EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN COUNTERTERRORISM TRAINING WORKSHOP,

UNCLAS ANKARA 001794 SENSITIVE SIPDIS JUSTICE FOR OPDAT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER SNAR AL BU GR MK TU SUBJECT: EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN COUNTERTERRORISM TRAINING WORKSHOP, FEBRUARY 10-12, 2010 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST. Embassy Ankara will host a three-day regional counterterrorism workshop for law enforcement officials and prosecutors from Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania and Greece, February 10-12, 2010. Embassy Ankara requests assistance from addressee embassies to ensure appropriate participation in the event. See para 6. END SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST. ¶2. (SBU) The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training (OPDAT) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),the DOJ International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP),Department of State S/CT, and the NATO Center of Excellence are sponsoring a series of regional training workshops focusing on counterterrorism and border security beginning in February 2010 for law enforcement officials and prosecutors from Eastern Mediterranean countries. The first three-day regional workshop is scheduled for February 10-12, 2010, in Ankara, Turkey. The countries invited to the February event are: Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, and the United States. ¶3. (SBU) The February session is expected to be the first in a series of similar regional workshops for the same five Eastern Mediterranean countries. Subsequent sessions will address related issues. Ideally, the participants of the February session will also attend subsequent sessions. ¶4. (SBU) Separately invited speakers will give presentations and lead discussions on sub-topics related to: trends in terrorism, cross-border cooperation, biometric crime-fighting tools, terrorist financing, and document fraud. The conference will be designed so that the participating countries can share their own best practices, discuss how they share information with other countries, and offer ideas on ways to improve cross-border cooperation and information sharing, particularly in terrorism cases. The workshop is intended to provide an opportunity for countries in attendance to develop stronger crime-fighting relationships, build partnerships, and learn from one another's best practices. Logistics -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Each invited country is asked to send up to ten prosecutors and law enforcement officers (preferably in equal numbers) with experience in the fields of counterterrorism and border security. Participants will be expected to give short presentations on the topics set forth in para 4, as relevant to their country. English speakers are preferred, but interpretation services will also be provided. Airfare and lodging will be provided by conference sponsors. Participants will stay at the Ankara Sheraton Hotel, which is also the workshop venue. POC for the event is Embassy Ankara Resident Legal Advisor Mike Lang langmj@state.gov. Tel: 90-312-457-7272. ¶6. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST. Embassy Ankara requests that embassies in Sofia, Skopje, Tirana and Athens reach out to Justice Ministries and law enforcement agencies in their host countries to convey the invitation contained in this message. Please ask that the names and CVs of candidates be provided to Ankara POC by January 10, 2010.