Turkey and the PKK

DYNAMIC PACE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE IS TOP SECRET SI r3" REL USA ALIS CAN GER NZL Tutkey and the PKK FROM: FAD's CentralEEastern Eutope Office Run Date: 1320:9005 The LLS. feats that Tutkey ntay undertake cross-horder raids into Itaq in putsuit of Kurdish PKK NSA provides Turkey with SICINT about the group. NSA's rohust SICINT exchange with our two Tutkish pattnets on indigenous terrorisnt tatgets is primarily focused on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PREV, and the PKK has been a sensitive topic of tecent high-level L15 -Turkish discussions. The Turkish Covetnntent and genetai population sttongiy believe that the US should he doing more against PKK insutgents opetating from northern Itaq to conduct terrorist operations inside Turkey. The US condemns the PKK as a terrorist group and accepts that the coalition and the Itaqi Transitional Government and Turkey need to work together to do more against this thteat. The US

views Tutkey as a valuable parlrter in NATO and in the global war on terrorism [the 1 Match Parliantentary vote that prevented the Coalition from using Turkey for Operation Iraqi Freedom notwithstanding] but is all too aware that the Kurds per se in notthetn Iraq are friendly forces, and cross-border operations are an Iraqi sovereignty issue. [U]The specterof 31] million Kutds coalescing into an autonomous Kurdistan is a long-standing political problem for Iraq, Iran, ytia, and Tutkey. The Kutds ate Turkey's latgest non-Turkish ethnic group and the only ntinotity that can pose a thteat to Turkish national unity. The PKK, arguably the best known and most radical of the Kurdish movements, seeks to establish an independent Marxist state in ptedontinantly Kurdish southeastern Turkey. Since 1984, the PKK has conducted a violent tertorist insutgency against the Government of Tutkey, highlighted by attacks on Turkish security forces, bombings of tourist sites inside Tutkey, and attacks on Turkish diplomatic and commercial facilities in dozens of West European cities. Tutkey has responded by deploying units and elite police forces to violently suppress the insutgents. After the 1991 Petsian Gulf War, Iraqi Kurds established a de facto state in notthern Iraq and allowed the PKK to set up senti-perntanent bases thete. Tutkish Prime Minister Etdogan, in an August 2005 Wall Street Journal piece, noted that Iraq should not be allowed to tentain a training ground for terrorists, whether al Qaeda or the PKK, and assetted that the PKK has already killed more than 30,001] Tutkish citizens. The US Government is concerned that Tutkey might lose patience and conduct cross-bolder opetations inside Iraq while in hot putsuit of PKK insutgents. US National Security Adviser Hadley and SAC Genetal - ntet separately in September 2005 with senior Tutkish officials to discuss the PKK. and State Department all have irons in this fire and the value of NSA's SIGINT suppott to our Tutkish partners has been consistently highlighted by both the Charge' and the foice of Defense Cooperation in the US Embassy in Ankara. in Ankara, works closely with two Tutkish SIGINT partners, GES [military] and ETI NSA's collection efforts against the PKK, a thitd tier tertotist organization, ate generally to operations in notthetn Iraq, in southeastern Turkey, and in Tutkish toutist areas where bontbings have occurted. We share SIGINT product, technical collection and analytic suppott, and unique US collection with both Turkish pattnets. NSA norntally provides GES with a repott every six hours locating a defined number of PKK handsets active within Turkey; no data is provided to the Turks concetning PKK handsets active in notthetn Iraq. NSA also ptovides data on insutgent handsets to ETI in suppott of Turkey's Law Enfotcentent Access program. In an effott to suppott Turkey by doing more against the PKK, NCRTURK, CTISEIS, and GED, in October 2005, provided GES with hourly teports on the locations of handsets used by the PKK operating inside Turkey. This initiative was testticted by tesoutce constraints to a two-week petiod in suppott of specific Tutkish ntilitaty operations. Feedback from the Turks on the effectiveness of this enhanced SIGINT suppott is pending at this NSA, through the SIN ID for Europe, is also actively participating in US Intelligence Community and Law Enforcement efforts to track ?nancial suppott links for the PKK in Western Europe. NSA's very few eitpett "follow-the-ntoney" are generally deployed against tier zero and othervery high priority tatgets so we can only suppott a very focused effott against PKK ?nances, one that targets individuals and organizations for which lead information is available. Any lead information will most likely come from the Turkish partners and that angle is being worked by NCRTURK.

As US political and military strategists grapple with the thorny issue of how to better assist the Coyelnment of Tulkey in combating the PKK. NSA and our Tulkish SIEINT panners are already fully engaged in this important subset of the global war on teIrorism. Notes: This terroIist gloup changes names like a chameleon changes colors. Curlently calling itself the People's Congress of Kuldistan it has in the past been known as the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congless and it originated and is still lefelred to by most Turks as the Kurdistan Party NSA also targets and shares SIEINT with Tulkey on the Revolutionary People's Liberation SACEUR Supreme Allied Commander. Europe - commander of NATD's military forces The two Tulkish SIEINT partners am the General Electronic Service a military command under the J2 of the Tulkish General Staff; and the civilian Electlonic and Technical lntelligence Directorate of the Turkish National lntelligence Dlganiaation This alticle is repIinted from the Foreign Affails Digest. December edition. lnfolmation Dwner: DYNAMIC -- PUSSIELE CLASSIFICATIUN IS THE SECRET Sl TK REL TU USA AUS GER NZL DERIVED FRUM: 1-52. DATED UHJAN 200? UN: 20320100