TENSIONS SPIKE AMIDST DEPUTY PM ASSASSINATION PLOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001839

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/28/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV TU
SUBJECT: TENSIONS SPIKE AMIDST DEPUTY PM ASSASSINATION PLOT
CLAIM

REF: A. ANKARA 834

B. 07 ANKARA 1006

C. ANKARA 1691 AND PREVIOUS

D. ANKARA 1805

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, Reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Prosecutors and police conducted extensive,
unprecedented searches in the Turkish General Staff (TGS)
Special Forces Mobility Command on December 25 following the
arrest of two special forces officers for allegedly targeting
Deputy PM Bulent Arinc for assassination. TGS Chief GEN
Basbug, accompanied by Land Forces Commander GEN Kosaner,
held a meeting with PM Erdogan on December 26. Following the
meeting, the military granted civilian investigators
permission to search a location in the military facility
where top secret documents are reportedly held. Ten active
duty military personnel have been detained following the
searches, including the two officers initially arrested. The
explosive allegation of the military plotting the
assassination of DPM Arinc led to a spike in civ-mil
tensions, but the December 26 meeting between Basbug and
Erdogan appears to dial back tensions for now and likely
signals the military's willingness to allow this
investigation to run its course. END SUMMARY.

Assassination Plot Allegations
--------------


2. (C) Two special forces officers were detained by police on
December 19 while sitting in parked vehicles near the
residence of Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, an important
figure in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) who
is also known for his strong Islamist leanings. According to
media reporting, the officers were arrested for targeting
Arinc for assassination. The prosecutors and police
conducted searches of the officers' homes following the
arrest and seized computer and electronic equipment; the
officers were released later the same day. As media
speculation over this incident swirled, the Turkish General
Staff (TGS) released a written statement on December 23
declaring that the officers were investigating a member of
the military who lived in the area of Arinc's residence and
was suspected of leaking classified information.

Unprecedented Search
--------------


3. (C) On the evening of December 25 the Ankara prosecutor
accompanied by the Turkish National Police presented a
warrant to search the offices of the suspected officers.
These offices are located in the TGS Special Forces Mobility
Headquarters. According to a column by influential columnist
Murat Yetkin, this was an unprecedented move in Turkey's
civilian-military relations as the warrant was presented
without any advance notice to the military.


4. (C) The search by civilian law enforcement of a TGS
military headquarters was made possible by a controversial
law passed in June 2009 which granted the civilian judiciary
jurisdiction over cases involving the military in major
crimes, including coup plotting (ref a). Military officials
reportedly limited the access of investigators to the offices
of the suspected officers during this initial search, which
forced the prosecutor to seal off the premises and obtain an
additional warrant for searches in other locations within the
military facility. Eight military personnel were detained
following the search, which ended in the early morning hours
of December 26, according to a December 26 TGS statement.

Basbug and Erdogan Meets
--------------


5. (C) CHOD Basbug, accompanied by Turkish Land Forces
Commander (and likely TGS chief beginning in August 2010) GEN
Isik Kosaner, visited PM Erdogan's residence on December 26
in what appeared to be an unscheduled meeting. The PM's
office released a statement following the three-hour meeting
indicating that the three had met to prepare for the December
28 National Security Council (MGK) meeting. (Comment: The
meeting was unusual for two reasons: 1) It reportedly was not
previously scheduled; and 2) Basbug typically meets
one-on-one with Erdogan. To Post's knowledge, this was the

ANKARA 00001839 002 OF 002


first Erdogan-Basbug meeting in which Kosaner was included.
End Comment).

A Second Search
--------------


6. (SBU) On the evening of December 26, following the
Erdogan-Basbug-Kosaner meeting, the prosecutors and police,
accompanied by representatives from the military prosecutors'
office, conducted a second search of the Special Force
Mobility Command Headquarters. This time, the investigators
were reportedly allowed to access areas containing top secret
information. The second search, according to press reports,
took 27 hours and ended late in the evening on December 27.


7. (SBU) In a message issued concerning the investigations
issued on December 27, PM Erodgan said "a whole institution
should not be blamed for mistakes made by a few officials,"
and that "if there is evidence against the suspects, they
will appear before justice without granting any privileges to
anybody."

Comment
--------------


8. (C) The highly-charged investigation into the alleged plot
to assassinate DPM Arinc has increased civilian-military
tensions to a level not seen since the "e-memo" of April 2007
(ref b). This investigation comes amidst already rising
tensions between the military and civilian authorities over
the broader investigations into Ergenekon (ref c). The
meeting between Erodgan and the current and presumed future
military chiefs could have been an opportunity for the
military to draw a line in the sand. Instead the civilian
authorities have apparently gained the upper hand again, and
were able to carry out searches in some of the most sensitive
facilities for the Turkish military, further indicating the
military's willingness to allow this investigation to run its
course. It remains to be seen, however, how much more the
TGS is willing to tolerate. Basbug recently signaled
publicly (ref d) that the military is tiring of what it
considers an asymmetrical psychological campaign against the
Turkish Armed Forces. Nonetheless, if credible evidence is
found linking the highest levels of the military to a plot to
assassinate Arinc, this could spell the end of GEN Basbug's
tenure, which is set to expire in August 2010 (a "rogue"
operation by special forces personnel not endorsed by the TGS
leadership is also a possibility). As an indication of the
high-level TGS attention into this most recent investigation,
Deputy TGS Chief Aslan Guner's office contacted Ambassador
early on December 28 to cancel a previously scheduled meeting
that was to take place the same day, as Guner was too
occupied with the investigation.
JEFFREY

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