DPM CICEK'S WASHINGTON TRIP: NEED FOR HIGH LEVEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000837 SIPDIS FOR SECRETARY, HOMELAND SECURITY, DIRECTOR OF DNI, DIRECTOR OF CIA, DIRECTOR OF NSA, DIRECTOR OF FBI, DIRECTOR OF NCTC, FROM THE AMBASSADOR E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2019 TAGS: OVIP PGOV PREL PTER TU SUBJECT: DPM CICEK'S WASHINGTON TRIP: NEED FOR HIGH LEVEL RECEPTION REF: A. ANKARA 680 ¶B. ANKARA 191 ¶C. 08 ANKARA 1939 Classified By: Ambassador James Jeffrey, for reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (SBU) This is an action request cable (See paragraph 4). ¶2. (C) Summary: During a June 12 meeting with Ambassador, MFA Deputy Undersecretary Ambassador Tezcan was emphatic that Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek's 20-25 July US visit for consultations on counterterrorism be substantive, with tangible follow-on developments to demonstrate US-Turkish cooperation. Ambassador stressed the importance of Cicek as an interlocutor and of the visit's timing in undertaking to make Cicek's visit as substantive as possible. End summary. ¶3. (C) During a June 12 meeting to discuss plans for DPM Cicek's July 20-25 trip to the United States, Ambassador Ecvet Tezcan insisted to the ambassador that Cicek's trip focus on substance in an atmosphere of trust and cooperation. He repeated several times that time was not an issue and that Cicek would be willing to stay in the United States for as long as we deemed necessary to hold quality, substantive meetings with him. Cicek is interested in discussing counterterrorism as well as the integration of police, judicial, and counternarcotics officials into counterterrorism efforts. He also implied that Cicek expects substantive information sharing on the PKK, emphasizing that the US should be up front about any concerns regarding Turkey's role in northern Iraq, Iran, and Syria, so that the air can be cleared and mutual trust built. Tezcan also expressed the wish for a long-term commitment; if the Washington trip is successful, he urged that we send working-level officials to Turkey to brief a wider audience and build momentum in the Turkish bureaucracy. ¶4. (C) Action request: To that end, Ambassador urges that Cicek have high-level political meetings to emphasize US policy-makers' interest in this project; Ambassador recommends the Vice President or National Security Advisor, Secretary Clinton, DNI, NSA, Homeland Security, and FBI Director. Ambassador recommends that the leadership of the following agencies meet with Cicek during his trip and also make available to him working-level briefings on concrete CT subjects: NCTC, CIA, DIA, DHS, DEA, FBI, Justice, Attorney General's Office, and Terrorist Screening Center. Topics to be included should cover every possible aspect of counterterrorism to include the legal process of prosecuting terrorist suspects; methods of prosecuting narcotics, money-laundering, document fraud, and other potentially terrorism-linked illegal activities; and the lessons learned in our own experience in creating both NCTC and the DNI. Finally, Ambassador also recommends, time permitting, that Cicek either visit New York City, for meetings with port and airport authorities and with the NYPD to discuss their local role in our counterterrorism structure, and/or to the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services center in West Virginia for briefings. ¶5. (C) The basis for this recommendation is as follows: -- Cicek is Turkey's third most powerful political figure. He has proved to be effective and productive, earning steady promotions in the cabinet and the trust of the PM. -- Cicek has been given the lead in guiding the direction of the soon-to-be-established Public Order and Security Undersecretariat in the Interior Ministry. -- The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Cicek have become energized on the subject of counterterrorism, mainly because they see a well-integrated counterterrorism structure as part of the solution -- not just operationally, but economically, and politically -- to the PKK and the long-standing Kurdish problem. -- Although AKP's goal is not entirely concurrent with our own, it is in our interest that the Turks develop a counterterrorism undersecretariat that can ease communications with us and among the various Turkish agencies responsible for CT policy and action in Turkey. -- Finally, Cicek is a trusted contact of PM Erdogan and the "go-to" guy on other key issues on our agenda, including the domestic political aspects of Cyprus and Halki Seminary. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey JEFFREY