VZCZCXRO1518
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #1414/01 0751530
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161530Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4030
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0453
INFO RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0063
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0517
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC
RUEHUNV/UNVIE VIENNA AU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001414 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INL, EUR/SE, SA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PREL TU
SUBJECT: UNODC AND TURKISH POLICE SUPPORT RESUMED U.S. 
COUNTERNAROCTICS ASSISTANCE TO TURKEY 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. The local rep of the UN Office on 
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) sought us out to request that 
the U.S. help fund programs to combat the floods of 
Afghan opiates that transit Turkey annually.  Turkish 
National Police officials separately suggested that INL 
funding assist with regional counternarcotics training 
seminars.  End Summary 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
UNODC Asks USG for Assistance Against Afghan Opiates 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Yasemin Kaya, Turkey Office Director for 
UNODC, requested a meeting to discuss whether the U.S. 
would be interested in funding some of UNODC's 
counternarcotics programs in Turkey.  She noted that 
while Turkey is a Major Donor Country in UNODC, it is 
still eligible to receive bilateral assistance.  She 
said that Turkey can also receive assistance even from 
UNODC so long as the funding goes toward regional 
projects. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Kaya explained that UNODC has worked with the 
GOT to develop 11 project proposals for 2006, the 
majority of which aim to combat Turkey's narcotics 
trafficking problem.  She said that the GOT recognizes 
Turkey's role as a major transshipment point and 
realizes that it cannot tackle the problem on its own. 
She mentioned that there are only 11 project proposals 
because she is UNODC's only employee in country.  In 
fact, she said that if she had three assistants, UNODC 
and the GOT would have been able to come up with "at 
least 50 projects." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Kaya emphasized that transshipment of Afghan- 
origin opiates are Turkey's biggest narcotics problem. 
UNODC and the GOT have proposed a project to develop a 
multi-agency response to the interdiction of drugs on 
Turkey's eastern border.  They plan to spend $1.5 
million on capacity building for the TNP, Jandarma, and 
Customs.  Kaya said that UNODC is "desperately asking 
for assistance" in this endeavor, and that they're 
hoping for a group of countries to get together to fund 
it.  She mentioned the UK, the U.S., and France as 
possible donors, and said that the donor countries 
would have input into the details of the project plan. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
TNP Would Welcome Resumed USG Training Programs 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ismail Caliskan, the director of the TNP's 
State Security Department with whom we used to work 
closely on the INL-funded programs, told us on March 14 
that he would welcome revitalization of INL's 
counternarcotics program in Turkey.  He was 
particularly interested in leveraging Ankara's 
excellent training facility, TADOC, for more regional 
training seminars.  He stressed that any future 
assistance would be most effective if used for training 
rather than for equipment procurement, since equipment 
quickly becomes outdated and U.S.-sourced items are 
often not compatible with locally-purchased equipment. 
Both Caliskan and Erol Keskinkilic, chief of the 
Technical Unit at TNP Ankara, felt that the nature of 
any resumed cooperation would work best if it was more 
of a partnership, taking into account Turkish law 
enforcement's development in recent years. 
 
¶6. (SBU) TNP, Customs and Jandarma officials have often 
told DEA they would appreciate and benefit from revived 
U.S. assistance.  Both DEA and FBI at post believe that 
using Turkey's excellent training facilities and 
Turkish experience for regional trainings would 
maximize USG counternarcotics and law enforcement 
efforts in the region.  Indeed, DEA believes there is a 
risk that Turkey's excellent counternarcotics 
cooperation might erode over time if INL funding is not 
restored. 
 
¶7. (SBU) There appears to both be a genuine need and 
desire for INL counternarcotics assistance in Turkey, 
particularly regionally-directed programs that would 
help cut off the flow of Afghanistan-origin opiates via 
Turkey.  Turkey is these drugs' principal route to 
 
ANKARA 00001414  002 OF 002 
 
 
world markets.  Understanding the requirements of the 
Leahy Amendment, post will be providing specific 
proposals in the near future. 
 
Wilson