US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2302

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002302 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2030 
TAGS: PGOV, MARR, MOPS, PINR, TU 
SUBJECT: CHOD OZKOK'S ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Robert S. Deutsch for Reasons 1. 
4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary:  The current public investigations of 
corruption within the Turkish military are unprecedented and 
apparently the responsibility of one man -- TGS Chief GEN 
Hilmi Ozkok.  Whether his motivation is to retain (or regain) 
public support for the military, show up an AKP government 
that is reluctant to go after its own, or simply to do the 
right thing, the signal is clear that this Chief of Defense, 
at a minimum, will not tolerate blatant corruption within the 
military.  To see whether this campaign will have lasting 
effects we may have to wait until after Ozkok retires in 
August 2006.  End Summary. 
 
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Military Prosecutors Moving Aggressively and Publicly 
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2. (U) In November 2004, the Ministry of National Defense 
(MND) established a hot line to report corruption in military 
procurement.  Within a month, an indictment against 39 
persons, including some active duty military officers and MND 
civilians, was issued alleging irregularities in contracts 
let between 1994 and 2000 for the construction of a new 
special forces headquarters complex near Ankara.  The 
indictment implicated two retired four-star generals, former 
National Security Council SecGen Tuncer Kilinc and former 
Jandarma Commander Sener Eruygur, for covering up the corrupt 
practices on this project while they were serving as 
undersecretary of MND, but the expiration of the statute of 
limitations prevented their prosecution.  Nonetheless, court 
action was initiated against the contractors and some of the 
officers who allegedly received bribes for their approval of 
cost overruns and for additions to the project.  Although 
Eruygur did not have to stand trial on charges related to the 
special forces headquarters, in mid-February 2004 Turkish 
General Staff (TGS) Chief General Hilmi Ozkok authorized a 
probe into other transactions involving Eruygur.  (Note: 
Investigations of four-star officer, whether active duty or 
retired, must be authorized by the head of TGS.  End note.) 
 
3. (U) Meanwhile, Ozkok authorized the military prosecutor to 
charge previous Navy Commander Ilhami Erdil on charges 
related to his rigging a competition to award a contract to a 
company where his daughter was employed.  16 other military 
personnel were also indicted in this case. 
 
4. (U) On January 5, 2005, one of the contractors on trial in 
the special forces headquarters case admitted to lending 
Kilinc $150,000 in 2002 that had never been repaid.  Kilinc 
claimed the money was a loan to buy a house; he repaid the 
money to the contractor on January 30.  While no charges have 
been brought against Kilinc, newspapers reported on January 9 
that Ozkok ordered a thorough investigation of all 
procurements to weed out corruption.  TGS Deputy Commander 
General Ilker Basbug told a press conference on January 26 
that TGS was determined to fight corruption in a transparent 
manner.  In February, there were numerous press reports that 
TGS/J4 had been given the responsibility to investigate 
complaints received through the MND hot line. 
 
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Hilmi's Personal Campaign 
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5. (C) Corruption in the procurement process reportedly is 
widespread in Turkey, including both civilian officials and 
military officers.  Rumors abound that Air Force Chief 
General Ibrahim Firtina and others in TAFC received 
gratuities from the Israelis in exchange for the sole-source 
contract to upgrades Turkey's F-5s and F-4s.  Similar rumors 
of significant kickbacks circulate about Navy procurements of 
both on-base construction and vessels.  One executive at a 
local defense firm told us that when personnel from the Land 
Forces or SSM (the Turkish military procurement agency) are 
newly assigned to his factory to conduct final inspection and 
acceptance of new vehicles, there were always delays as the 
new people waited for the bribes that they had come to expect 
from previous similar assignments.  Only after they become 
convinced that this company will not pay, does the process 
start working smoothly again; at least, until the next new 
inspector arrives. 
 
6. (C) The public investigation, indictment and trial of 
corruption within the military represented by the special 
forces headquarters and the Erdil cases are unprecedented. 
Such cases in the past, when they occurred, were normally 
closed to the media.  Even more surprising is the implication 
of retired four-star officers.  This special class has for 
the most part enjoyed a revered existence.  A retired general 
tends to retain the image he had when he retired until they 
earn a new one, like anti-US "Aksam" columnist Kemal Yavuz 
and Kilinc who are now deprecated as too partisan. 
 
7. (C) Both civilian and military contacts credit the current 
crackdown on corruption to General Ozkok.  Most of our 
contacts who know him well describe him as someone committed 
to doing the right thing.  Indeed, there is evidence that 
Ozkok is committed to cracking down on corruption on a 
broader scale.  In August 2004, Ozkok appointed a three-star 
general to a long-vacant inspector general position in the 
TGS.  (The unexpected resignation of LTG Karabay after the 
promotion cycle, however, created a deficit of three stars 
and, as a result, the IG position again went vacant.) 
 
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Why Bother? 
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8. (C) While we cannot dispute that Ozkok may be interested 
in doing the right thing, we also recognize that he may have 
some other motivations for this anti-corruption campaign. 
One possibility is to bolster the military's public image. 
One journalist commented to us that the Special Forces 
headquarters case was just too blatant to ignore, and that 
Erdil's case was a signal to the Navy to clean up its widely 
understood corrupt procurement practices.  Other contacts 
have noted that there is growing discontent over the 
military's abuse of authority and its privileges, including 
subsidized housing, generous pensions, low or no-interest 
loans for homes, and (for senior officers) cars and drivers. 
Public support is important for the military at all times but 
especially now in its uneasy coexistence with the similarly 
popular AKP government.  AKP has made much of its own 
anti-corruption drive which has focused mainly on former 
government officials from other parties.  In going after its 
own, the military has outdone the government in the eyes of 
the public. 
 
9. (C) A number of our contacts believe Ozkok is determined 
to weed out the influence of his predecessor, GEN Huseyin 
Kivrikoglu, who tried to block Ozkok's promotion to CHOD. 
Kivrikoglu promoted officers who shared his narrow 
left-nationalist view and who remain rivals to Ozkok and his 
more Atlanticist approach.  Both Kilinc and Eruygur are 
critics of what they assert is Ozkok's accommodation with 
AKP.  Other hard-liners, such as Firtina, outspoken First 
Army Commander General Hursit Tolon, and perhaps even Land 
Forces Commander and Ozkok's presumptive successor General 
Yasar Buyukanit, may be potential targets.  But whether the 
investigations will expand is an open question.  One contact 
suggested that much will depend on AKP.  In her opinion, 
Ozkok could not do much more unless the civilian authorities 
follow through on their own investigations.  If former 
ministers are convicted, then the way would be clear to go 
after other big fish, both civilian and military.  If, on the 
other hand, the former ministers now facing charges walk, 
then internal opposition to further public investigations 
would likely be too much for Ozkok to overcome. 
 
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Some impact 
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10. (C) Whatever Ozkok's motivations might be, the 
investigations appear to be having some impact on military 
conduct.  Turkish Air Force is pursuing a surveillance 
satellite capability.  Initially, TAFC planned to run the 
program itself and sent out questionnaires to various 
potential foreign partners.  Industry sources heard at the 
time that Firtina was interested in partnering with South 
Korea even before his staff began exploring the subject with 
other governments and companies.  However, TAFC's plans 
suddenly changed late last year and now SSM is handling the 
procurement.  While we cannot say for sure that the increased 
scrutiny in military procurements that Ozkok has introduced 
is responsible, we suspect it played a role.  At the same 
time, American defense contractors competing for procurement 
contracts are reporting increased difficulty in getting 
appointments with service chiefs, with some citing the 
appearance of impropriety as an excuse. 
 
11. (C) Whether the current crackdown on corruption within 
the military will continue is an open question.  Ozkok 
appears committed to it, so we expect it will continue 
through the rest of his tenure.  What happens after August 
2006 is anyone's guess. 
EDELMAN