VZCZCXYZ0020
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #2430/01 2711254
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281254Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3860
INFO RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 3351

UNCLAS ANKARA 002430 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR OTRA TU
SUBJECT: COUNTRY CLEARANCE FOR INR/B OFFICER NIGRO AND 
POLITICAL OFFICER WILL 
 
REF: STATE 132953 
 
¶1. (U)  Mission warmly welcomes and grants country clearance 
to INR/B Officer Alexandra Nigro and Political Officer 
Melissa Will.  Christina Bobrow will be your Control Officer 
for Ankara.  She can be reached at:  Office: 
011-90-312-457-7250; Home:  011-90-312-491-7700; Cellular: 
011-90-555-358-6803.  Rusty Ingraham will be your Control 
Officer for Istanbul.  He can be reached at:  Office: 
011-90-212-355-9385; Home:  011-90-212-351-6843; Cellular: 
011-90-533-520-7031. 
 
¶2.  (U) Hotel Reservations have been confirmed at the Divan 
Hotel in Ankara.  Address is Tunali Hilmi Caddesi, Guniz 
Sokak 42, Kavaklidere, Ankara.  Telephone number 
011-90-312-457-4000.   Confirmation number 102526-101499. 
Cost is USD 142.00, inclusive of tax and breakfast.  Visitors 
should take Taxi from airport to hotel and contact control 
officer upon arrival.  Hotel information for Istanbul will be 
conveyed separately. 
 
¶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. 
 
¶3. (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. 
 
¶4. (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. 
 
¶5. (U) Attacks over the last few years, attributed to these 
groups, have occurred mainly 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.  In May 2007, a 
suicide bombing in downtown Ankara, attributed to the PKK, 
killed 6 and injured close to 100.  On September 11, a van 
packed with explosives was found about 2km from the Embassy; 
it was safely removed by security officials. 
 
¶6. (U) 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. 
 
¶7. (U) 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 
 
¶8. (U) 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. 
 
¶9. (U) 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 
 
¶10. (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