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Viewing cable 08STATE114915, LETTER TO MR. AHMET GUN FROM NNSA DEPUTY

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08STATE114915 2008-10-28 20:50 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED Secretary of State
VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #4915 3022100
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 282050Z OCT 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0000
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0000
UNCLAS STATE 114915 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KNNP ENRG EXBS TU
SUBJECT: LETTER TO MR. AHMET GUN FROM NNSA DEPUTY 
ADMINISTRATOR TOBEY 
 
REF: ANKARA 1845 
 
1. This is an action request. Please see para 
 
2. Summary: United States Department of Energy,s (DOE) 
National Nuclear Security Administration 
(NNSA) Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear 
Nonproliferation, William Tobey visited Ankara and Istanbul 
on 20 October 2008, to discuss important nuclear 
nonproliferation issues with representatives from the Turkish 
Atomic Energy Commission (TAEK), Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
(MFA), Turkish National Police (TNP), and Turkish Customs. 
Results of these meetings were summarized in reference A. 
 
3.  ACTION: As a follow up to discussions regarding 
cooperation between DOE/NNSA, Republic of Turkey,s MFA, 
Customs, and TNP, and TAEK on various cooperative 
international nuclear nonproliferation programs, including 
the Second Line of Defense Program and the Global Threat 
Reduction Initiative, Post is requested to deliver the letter 
provided below to Mr. Ahmet Gun, Deputy Director General, 
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  This letter 
summarizes the discussions and highlights DOE/NNSA proposals 
for specific engagement on these high priority programs. 
 
BEGIN TEXT OF LETTER 
 
Mr. Ahmet GUN 
Deputy Director General 
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
 
Dear Mr. GUN, 
 
Thank you for meeting with me on October 20 to discuss 
opportunities for further cooperation between the Government 
of the Republic of Turkey and the U.S. Department of Energy 
National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) on 
important nuclear nonproliferation initiatives. 
 
I applaud the concrete steps your government has taken to 
address issues such as the illicit trafficking of nuclear and 
other radiological material, specifically your efforts to 
strengthen export control processes and to add radiation 
detection capabilities at Turkey,s points of entry.  These 
are all very important initiatives that are key to addressing 
a growing regional proliferation threat.  Moreover, now that 
we have brought into force the so-called &123 agreement8 on 
nuclear cooperation, I am hopeful that we can broaden and 
deepen our joint nonproliferation efforts.  Given that turkey 
is one of our most important allies, we would like to 
collaborate with you to further meet this threat in five 
specific areas: 
 
-Under our Second Line of Defense Program (SLD) Program, I 
would like to offer collaboration and support to strengthen 
Turkish capabilities to detect and deter illicit traffic of 
nuclear and radiological material.  As we discussed, this 
could involve Turkish manufactured equipment.  Initial steps 
might include: 
 
A visit to our equipment test site by Turkish experts. 
Testing of Turkish equipment at this test site. 
A pilot project to deploy current SLD equipment in Turkey. 
 
-Our Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) program is 
currently working on reactor conversion and U.S. fuel return 
with the Republic of Turkey.  I understand that this vital 
work is on track.  GTRI would like to broaden its work to 
cover cooperation on radiological source security, including 
elimination of disused sources or the installation of 
physical protection upgrades to sources that are in-use in 
order to prevent their diversion, and discussion of the 
assessment of key facilities to identify any possible 
vulnerabilities and their countermeasures, including physical 
protection, alarm communication and assessment, procedural 
enhancements and training. 
 
-Our office of Emergency Response is prepared to work with 
TAEK to share information on U.S. planning in the context of 
a nuclear emergency. 
 
-To expand on our current border and export control training 
cooperation, we can offer additional training to include more 
robust commodity identification training, licensing 
cooperation that would focus on analysis of strategic 
commodity transfers, and enterprise outreach cooperation that 
would assist in developing seminars for Turkish manufactures 
of export-controlled strategic goods. 
 
-The International Nuclear Safeguards and Engagement Program 
(INSEP) is prepared to cooperate with Turkey to develop its 
nuclear infrastructure in ways that promote nonproliferation 
and NPT Article IV goals.  Possible interactions would 
include nuclear regulation development, nuclear material and 
facility safeguards, reactor operations, and radiation 
protection. 
 
I believe a mutually beneficial partnership that contributes 
to global nonproliferation can be formed through the 
activities I am offering, and my staff is prepared to meet 
and engage in detailed discussions to support these 
proposals.  I look forward to your response. 
 
 
 
                                    Sincerely, 
 
                                    William Tobey 
 
 
4.  DOE/NNSA appreciates Post,s assistance in this regard. 
Follow up questions can be directed to Mr. Michael Fink, 
202-586-6804. 
RICE