VZCZCXRO4426
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #0705/01 1341403
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141403Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9669
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 3842
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 5744
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000705 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SE DMARSH AND EEB/TPP/IPE FOR JURBAN 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR FOR JCHOE-GROVES AND MMOWREY 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USPTO FOR MICHAEL SMITH 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC/CRUSNAK, KNAJDI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIPR USTR ECON TU
SUBJECT: SIGNIFICANT IPR SEIZURES BY TURKISH NATIONAL POLICE 
 
REF: ANKARA 326 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. The Turkish National Police (TNP) conducted 
two major raids in March and April aimed at disrupting 
organized crime networks distributing counterfeit products in 
Turkey.  A raid in April by the Istanbul Security 
Directorate's Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Bureau 
yielded hundreds of thousands of fake pharmaceuticals worth 
TL 120 million (USD 77 million) and resulted in 71 arrests. 
A similar raid by the same office on May 10 led to the 
seizure of approximately 1 million fake CDs and DVDs, with 29 
people taken into custody, including a major counterfeiting 
kingpin.  Both raids demonstrate that the specialized IPR 
offices at TNP are taking their role seriously and working to 
dismantle the major distribution networks for IPR-infringing 
goods.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The Istanbul Security Directorate's Intellectual 
Property Rights (IPR) Bureau, a division of the Turkish 
National Police (TNP), recently conducted two major raids 
targeting distribution networks for counterfeit goods.  These 
raids, conducted in cooperation with the TNP's Organized 
Crime Branch Directorate, targeted operations in multiple 
provinces of western Turkey and led to significant seizures 
of fake goods and multiple arrests. 
 
Side Effects of Fake Drugs Include... 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) On April 6, TNP officers concurrently raided the 
operations of a counterfeit aphrodisiac ring in twenty 
Istanbul towns and five nearby provinces.  In the sweep, the 
following items were seized: 
 
-- 344,018 counterfeit and/or smuggled aphrodisiac pills 
(Viagra, Cialis and Levitra), 
-- 136,395 empty pharmaceutical boxes, to be used in 
distributing the seized product, 
-- 36,822 pieces of material used to produce pharmaceutical 
goods, 
-- 22 kilograms of powder and liquids used to produce 
pharmaceuticals, 
-- USD 20,000 in cash, and 
-- 641 smuggled cell phones (with accessories). 
 
The estimated customs value of the seizures was TL 120 
million (USD 77 million).  This operation followed up on a 
series of seven smaller raids between January and April in 
which 162,000 fake pharmaceuticals were seized and 6 people 
sent to prison. 
 
¶4. (U) In addition to the product seizures, 71 people were 
taken into custody during the raids.  Of these, 36 were 
released either by the police or the courts, but the 
remaining 35 pled guilty or were sent to prison to await 
trial. 
 
Fake DVD Kingpin Captured 
------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) On May 10, a similar operation by the same offices 
targeted fake CD, DVD and videogame distributors in eleven 
Istanbul neighborhoods and seventeen provinces.  Mithat 
Aynaci, TNP Istanbul Security Branch Director confirmed that 
in this raid nearly 1 million fake discs were seized, in 
addition to approximately 9 million counterfeit cardboard 
case inserts suitable for packaging fake CDs and DVDs.  29 
people were taken into custody and await court determinations 
on their status, including a notorious counterfeit kingpin, 
Mehmet Besirik.  Besirik has long been associated with 
pirated goods, but has managed to avoid prison because (at 
least until this raid) the size of the seizures was 
relatively small. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Nilufer Sapancilar, the local representative of the 
Motion Picture Association, noted that the private sector had 
provided information to TNP on suspect production sites.  The 
operation took off when TNP discovered that a criminal 
organization was using a website to distribute pirated 
material, based on a membership subscription model where 
"retailers" would order specific items for just-in-time 
 
ANKARA 00000705  002 OF 002 
 
 
production and delivery to a storefront for immediate pickup 
by the end user.  In this way, the distributors avoided 
having to maintain stocks of illegal goods in the store for 
protracted periods. She noted that the TNP operation was very 
professional and that it represented a breakthrough in that 
it disclosed an entire chain of producers and retailers of 
pirated goods.  According to Sapancilar, the seized goods 
filled two large tents and several trucks to the point of 
overflowing, and TNP was having difficulty finding warehouses 
to store the material.  The estimated market value of the 
seized goods is TL 31 million (U 
SD 20 million). 
 
In Search of Recognition 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) The specialized IPR branches of the TNP are still 
relatively new (about a year old), but they are already 
beginning to make their presence known, as we noted in our 
Special 301 Report (reftel).  In addition to conducting 
raids, they have also been assiduous in pursuing training 
opportunities, arranging a series of internal trainings by EU 
experts and also participating actively in the three 
Customs-focused counterfeit goods recognition programs 
arranged by the Embassy and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 
in March (Note: The same TNP officers who participated in our 
fake pharmaceutical training session in Istanbul conducted a 
major raid just two weeks later. End note.) 
 
¶8. (SBU) Despite the success of the units, there is a strong 
sense that the TNP IPR officers feel underappreciated for 
their work.  Following the pharmaceutical seizure, Gokmen 
Tekin, Chief of the TNP IPR Office in Ankara, expressed his 
surprise at the lack of public recognition by the 
pharmaceutical sector (Note: Sector representatives have 
privately told us that they were very pleased with the raid, 
but their public response has been negligible). 
 
¶9. (SBU) Similarly, Hulya Erbay, IPR Department Head at 
Turkish Customs, informed us that she had heard TNP was 
annoyed when only two of the local pop stars they invited to 
the press conference on the CD/DVD seizure actually showed 
up. (Note: This may be due in part to TNP's own waffling on 
the invitation - Sapancilar noted that they only made the 
final decision to invite the celebrities an hour or so before 
the press conference. End note.)  Erbay observed that on a 
human level, the TNP officers are comparing themselves to 
their colleagues in sexier divisions like drug smuggling and 
anti-terrorism, so when they receive no positive recognition 
for their activities it has a sharp demoralizing effect. 
Aynaci echoed these comments, noting that these operations 
help to raise public awareness, and that supportive 
statements by rights holders help to strengthen the fight 
against piracy.  We will continue to stress with our private 
sector contacts that they need to focus not only on pointing 
out deficiencies in IPR protection but also in recognizing 
good work when it happens. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
JEFFREY