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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000141 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR MASS PREL PGOV TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: POL-MIL ROUND-UP, DECEMBER 2005 
 
 
(Note: This is one of the regular series of unclassified 
reports on significant Turkish defense and national security 
issues in the press and other open sources.  We welcome 
feedback on whether these reports are useful.  End note) 
 
Contents 
-------- 
 
-- Supreme Military Council Convenes 
-- National Security Council Convenes 
-- MFA Denies Land Force Commander of Received Instructions 
from Washington 
-- Turkey's Security Relations with Other Countries 
-- Defense Industry Activity 
-- Corruption Arrests at Border Crossings 
 
Supreme Military Council Convenes 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶1. (U) Turkey's Supreme Military Council (YAS) - convened 
under PM Tayyip Erdogan on December 1 - assessed war 
readiness of the TAF (Turkish Armed Forces) and major 
modernization projects, discussed recent developments in the 
Middle East, assessed fight against separatism, reactionism 
and separatist terrorism, according to press reports. The YAS 
generally meets twice a year and consists of all of Turkey,s 
four-star officers plus the PM and Defense Minister.  At this 
meeting, the YAS also expelled four officers (1 captain and 3 
non-commissioned officers) from the military for "reactionary 
activities and lack of discipline" -- a reference to Islamist 
tendencies seen by the Turkish General Staff (TGS) as a 
threat to Turkey,s secular regime.  Prime Minister Erdogan 
and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul expressed "reservations" to 
show they did not endorse the decision, a practice that has 
become routine with the AKP government. 
 
National Security Council Convenes 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Turkey's National Security Council held its last 
meeting of 2005 on December 29. Countering terrorism and the 
Southeast Action Plan (proposing actions in economic, social 
and cultural fields to find solution for the Kurdish issue) 
were reportedly on the top of the Council's agenda.  In an 
official statement released after the meeting, the NSC 
stressed the importance of Iraqi territorial integrity and 
added that the "status of Kirkuk" should be accepted by all 
groups in the region, repeating the GOT's policy of opposing 
the incorporation of Kirkuk into the Kurdish autonomous 
region. 
 
MFA Denies Land Force Commander Received Instructions from 
Washington 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Turkish media speculated about the reason of Land 
Forces Commander GEN Yasar Buyukanit's (who is to take over 
as the Chief of TGS in August) visit to Washington on 
December 10 at the invitation of US Army Chief of Staff GEN 
Peter Schoomaker. Underlining the importance of the first 
Turkish Land Forces Commander's visit to Washington after an 
eight-year hiatus, Turkish media accused GEN Buyukanit of 
receiving instructions from the US. Defining his visit as 
"extremely positive," GEN Buyukanit responded to the 
speculations by saying that Turkish military got its 
authorization only from Ataturk and from law.  (See USDAO 
Ankara septel for a readout of the visit.) 
 
Turkey's Security Relations with Other Countries 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (U) According to the semi-official Anatolian News Agency 
(ANA), the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) has signed Technical 
and Scientific Cooperation Agreements (framework agreements) 
with 47 countries and Military Training Cooperation 
Agreements with 43 countries. To date, TAF has trained 20,307 
military personnel from 94 countries in Turkey and another 
93,792 personnel via mobile training teams in 16 countries. 
 
 
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¶5. (U) Italy: Turkish General Staff (TGS) signed an agreement 
with the Italian Defense Ministry to give health monitoring, 
G-LAB, simulator, F16 flight (23 hours) and F16 aircraft 
technical training to pilots from Italian Air Forces. The 
Italian Defense Ministry will pay $637,173 for each pilot 
trained. 
 
¶6. (U) Israel: Israeli CHOD Dan Halutz visited his Turkish 
counterpart on December 22 at the invitation of TGS Chief GEN 
Hilmi Ozkok.  No information on the subject of their meeting 
was made public, although MFA officially denied media 
allegations that Israel requested the use of a military base 
in Hakkari, a city near the Turkey-Iran border. 
 
¶7. (U) France: French Defense Minister Alliot Marie met 
Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, TGS CHOD General Hilmi 
Ozkok and PM Erdogan on December 19 in Ankara. Prior to the 
meeting, MOD Vecdi Gonul told reporters, "Turkey and France 
have cooperation in defense industry worth of 2 billion USD." 
Marie said that Turkey and France had a "strategic 
partnership," underscoring that TAF used French-made military 
equipment, according to ANA. 
 
¶8. (U) Albania: Albanian CHOD Lieutenant General Pellumb 
Qazimi visited CHOD GEN Ozkok on December 13 in Ankara.  No 
information on the subject of their meeting was released. 
 
Defense Industry Activity 
------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) Turkish missiles: On the floor of the TGNA (Turkish 
Grand National Assembly) on December 19, Gonul said, "Iran is 
building missiles. We build missiles too, but I can give no 
details about the range of our missiles," according to ANA. 
In his speech he further indicated that the Ministry of 
National Defense has sponsored 24,241 tenders in the past 3 
years. 
 
¶10. (U) NATO E-3A Upgrade: ANA reported that TUSAS Aerospace 
Industries (TAI) signed an agreement with the NATO for the 
modernization of 16 E-3A jets. TAI will perform repair and 
modification work on the external wings of E-3As in the NATO 
fleet and the modernization work is expected to be completed 
by 2012. 
 
¶11. (U) UAVs: Vestel Defense Industries announced that the 
company was developing a new UAV. Reportedly the project is 
designed by Turkish engineers for both civilian and military 
usage (the centrist daily Milliyet). 
 
¶12. (U) Maritime Patrol Aircraft: TAI signed an agreement for 
Maritime Policing Aircraft with Naval Observation 
Capabilities (Meltem III) with the Italian Alenia Aeronatica 
Co, according to ANA. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Attack Helicopter: The Italian Agusta Westland, 
French Eurocopter, Russian Rosoboronexport and South African 
Denel Company submitted bids for the attack helicopter tender 
on December 5. No American company participated in the 
tender.  Rumors abound in defense industry circles about the 
bids.  An SSM source confirmed to us that both Agusta and 
Eurocopter submitted two bids each -- one compliant with 
SSM's (Turkish Undersecretariat for Defense Industries) 
standard terms and conditions and one not.  However, SSM has 
yet to release any information about the proposals. 
 
¶14. (U) Milgem Ship Project:  SSM extended the deadline in 
its RFP (Request for Proposal) for procurement of the main 
propulsion system for Milgem (Patrol and Anti-Submarine 
Warfare Ship) Project. The RFP was extended to January 20 
from December 14. 
 
Corruption Arrests at Border Crossings 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) AKP government launched a corruption operation at 
Kapikule Border Gate (Turkish-Bulgarian border) that resulted 
in the arrest of 86 customs and police officers in December. 
Within the context of general effort to crack down corruption 
 
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at the border areas, 10 "officers" were arrested at the Habur 
Border Gate (Turkish-Iraq border).  Only the centrist daily 
Milliyet reported on the Habur arrests.  However, unlike at 
Kapikule, a contact close to the investigation told us that 
those arrested at the Habur Border Gate were all Jandarma 
personnel. 
 
WILSON