Wikileaks - DCCCI
115641 7/17/2007 7:58 07ANKARA1812 Embassy Ankara UNCLASSIFIED VZCZCXRO4426 RR RUEHDA DE RUEHAK #1812/01 1980758 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 170758Z JUL 07 FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2991 INFO RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU RHMFIUU/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ4/ECJ5// RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//ISA-EUR/DSCA// RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-5// RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 2142 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3024 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0342 RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST 1016 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3177 RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0210 RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 4251 RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 8231 RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 5818 RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001812
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: MASS, MARR, PREL, CH, RO, UK, KS, RS, GM, GR, TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: POL-MIL ROUND-UP, June 2007
(Note: This is one of a regular series of unclassified reports on significant Turkish defense and national security issues in the press and other open sources. End note.)
Contents
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-- Anatolian Eagle Exercise-2006/2 Takes Place in Konya -- Government-Military Focus on Terrorism -- Turkish Media Reacts to Hudson Institute's "Turkey Scenarios" -- Turkey's Security Relations with Other Countries -- Defense Industry Activity
Anatolian Eagle Exercise-2006/2 Takes Place in Konya
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1. The joint air force Anatolian Eagle Exercise-2007/2 (second exercise of the year) took place in Konya June 11-22. United States, Britain, Pakistan, Jordan and NATO attended the exercise. The first Anatolian Eagle Exercise was held in 2001.
Government-Military Focus on Terrorism
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2. Intensive civil-military talks were held in Ankara in June. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul met with Deputy CHOD GEN Ergin Saygun on June 8 to discuss developments in Iraq and the fight against terrorism.
PM Erdogan hosted FM Gul, Land Forces Commander GEN Ilker Basbug, Interior Minister Osman Gunes and Jandarma Forces Commander GEN Isik Kosaner at a June 12 security meeting. The Prime Ministry released a statement after the meeting noting that fight against terrorism has the highest priority for the country. Political analysts interpreted the meeting as an attempt to show unity between the Turkish General Staff (TGS) and the government. The National Security Council convened under President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on June 20. Various aspects of fight against terrorism as well as recent developments on the Cyprus issue were discussed. PM Erdogan was briefed on June 21 by CHOD GEN Buyukanit on terrorist camps in northern Iraq and along the Iran-Iraq border.
Turkish Media Reacts to Hudson Institute's "Turkey Scenarios"
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3. Turkish media reacted to the meeting held by the Hudson Institute in Washington on June 13 in which possible "crisis scenarios" were discussed. The scenarios reportedly included an assassination of head of the Constitutional Court and a PKK suicide attack in which 50 people were killed. Participants reportedly included Turkish military officers. Reacting to reports of the meeting, FM Abdullah Gul said Turkish officers attending the meeting should have walked out when the disaster scenarios were raised. PM Tayyip Erdogan commented that the meeting was "utter nonsense." The TGS released a statement condemning efforts to link Turkish military to Hudson Institute crisis scenarios for Turkey. The statement denounced the media reports and noted that military officers attended the meeting for only a brief period and that the alleged scenarios were not discussed in their presence. Commentary on the Hudson Institute meeting was featured in the Ankara press for a number of days and caused controversy. Several newspapers criticized the TGS for its allegedly untruthful denial statement.
Turkey's Security Relations with Other Countries
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4. China: Turkish Land Forces Commander Ilker Basbug visited Chinese National Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan on June 3. Noting China's growing military and economic power, GEN Basbug said, "Turkey and China have similar viewpoints on world matters. There are similarities in threats faced by the two countries." GEN Basbug left Beijing on June 8 after visiting Chinese National Defense University. (ANA)
5. Romania: The Turkish-Romanian Joint Airborne Commando Exercise, an annual exercise since 2003, took place in central Anatolian province of Kayseri on June 5. 115 Turkish and 30 Romanian
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commandoes took part in the exercise (ANA).
6. Britain: Turkish-British Joint Exercise (Ex Tunuk Warrior) was carried out by the 3rd Armored Brigade on June 4-14 in Cerkezkoy. 3rd Battalion Headquarters and one mechanized company from Turkey along with one mechanized company from the UK participated in the exercise, which aims at enhancing the relations and the interoperability of the land forces of both countries.
7. South Korea: Turkish Deputy CHOD GEN Ergin Saygun received his Korean counterpart, ADM Park, on June 12. ADM Park was decorated with the Medal of Honor by Turkish CHOD GEN Buyukanit on June 13. No other information about the purpose of the visit was made public.
8. Russia: Reciprocating the visit of his Russian counterpart in 2004, Turkish Air Forces Commander Gen Faruk Comert visited Gen Alexander Zelin on June 13. Gen Comert visited 6th Air Force and Air Defense Army Headquarters in St. Petersburg during his official visit. Upon his return to Ankara, Gen Comert announced a decision to set up a "hot line" between the two countries' air force commanders, as reported by the moderate pro-Islamic Zaman daily.
9. Germany: Six warplanes of Turkish Air Forces participated in the Elite-2007 military exercise in Germany on June 28. The exercise had the participation of Austria, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Britain, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, Norway, Romania, Greece and Turkey (ANA).
10. Greece: TGS reported 64 interceptions Turkish aircraft by Greek jets in international airspace over the Aegean Sea during the month of June.
Defense Industry Activity
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11. A Turkish delegation headed by Deputy Undersecretary of SSM (Defense Industry Uudersecretariat) Faruk Ozlu, visited Islamabad on 26-27 June to discuss opportunities for cooperation for naval platform projects.
12. Turkish Naval Forces will purchase 51 advanced Block-II Tactical Harpoon anti-ship missiles worth $159 million from the US, according to the moderate pro-Islamic Cihan news agency.
13. Aksa (Turkey), Aselsan (Turkey), Cpmiec (People's Republic of China), C-Tech (Turkey), Denel (South Africa), Diehl-BGT (Germany), Doosan (South Korea), Fnss (Turkey), Gate (Turkey ), Kongsberg (Norway), Meteksan (Turkey ), Milsoft (Turkey), Oerlikon (Switzerland), Rafael-(Israel), Raytheon (USA), Roketsan (Turkey), Saab Bofors (Sweden) and Thales (France) requested information form for SSM's tender to purchase Law Altitude Air Defense Missile Systems for Turkish Armed Forces (ANA).
14. Turkish Armed Forces announced the lease an Israeli-made UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) for a period of one year. The UAV, which is manufactured by the Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) is to be stationed in the southeast Turkish city of Batman due to the increasing terror attacks in that region, as reported by the English-language centrist Turkish Daily News. Turkey announced plans to buy 10 UAVs from Israel. WILSON
