VZCZCXRO9211
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #4129/01 1951413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141413Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7277
INFO RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ4/ECJ5//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//ISA-EUR/DSCA//
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-5//
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0922
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0927
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0264
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0919
RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA 0246
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0046
RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU 1396
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ALMATY 2216
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 6562
RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 5051
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004129 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.  12958:  N/A 
TAGS: MASS MARR PREL TU AS PK AL CG AJ KZ IT
SUBJECT: TURKEY: POL-MIL ROUND-UP, June 2006 
 
(Note: This is one of a regular series of unclassified reports on 
significant Turkish defense and national security issues in the 
press and other open sources.  End note.) 
 
 
Contents 
-------- 
 
-- National Security Council Convenes 
-- Media Visits Military Units in Southeastern Turkey 
-- Anatolian Eagle Exercise-2006/2 Takes Place in Konya 
-- International Security Conference Held in Istanbul 
-- Defense Industry Executive Committee Convenes 
-- Turkey's Security Relations with Other Countries 
-- Defense Industry Activity 
 
 
National Security Council Convenes 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶1. Turkey's National Security Council (NSC) held its bi-monthly 
meeting on June 22.  National and international security issues and 
the fight against terrorism topped the agenda of the meeting. 
Palestinian governance, the Israeli general election, the EU 
accession process and the Single European Sky project's impact on 
Turkey were among the other issues discussed. 
 
Media Visits Military Units in Southeastern Turkey 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2. Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) opened military units in the southeast 
to the Turkish media for the first time since 2002.  The tour, 
organized by the Turkish General Staff (TGS) due to the ongoing EU 
criticism of the military's role in Turkey, conveyed the message 
that the war on terrorism would continue. 
 
 
Anatolian Eagle Exercise-2006/2 Takes Place in Konya 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3. The joint air force Anatolian Eagle Exercise-2006/2 (second 
exercise of the year) took place in Konya June 12-23.  Six F-16s 
from Pakistan, five Mirage F-1s from France, ten F-16s from the US, 
38 aircraft from Turkey and one NATO AWACS participated in the 
exercise.  The first Anatolian Eagle Exercise had taken place in 
¶2001. 
 
 
International Security Conference held in Istanbul 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶4. The Eighth International Security Conference organized by the Ari 
Movement in association with the German Marshall Fund, NATO and the 
Friedrich Naumann Foundation was held in Istanbul June 29-30.  The 
conference focused on Black Sea security, NATO's PfP Program, and 
the EU's European Neighborhood Policy; 220 participants from 13 
countries attended.  The conference, which included speeches by 
Georgian Vice Premier Girogi Barmidze, MFA Deputy Undersecretary 
Rafet Akguna, Ambassador Wilson, and Ukrainian Ambassado Olexandr 
Mischenko, also discussed the role f the US and NATO in the Black 
Sea as well as nergy security. 
 
 
Defense Industry Executive Committee Convenes 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. Turkey's top decision making body on defense industrial 
procurement, the Defense Industry Executive Committee (DIEC), 
convened under Prime Minister Erdogan on June 27. DIEC selected the 
South African Denel and the Italian Agusta Westland companies for 
the ATAK helicopter tender, from which Bell Textron and Boeing had 
previously withdrawn. DIEC eliminated the Eurocopter and Russian 
Rosoboronexport companies from the tender.    Agusta Westland 
proposed joint production for its A-129 helicopters in Turkey. DIEC 
also instructed Defense Industry Undersecretariat (SSM) to launch 10 
projects within the framework of TAF's 10 year arms procurement 
 
ANKARA 00004129  002 OF 002 
 
 
program, according to the center-left Radikal daily. 
 
 
Turkey's Security Relations with Other Countries 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6. Italy: Italian Air Forces Commander General Leonardo Tricarico 
met his Turkish counterpart General Faruk Comert on June 6.  Gen. 
Comert noted that four Italian pilots were trained in Turkey on 
F-16s under a bilateral agreement between the two air forces in 
2005, according to the semi-official Anatolian News Agency (ANA). 
 
Turkish Land Forces Commander General Yasar Buyukanit decorated his 
Italian counterpart General Filiberto Cecchi with the Turkish Armed 
Forces Medal of Merit on June 12. 
 
¶7. Australia: Turkey signed a defense cooperation agreement with 
Australia on June 13.  The agreement covers cooperation in military 
and defense and educational exchanges, as announced by the 
Australian Defense Ministry. 
 
¶8. Pakistan: Turkish Air Forces Commander General Faruk Comert 
decorated his Pakistani counterpart Tanvir Mehmood Ahmed with the 
Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Merit on June 19. 
 
¶9. Albania: Chief of Turkish General Staff General Hilmi Ozkok met 
with his Albanian counterpart as well as Prime Minister Sali Berisha 
in Tirana on June 21.  Berisha expressed his appreciation for 
Turkey's support for Albania's NATO membership and TAF's logistics 
and financial assistance to Albanian naval and air forces (ANA). 
 
¶10. DROC: The Turkish parliament approved the deployment of Turkish 
troops with C-130 military aircraft, 15 crewmen and two officers to 
the EU peacekeeping mission in the DROC.  Turkish troops will be 
deployed in Congo from July 30 to November 30 (ANA). 
 
¶11. Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan Defense Minister General Muhtar 
Altinbayev met with CHOD GEN Ozkok in Ankara on June 28.  No 
information on the subject of their meeting was made public. 
 
¶12. Azerbaijan: CHOD GEN Ozkok met Azerbaijani Defense Minister 
Safar Abiyev in Baku on June 29.  GEN Ozkok was decorated with a 
medal of merit by President Ilham Aliyev for his contribution to 
development of relations between the two countries (ANA). 
 
Defense Industry Activity 
------------------------- 
 
¶13. The Turkish Jandarma Command will spend a significant portion of 
its TL 2.5 billion (approximately $ 1.6 billion) budget for 2006 to 
improve the maintenance and technical infrastructure of its units, 
according to the semi-official Anatolian News Agency.  Jandarma is 
expected to purchase 50 crime scene investigation vehicles, 125 
patrol vehicles, two explosive-detection-and-destruction vehicles, a 
bomb shield, a bomb blanket, a remote control detonation vehicle, 
fingerprint equipment, evidence collection equipment, 1700 metal 
detectors, 500 loudspeakers, 3000 tubes of tear gas, 2400 
bulletproof helmets, 400 bulletproof jackets, and 7000 
nine-millimeter handguns (ANA). 
 
¶14. Turkey's Otokar exhibited two different models of its Cobra tank 
at the Eurosatory 2006 Exhibition of June 12-16 in Paris.  45 
countries participated in the exhibition with 1100 companies. 
 
¶15. SSM extended its Request for Proposal (RFP) deadline for the 
Turkish Basic Trainer Aircraft Program until July 14. 
 
 
 
WILSON