VZCZCXRO3446
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #6373/01 3121512
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081512Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9869
INFO RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1598
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1315
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0531
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0938

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006373 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR INL, EUR/SE, SA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PREL TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: INSCR 2006-2007 DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 155088 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: This cable details Embassy Ankara's assessment of 
drugs and chemical controls in Turkey for inclusion in the 2006-2007 
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INSCR).  End 
Summary. 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Turkey is a major transit route for Southwest Asian opiates 
to Europe and serves as a staging area for major narcotics 
traffickers and brokers.  Turkish law enforcement organizations 
focus their efforts on stemming the traffic of drugs and 
intercepting precursor chemicals.  The Turkish National Police 
(TNP), under the Interior Ministry control, is responsible for 
security in large urban areas.  The Jandarma, paramilitary forces 
under joint Interior Ministry and military control, is responsible 
for policing rural areas.  The Jandarma is also responsible for 
specific border sectors where smuggling is common; however, the 
military has overall responsibility for border control.  Turkish law 
enforcement forces cooperate closely with European and U.S. 
agencies.  While most of the heroin traffickedvia Turkey is 
marketed in Western Europe, som heroin and opium also is smuggled 
from Turkey to the U.S., but not in quantities sufficient to have a 
significant impact on the U.S. There is no appreciable cultivation 
of illicit narcotics in Turkey other than marijuana grown primarily 
for domestic consumption.  There is no known diversion from Turkey's 
licit opium poppy cultivation and pharmaceutical morphine production 
program.  Turkey is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
----------------- 
STATUS OF COUNTRY 
----------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Turkey is a major transshipment point.  Turkey is also a 
base of operations for international narcotics traffickers and 
associates trafficking in opium, morphine base, heroin, precursor 
chemicals and other drugs.  Opium, morphine base, and heroin are 
smuggled from Afghanistan to Iran. Both morphine base and heroin are 
then smuggled from Iran to Turkey and ultimately to Western Europe. 
A small amount of opium and heroin is trafficked to the U.S. via 
Turkey.  Turkish law enforcement forces are strongly committed to 
disrupting narcotics trafficking.  The Turkish National Police (TNP) 
remains Turkey's most proactive counter narcotics force, with the 
Jandarma and Customs continuing to play a significant role.  Turkish 
authorities continue to seize large amounts of heroin and precursor 
chemicals.  It is estimated that multi-ton amounts of heroin are 
smuggled through Turkey each month. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Turkey is one of the two traditional licit opium-growing 
countries recognized by the USG and the International Narcotics 
Control Board.  Opium for pharmaceuticals is cultivated and refined 
in Turkey under strict domestic controls and in accordance with all 
international treaty obligations.  There is no appreciable illicit 
drug cultivation in Turkey other than cannabis grown primarily for 
domestic consumption.  Turkish law enforcement authorities continue 
to seize synthetic drugs that have been manufactured in Northern and 
Eastern European countries.  The majority of the synthetic drug 
seizures have occurred as the drugs were being shipped through 
Turkey to other countries in the Middle East. 
 
------------------------------------- 
COUNTRY ACTIONS AGAINST DRUGS IN 2006 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Policy Initiatives.  The Government of Turkey devotes 
significant financial and human resources to counter narcotics 
activities.  Turkey continues to play a key role in Operation 
Containment (a DEA regional program to reduce the flow of Afghan 
heroin to Western Europe), as well as in other regional efforts. 
The Turkish International Academy against Drugs and Organized Crime 
(TADOC), established under the Turkish National Police (TNP), 
continues to be a key agency leading the fight against drug abuse in 
Turkey.  In 2004, TNP increased the number of drug training and 
prevention units it previously established in various provinces to 
cover most parts of Turkey. These units conducted intensive training 
programs for parents, teachers and students in these provinces, 
making a major contribution to the GOT's drug prevention efforts. 
 
--------------- 
ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
--------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) TADOC organized 89 training programs for local and regional 
 
ANKARA 00006373  002 OF 003 
 
 
law enforcement officers in 2006.  A total of 384 foreign officers 
were trained at TADOC this year, including officers from the 
Balkans, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, 
Montenegro, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Malta, Germany, Gambia, 
Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Guinea, and Pakistan.  These 
training programs focused on drug law enforcement, intelligence 
analysis, illegal immigration and human smuggling, interview 
techniques, surveillance techniques, and anti-terrorism training for 
judges and prosecutors.  Additionally, TADOC conducted training in 
several foreign countries, including Montenegro, Romania, Macedonia, 
Syria, and Yemen. 
 
¶7. (SBU) TADOC, with the assistance of DEA, also provided precursor 
chemical interdiction training to approximately 67 law enforcement 
representatives from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and 
Kyrgyzstan as part of a UNODC/INCB sponsored initiative, code named 
Operation Transshipment. 
 
 
----------------------- 
LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS 
----------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Through October 5, 2006, Turkish law enforcement officers 
have seized 7,039 kilograms of heroin, 529 kilograms of morphine 
base, 304 kilograms of opium, 19,502,370 dosage units of synthetic 
drugs, 17,353 kilograms of hashish and 5,698 liters of acetic 
anhydride.  In addition, GOT law enforcement authorities have 
arrested 15,350 individuals. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In December 2005, the Turkish National Police discovered an 
ecstasy and captagon laboratory in Adana, Turkey.  Turkish National 
Police officers seized 300,000 ecstasy tablets and 1,080,000 
captagon tablets from the laboratory. 
 
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CORRUPTION 
---------- 
 
¶10. (SBU)  As a matter of government policy, Turkey does not 
encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of 
narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or 
the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. 
Similarly, no senior level government official is alleged to have 
participated in such activities. In December 2005, the General 
Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committed adopted a law ratifying the UN 
Convention against Corruption. 
 
----------------------- 
AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES 
----------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Turkey is a part to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 
UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1961 UN Single 
Convention, as amended by the 1972 Protocol.  Turkey is also a party 
to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its 
protocols on migrant smuggling, trafficking in persons, and illegal 
manufacturing and trafficking in firearms.  The U.S. and Turkey 
cooperate in law enforcement matters under a 1981 treaty on 
extradition and mutual assistance in legal matters. 
 
---------------------- 
CULTIVATION/PRODUCTION 
---------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Illicit drug cultivation, primarily cannabis, is minor and 
has no impact on the United States.  The Turkish Grain Board 
strictly controls licit opium poppy cultivation quite successfully, 
with no apparent diversion into the illicit market. 
 
----------------- 
DRUG FLOW/TRANSIT 
----------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Turkey remains a major route and staging area for the flow 
of heroin to Europe.  Turkish-based traffickers and brokers operate 
in conjunction with narcotics smugglers, laboratory operators, and 
money launderers in and outside Turkey, who finance and control the 
smuggling of opiates to and from Turkey.  Afghanistan is the source 
of most of the opiates reaching Turkey.  Morphine base and heroin 
are smuggled overland from Afghanistan, sometimes through Pakistan, 
to Iran and then to Turkey.  Opiates and hashish are also smuggled 
to Turkey overland from Afghanistan via Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, 
and Georgia. 
Some criminal elements in Turkey reportedly have interests in heroin 
laboratories operating in Iran near the Iranian-Turkish border. 
 
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Turkish-based traffickers control much of the heroin marketed to 
Western Europe. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Turkish authorities reported an increase in synthetic drug 
seizures throughout Turkey beginning in 2005.  Turkish law 
enforcement has seen an increase in synthetic drug production, 
primarily amphetamines (captagon). 
 
---------------- 
DEMAND REDUCTION 
---------------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) While drug abuse remains modest in scale in Turkey 
compared to other countries, the number of addicts reportedly is 
increasing.  Although the Turkish Government is increasingly aware 
of the need to combat drug abuse, the agencies responsible for drug 
awareness and treatment remain under-funded.  Seven Alcohol and 
Substance Abuse Treatment and Education Clinics (AMATEM), which 
serve as regional and drug treatment centers, have been established. 
Due to lack of funds, only one of the centers focuses on drug 
prevention as well as treatment.  The most recent clinic was opened 
in Ankara in 2004 and will serve as the countrywide coordinating 
center for drug and alcohol treatment and education.  The Health 
Ministry has not conducted a drug abuse survey since 1995 due to 
lack of resources.  The Ministry of Health is reportedly considering 
conducting a survey in 2007. 
 
---------------------------------- 
US POLICY INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶16. (SBU) Through fiscal year 1999, the U.S. Government has extended 
$500,000 annually in assistance.  In January or February 2007, the 
U.S. Government anticipates spending approximately $57,000 in 
previously-obligated funds on bringing DEA trainers to Turkey to 
conduct a course for counter narcotics commanders, with Turkish and 
Afghan law enforcement officers.  Trainees will likely consist of 
between 15 Afghan law enforcement personnel and 5 Turkish police 
officials. The goal of this project is to enhance the investigative 
abilities of both Turkish and Afghan investigators, to increase 
their willingness to cooperate internationally on joint cases, and 
to build relationships between the two countries' law enforcement 
agencies. 
 
---------------------- 
BILATERAL COOPERATION 
---------------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU) DEA reports excellent cooperation with Turkish officials. 
Turkish counter narcotics forces are both professional and 
technically developed. 
 
---------------- 
CHEMICAL CONTROL 
---------------- 
 
¶18. (SBU) Traffickers in Turkey illegally acquire the heroin 
precursor chemical, acetic anhydride, from sources in Western 
Europe, the Balkans and Russia.  Turkey participates in a 
multi-lateral chemical reporting agreement reached at an 
international conference held in Lisbon, Portugal in October 1997. 
The Ministry of Health issues permits for, and closely monitors all 
shipments of precursor chemicals entering Turkey, including 
ephedrine and psuedoephedrine which are used for licit purposes by 
Turkey's pharmaceutical industry.  Turkish authorities have not 
reported any instances of diversion of legally imported shipments of 
precursor chemicals.  Illicit smuggling of precursor chemicals is 
aggressively investigated by Turkish law enforcement authorities. 
 
-------------- 
THE ROAD AHEAD 
-------------- 
 
¶19. (SBU) U.S. policy remains to strengthen Turkey's ability to 
combat narcotics trafficking, money-laundering and financial crimes. 
 
 
#WILSON