VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #2333/01 2561203
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131203Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 3295
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3730

UNCLAS ANKARA 002333 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OTRA PHUM TU
SUBJECT: COUNTRY CLEARANCE FOR DRL OFFICER KATHRYN LURIE 
 
REF: STATE 060622 
 
¶1. (U)  Mission warmly welcomes and grants country clearance 
to DRL Officer Kathryn Lurie.  Geoffrey Odlum will be your 
Control Officer for Istanbul.  He can be reached at:  Office: 
 011-90-212-335-6492; Home:  011-90-212-351-7752; Cellular: 
011-90-533-385-1273.  Jeff Collins will be your Control 
Officer for Ankara.  He can be reached at:  Office: 
011-90-312-457-7191; Home:  011-90-312-495-6433; Cell: 
011-90-532-620-3849. 
 
¶2.  Logistical and hotel information will be communicated in 
separate correspondence. 
 
¶3. (U) Visas:  Please note that all Americans entering Turkey 
must have a valid Visa.  The only exception is military 
personnel under CINC control traveling on NATO orders. 
Military IDs are not/not acceptable travel documents. 
Travelers with tourist passports can obtain a Visa valid for 
one entry/three months at ports of entry upon payment of a 
USD 30 fee in cash.  (This fee is payable only U.S. dollars 
cash.)  Holders of official or diplomatic passports must 
obtain Visas from the nearest Turkish Embassy (not Consulate) 
before arriving in Turkey.  Visas for official and diplomatic 
passports will not/not be available at ports of entry. 
 
¶4. (U) Health Safety:  Information on vaccinations and other 
health precautions can be obtained from the Center for 
Disease Control and Prevention hotline for international 
travelers (tel: 1-877-394-747); fax 1-800-232-3299; or via 
the internet at HTTP//www.cdc.gov. 
 
¶5. (U)  Security Assessment:  In light of ongoing military 
operations in Iraq and continued operations in support of the 
war on terrorism, there remains the potential for both 
transnational and indigenous terrorist groups with 
anti-Western sympathies, to include Kongra Gel (formerly 
PKK), Revolutionary People's Liberation/Front (DHKP/C), 
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) Turkish Communist 
Party/Marxist Leninist (TKP/ML), Turkish Workers and Peasants 
Revolutionary Army (TIKKO) and Islamic Greater Eastern 
Raiders/Front (IBDA/C) continue to operate in Turkey. 
 
Attacks over the last few years, attributed to these groups, 
have occurred in the Aegean and Mediterranean coastal resort 
areas, as well as in Istanbul.  In Istanbul, most of the 
attacks, generally small-scale bombings, have occurred in 
neighborhoods not generally frequented by official Americans 
or tourists.  Also in 2005 and 2006 public buses have been 
set on fire, with the most recent incident resulting in three 
deaths.  Thus far, these attacks on buses also have taken 
place in areas of Istanbul distant from official American or 
tourist destinations. 
 
The Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK), a group ostensibly aligned 
with the PKK terrorists, claimed responsibility for many of 
the incidents noted above, and in April 2006 this group 
issued a statement renewing a threat to target Turkey's 
tourism industry.  The most recent incidents claimed by this 
group occurred in summer 2006 and included explosions in the 
town of Manavgat (Antalya Province), Marmaris, and in the 
city of Antalya.  Both Turkish and foreign citizens were 
injured and killed. 
 
Violent demonstrations have occurred throughout Turkey, the 
most recent in Istanbul and in several cities in Southeastern 
Turkey. Just as with members of Mission Turkey, USG visitors 
are required to obtain RSO Ankara and DCM approval for travel 
to the Southeast 
 
Al-Qa'ida threats to target U.S. facilities in Turkey have 
been public knowledge for some time.  On November 15. 2003, 
two synagogues in Istanbul were the targets of suicide truck 
bombs.  On November 20, 2003, the British Consulate General 
and the London based HSBC Bank in Istanbul were struck by 
powerful explosions, killing dozens and wounding hundreds. 
Though prosecutions of those responsible are still ongoing, 
indications are that the Al-Qa'ida network supported the 
indigenous radical Islamic terrorist group responsible.  The 
August 2005 discovery in Antalya of a potential plot against 
maritime interests and subsequent arrest of a Syrian 
Al-Qa'ida facilitator and planner further attest to the 
ongoing transnational threat. 
 
The incidence of crime, both violent and the more traditional 
tourists crimes (pick pocketing, purse-snatching, etc.), is 
relatively low throughout Turkey.  However, over the last 
year, there has been a marked increase in the number of 
crimes reported to Consulate General Istanbul.  Much of the 
crime is centered in the areas frequented by tourists, 
Consulate employees and official visitors.  Visitors should 
be particularly attentive for pick pockets in and around the 
Sultanahmet, Taksim Square, and Istiklal Caddesi areas of 
 
Istanbul.  Often pick pocketing is preceded by some sort of 
diversion, such as an argument or fight, or children asking 
to assist tourists, for example with their bags.  If you 
encounter such activity, secure your wallet or purse and 
quickly leave the area.  Another scam that is becoming more 
prevalent is that of a stranger approaching a visitor and 
striking up a conversation, which is continued inside a 
restaurant or club, at which point one is either drugged and 
robbed or presented with an enormous bill and intimidated 
into paying it.  The security office encourages visitors to 
report any security incidents, including surveillance, to the 
RSO immediately. Useful security information about Turkey is 
available on the following websites: 
--Embassy Ankara:  HTTP://WWW.USEMB-ANKARA.ORG.TR  (Click on 
Security Matters) 
--Consulate General Istanbul: 
HTTP://WWW.USCONSULATE-ISTANBUL.ORG.TR 
 
¶6. (U) For further information regarding travel in Turkey, 
consult the consular information sheet.  The consulate 
information sheet and public announcements are available on 
the internet at:  HTTP://TRAVEL.STATE.GOV 
 
Other information is available on the following websites: 
 
--The State Department Consular Affairs (CA) websites: 
 HTTP://WWW.TRAVEL.STATE.GOV/TURKEY.HTML 
 
--US Embassy Ankara: 
HTTP://WWW.USEMB-ANKARA.ORG.TR 
 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON