US embassy cable - 04ANKARA6676

UNCLAS ANKARA 006676 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
TREASURY FOR OFAC, FINCEN AND TFFC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN, PTER, ETTC, TU, KTFN 
SUBJECT: COUNTER TERRORISM FINANCE WORKING GROUP (CTFWG): 
MINUTES OF 11/22/04 MEETING 
 
 
1. (SBU) On November 22, DCM and Terrorism Finance 
Coordination Officer (TFCO), Robert S. Deutsch, chaired the 
meeting of the Counter Terrorism Finance Working Group 
(CTFWG).  Other participants included representatives from 
ECON, RSO, RAO, DEA, FBI, CONS, and OSI. 
 
2. (SBU) ECON gave an update on the status of preparations 
for two upcoming training programs on money laundering and 
terrorist financing provided by the USG to GOT officials. 
Both programs will be held in Ankara.  The first will be 
conducted by the FBI and take place on December 6-10 and the 
second will be conducted by the Department of Justice Office 
of Overseas Prosecutorial Development (OPDAT) December 13-15. 
 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and OPDAT 
officers will also meet a range of Turkish officials. 
 
3. (SBU) ECON also gave a brief overview of developments on 
terrorism finance.  Following receipt of a letter from the UN 
Counter-Terrorism Committee putting pressure on Turkey to 
better comply with resolutions 1267 and 1373 and the 
International Convention to Combat Terrorism, the GOT has 
established a working group with representatives from the 
Ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Finance, and 
Interior, plus the Treasury, MASAK (Turkey's financial 
intelligence unit), and the Turkish General Staff, to develop 
new legal language to criminalize terrorism finance and 
re-define terrorism in accordance with the International 
Convention on Terrorism Finance. 
 
4. (SBU) The GOT is also working to improve its internal 
capabilities on combating terrorism financing by re-writing 
the law which governs MASAK's structure, operations, and 
duties.  The drafting for MASAK's new law has been moving 
slowly.  Though MASAK officials hope the law will be enacted 
by early next year, they are wary that other government 
agencies will pose objections and changes to the law and 
cause further delays. 
 
EDELMAN