US embassy cable - 03ANKARA1276

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001276 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SE, EB/ESC/ESP AND S/CT; GENERAL COUNSEL 
(DAVID AUFHAUSER) AND TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST FINANCING; 
TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF U/S FOR ENFORCEMENT (MICHAEL LEARY); 
OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL (MUNRO); OFFICE OF 
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE (SCHROEDER); DOJ FOR CRIMINAL 
DIVISION/SECTION ON ASSET FORFEITURE (SUZANNE HAYDEN) 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2006 
TAGS: CVIS, EFIN, ETTC, PTER, TU 
SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCE: DISCUSSIONS OF CHECHEN AND 
OTHER DESIGNATIONS 
 
 
REF: A. (A) SECSTATE 48257 
     B. (B) ANKARA 1158 
     C. (C) ANKARA 126 
 
 
(U) Classified by Economic Counselor Scot Marciel for reasons 
1.5 (b), (d). 
 
 
1.  (S) Summary: On February 25, we met with Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs (MFA) Deputy Director General for Research 
and Intelligence Hakan Okcal and his associate Firat Sunel to 
discuss past, recent and upcoming US/UN designations of 
terrorist financiers.  We noted that the US designation of 
three Chechen groups (SECSTATE 48257) is scheduled for 
February 28, and stressed the importance of the GOT 
designating these groups.  Okcal said the GOT would designate 
them as soon as possible after a formal UN designation. End 
Summary. 
 
 
2. (S) We began by asking Okcal about follow up GOT action to 
the USG recommendation made in the December 2002 visit of our 
C/T finance experts (ref C).  Okcal said the MFA has recently 
proposed an amendment to existing counterterrorist 
legislation, aimed at expediting the GOT's currently 
cumbersome process of terrorist financier designations.  (We 
have not seen the proposed amendment but will follow up 
septel.)  The MFA had not yet received comments from other 
agencies, though Okcal understands informally that MASAK 
(Financial Crimes Investigation Board) and the Finance 
Ministry will support it.  At present, each designation 
requires a Council of Ministers decree, meaning each minister 
must approve.  The MFA is preparing the latest Cabinet 
decree, and Okcal stated that it would include some 20 names, 
including groups/individuals recently designated by the USG 
(Lashkar i Jhangvi, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and Ansar al-Islam). 
 However, the Cabinet has not issued a decree for designating 
terrorist financiers since before the AK Party took power in 
November.  Okcal commented that this would be the first C/T 
finance decree for the AK Government. 
 
 
Chechen Designations 
-------------------- 
 
 
3. (S) We shared with Okcal information in ref A previously 
passed to MFA (ref B).  Okcal acknowledged that Turkey is a 
focal point for Chechen support and contains a significant 
Chechen diaspora.  He pointed out that some politicians, 
including Deputy PM Abdullatif Sener, were of Caucasian or 
Chechen descent.  He also noted the importance of not 
designating "the whole nation" (referring to Chechnya)  a 
terrorist group (we pointed out that Chechen separatist 
leader Aslan Maskhadov was not included in the designation). 
Okcal, however, emphasized that the GOT's secular 
establishment had every intention of freezing funding of all 
UN-designated terrorist groups, including these Chechen 
groups.  He said that if the UN designation immediately 
followed the US designation on February 28, he would 
undertake to include the Chechens in the latest Cabinet 
decree, which the MFA was planning to circulate interagency 
this coming weekend. 
 
 
ETIM 
---- 
 
 
4. (S) We also queried whether the GOT had seized any assets 
in Turkey belonging to the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement 
(ETIM), a group that was designated by the UN in September 
2002.  Okcal said ETIM was designated in the GOT's last 
Cabinet decree of October 2002.  As for ETIM asset seizure, 
"Nothing has been reported to us," Okcal said, adding that 
the Chinese Embassy has been vocal about pushing the GOT but 
had not provided any specific intel. 
 
 
Yasin al-Kadi 
------------- 
 
 
5. (S) Finally, Okcal said that al-Qaida financier Yasin 
al-Kadi had lost his appeal in Turkey.  The appellate court 
decision noted that any name designated by the UN would be 
designated in Turkey, "end of story."  Okcal said that this 
decision establishes a useful judicial precedent for future 
cases. 
 
 
6. (S) Comment:  We will work closely with USUN later this 
week to get an assessment of when exactly the UN will move 
forward with Chechen designation.  In addition, we will 
continue to monitor progress on their draft Cabinet decree, 
including the Chechen groups. 
PEARSON