on the request to visit the eastern Turkey border gates at Gurbulak (on the border with Iran) and Hopa (on the border with Georgia). The DOE's Second Line of Defense has proposed a one-for-one exchange of the old device for the newer, improved model. The Turkish National Police received 8 of the older units in 2008. Yigit said he will discuss with relevant offices about the DOE proposal and also advised that the visit to the eastern border customs gates could not be approved for the November time frame requested and suggested we revisit the request in the Spring. ¶B. Training Conducted During the Period: 1) (U) Twenty-three Turkish government officials attended the Department of Energy's, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Radiation Academy at the HAMMER facility in Richland, Washington, November 2-7. The training included classroom instruction on nuclear, biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction, and instruction on the use of fixed and hand held detection devices for identifying and interdicting WMD's, radioactive materials, and dual use commodities used in the production of radioactive materials, nuclear reactors and weapons. The participants had multiple opportunities to use the tools and equipment while working through case studies and border detection and interdiction scenarios. 2) (U) Eighteen Turkish Customs officers attended the Customs and Border Protection's International Border Interdiction Training (IBIT) in McAllen, Texas. The training included classroom presentations concerning the methods employed by CBP in conducting examinations at the land border, visits to the border crossing at Hidalgo and Pharr, Texas, and a day-long overview of the U.S. Border Patrol's enforcement operations including demonstrations of the equipment and assets employed in enforcing the border between the ports of entry.In addition to an entire day devoted to CBP's efforts in counter terrorism and the prevention of WMD from entering the United States, the students participated in two days of hands-on observations at the commercial processing port at Pharr, Texas and passenger and personal vehicle processing at the Port of Hidalgo, Texas. The Turkish Customs officers were able to work with the CBP officers using the various tools and inspection techniques that had been discussed in the classroom, while they performed their inspections of arriving traffic.Class critiques were positive, and the comments made to the EXBS Team during the week indicated the Turkish Customs officers had gained knowledge from the experience they would employ when they returned to their respective border gates. ANKARA 00001711 002 OF 002 ¶C. (U) Equipment Delivered During this Period: None ¶D. (U) Imminent Training or Equipment Status: The EXBS team is working with the MFA to obtain authority for the Department of Energy's, Second Line of Defense to upgrade the IdentiFinder NGH Handheld Digital Spectrometer devices that they had provided to Turkish National Police (TNP) in 2008. Their intent is to ship new models with the upgrades, and then trade them with the GOT for the older models. Because the devices are equipped with a radiation source for calibration, the equipment trade must be authorized by the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK). ¶E. (U) Significant Developments in Export Controls, Nonproliferation, or Related Border Security: None ¶3. (U) Future Activities: The EXBS Advisor will travel to Oman the week of December 3-11 to assist the Regional EXBS Office in Muscat and the Royal Omani Police (Customs) in developing a Risk Management Targeting training program for use in the their Customs Academy. ¶4. Red Flag Issues: None ¶5. (U) Contact information for EXBS Program Ankara is: Robert Hessler, EXBS Advisor, Email: hesslerre@state.gov, Office (90) 312 457-7210, Cell: (90) 533-716-4805; Erhan Mert, EXBS Coordinator, Email: MertE2@state.gov, Office (90) 312 457-7059, cell (90) 533-264-8507. EXBS Program Office FAX (90) 312 468-4775. JEFFREY "Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"