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RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
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RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU
RUFGAID/USCINCEUR INTEL VAIHINGEN GE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006687 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2016 
TAGS: KNNP PRELEIN KTFN TU IR
SUBJECT: U/S LEVEY SEEKS TURKISH COOPERATION AGAINST 
IRANIAN TERRORISM FINANCE AND NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION 
 
REF: ANKARA 6519 
 
Classified By: DCM Nancy McEldowney for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: In his meetings with the Turkish Foreign and 
Finance Ministries, Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey 
explained U.S. interest in working with allies, within and 
outside of the UNSC process, to  financially isolate Iran for 
its support for terrorism and nuclear weapons program 
development.  Levey briefed on Iranian abuse of the 
international financial system and sought Turkish 
cooperation.  Turkish officials expressed a desire to 
cooperate, asked for more information and undertook to study 
U.S. ideas.  At the same time they made a distinction between 
UN sanctions and other financial measures. End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
Working with Allies to Target Bad Conduct vs. Whole Nation 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial 
Intelligence Stuart Levey, accompanied by the Ambassador, met 
with Turkish MFA Under Secretary Ertugrul Apakan December 5 
in Ankara.  Apakan was joined by Director General for 
Security Affairs Hayati Guven and Deputy Director General for 
South Asia Babur Hizlan.  Levey said the U.S. believes Iran 
is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, which violates 
requirements set forth by the United Nations Security 
Council(UNSC) and stressed that the U.S. is trying to develop 
an international consensus to put pressure on Iran, both 
within and outside the diplomatic process at the UN.  U/S 
Levey expressed the U.S. preference to avoid country-wide 
sanctions  that the international community has used in the 
past, such as trade embargoes, because governments and the 
private sector can  evade them fairly easily, and they impede 
upon benign business relationships.  If, instead, the U.S. 
can persuade its allies to target bad conduct through 
targeted financial measures against supporters of 
destabilizing policies (such as terrorism and weapons of mass 
destruction programs), ultimately the effort will be more 
successful.  He asked for Turkish ideas and cooperation.  The 
Ambassador said the spirit of the Levey visit was to consult 
with Turkey, and that it was part of a conversation begun by 
Ambassador Schulte when he came to Ankara in February.  The 
Ambassador said the U.S. and Turkey need to focus on 
long-term things that Iran is doing -- not just in the 
military realm but also in the economic and financial 
spheres. 
 
------------------------------ 
        Alerting Banks to Iranian Risk 
        ------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (C) U/S Levey mentioned his meetings with Turkish banks 
(septel) and explained U.S. thinking on combating Iran's use 
of the international financial system to transfer funds to 
terrorists and to supply its nuclear weapons program.  Levey 
described deceptive practices by Iranian entities and banks 
and cited the U.S. regulatory action against Bank Saderat. 
 
¶4. (C) Levey asked whether Turkey had information about the 
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) increasing its role 
in the Iranian economy.  Hizlan described the important role 
of Bonyads, state-linked foundations.  He said that the 
Revolutionary Guard's share of Bonyad-controlled business was 
increasing but that the Revolutionary Guard did not control 
the entire economy.  Stating increased USG concern about the 
IRGC,s resurgence under Ahmadinejad,s authority, U/S Levey 
cautioned that the IRGC,s growing role in the Iranian 
economy was not limited to the public sector, but included 
the private sector as well.  Levey recalled the IRGC,s 
interference with two major Turkish-Iranian business deals: 
¶1. the Turkish Company TAV,s contract to service the new 
Imam Khomenei International Airport in Tehran, which the IRGC 
forcibly cancelled by not allowing any planes to land on the 
runway; and 2. the IRGC,s involvement in halting Turkcell,s 
deal to provide a competitor telecom network in Iran; 
Irancell, Iran,s leading telecom company, is fully owned by 
the IRGC and won parts of the telecom replacement contract 
along with a South African provider. 
 
ANKARA 00006687  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
--------------------------- 
Turks want more Information 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Apakan thanked U/S Levey and said Turkey is always 
trying to get Iran to act in accordance with international 
norms, including on Prime Minister Erdogan's December 3-4 
visit to Tehran.  Apakan said that they tell the Iranians 
that if the UN imposes sanctions, Turkey will comply with 
them.  Apakan asked for a non-paper they could study.  They 
were curious about other countries' reactions.  Levey said he 
had visited the UK, Italy, France, Germany, and Switzerland, 
among others.  U/S Levey reported that governments have 
tended to view a conduct-based approach as more attractive 
than their earlier experiences with broad sanctions.  He also 
noted that the private sector has been receptive because it 
does not want to do business with bad actors. Levey described 
a general desire in many countries for the U.S. to share 
information about the actors who are helping Iran pursue its 
nuclear program in violation of existing UN Security Council 
resolutions. 
 
------------------------- 
Relationship to UN Action 
------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Hizlan asked how the USG,s approach tracked with the 
P5   1 negotiations, which seemed likely to produce 
narrowly-targeted sanctions.  Levey said that the USG is 
working with the UN and desires for that process to be 
successful. However, Secretary Rice has conveyed that in 
addition to the UN channel, like-minded countries should 
discuss cooperative actions that they could take. 
 
------------------------- 
Turkish Economic Concerns 
------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Apakan and Guven said the issue was very sensitive 
because Iran was a neighbor and because of the economic 
relationship.  Hizlan said bilateral trade was expected to 
reach $7 billion in 2006, of which roughly $6 billion was oil 
and gas imports.  He said Iran supplied 30% or Turkey's crude 
oil imports and about 15% of its natural gas.   Apakan 
expressed a desire to cooperate with the U.S. and promised to 
study any U.S. proposal, but he made a distinction between UN 
sanctions and measures suggested by friendly countries.  The 
Ambassador pointed out that Levey had not used the word 
"sanctions" and urged the Turkish authorities to give serious 
consideration to the U.S. ideas. 
 
------------------------------ 
Finance Ministry Defers to MFA 
------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (C) U/S Levey met separately with Finance Ministry Under 
Secretary Hasan Basri Aktan and Genc Osman Yarasli, the 
 
SIPDIS 
President of Turkey's financial intelligence unit, MASAK. 
When Levey briefed them on Iranian abuse of other countries' 
banking systems, Aktan was interested but largely deferred to 
the Foreign Ministry.  Aktan said Turkey had long suffered 
from terrorism and would view Iran developing a nuclear 
weapon as a threat to peace and stability in the region.  He 
said the Prime Minister had made this point to the Iranians 
in Tehran, and he said Turkey had always supported UN 
policies.  He said he hoped any UN measures would be 
effective in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. 
Levey supplied a paper on Bank Sepah and a list of companies 
facilitating North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs. 
 
¶9. (C) With both MFA and the Ministry of Finance, Levey also 
discussed cooperation against PKK in Europe and Turkey's 
anti-terrorism finance regime (septel). 
 
Under Secretary Levey has cleared this message. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
 
ANKARA 00006687  003 OF 003 
 
 
WILSON