US embassy cable - 04ANKARA7073

UNCLAS ANKARA 007073 
 
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 12/20/04 MEETING 
 
1. (SBU) On December 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, DEA, FBI, CONS, and OSI. 
 
2. (U) ECON gave a brief overview of the results of two 
training programs on money laundering and terrorist financing 
that took place in Ankara this month. The first was held 
December 6-10 at the Turkish National Police (TNP) training 
academy and was instructed by a team of FBI, IRS, and 
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) agents.  The 
second was held December 13-15 at the Ankara Judge House for 
prosecutors and judges and was conducted by a team of US 
judges, prosecutors, and a DEA agent.  Both training programs 
generated positive feedback from the Turkish participants. 
The main issue that resonated throughout both programs was 
the need for greater cooperation between the relevant 
government agencies which deal with money laundering and 
terrorism finance. 
 
3. (U) ECON also reported that the GOT is taking measures to 
improve their internal capabilities on fighting terrorism 
finance.  The GOT finally approved the Strasbourg Treaty of 
1990 which allows for more international cooperation on the 
seizing of assets for drug-related and non-drug-related 
crimes.  The treaty allows the GOT to freeze assets on their 
own authority.  Previously, the GOT abided by the reciprocity 
principle or determined whether the individual or entity was 
listed on one of the UN sanctioned lists of sponsors of 
terrorism finance before it could freeze assets.  In 
addition, there is a GOT working group which is revising the 
national terrorism-combating law.  It seeks to broaden the 
definition of terrorism finance so that it complies with the 
UN definition and is harmonized with the EU definition of 
terrorism finance. 
DEUTSCH