Turkish Forum

Tag: Drug Trafficking

  • EU not doing its part to fight PKK, Turkish PM says

    EU not doing its part to fight PKK, Turkish PM says

    ANKARA – The Anatolia News Agency

    The Turkish prime minister on Saturday criticized European countries for not extending sufficient assistance and support to Turkey in countering terrorism.

    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said European countries that appear to be Turkey’s friends have not fulfilled the requirements of that friendship.

    “Their [the terrorist organization’s] financial resources are mainly coming from Europe, as well as is their income from illicit drug trafficking and human trafficking,” Erdoğan told a televised interview.

    Erdoğan said Germany had never behaved sincerely, nor had France, Belgium or the Netherlands. “I have told ambassadors from these European countries that they would get Turkey’s help if they faced a similar problem, because a joint fight against terrorism is obligatory. Unfortunately Turkey has not seen that support,” he said.

    Erdoğan said Turkey would continue to implement the trilateral mechanism with Iraq and the United States to combat terrorism and attached great importance to the initiatives of the Supreme Board of Counter Terrorism.

    Turkey was closely monitoring Iraq’s reconstruction and efforts to form a new government, he said. Erdoğan underlined the importance of relations with Iraq because the region needed peace, stability and order.

    The prime minister also highlighted the importance of relations with northern Iraq and said the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, there was threatening stability in the region. “Therefore, there are some decisions and steps we have to take with the United States and the Iraqi administration,” he said.

    Erdoğan said there was also a PKK problem in Syria and Iran, and therefore Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq should create a regional solidarity agreement. The prime minister also said almost 2.5 million people would be employed when the Southeastern Anatolia Project, or GAP, and Eastern Anatolia Project, or DAP, were completed.

    www.hurriyetdailynews.com, August 29, 2010

  • Turkey becoming global anti-drug trafficking leader

    Turkey becoming global anti-drug trafficking leader

    Turkey is more and more often lending expertise and instruction in combating illegal drug trafficking, sharing with other nations what it has learned in the course of its successful campaign against such illegal activities.

    The Turkish Police Academy for Combating International Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime (TADOC) has provided courses to nearly 2,000 people from 58 countries on how to tackle drug-related crime.

    A TADOC report says they trained 270 police from 26 countries in 2004; 280 police from 23 countries in 2005; and 446 police from 32 countries in 2007. In addition, over 400 foreign police officers attended TADOC training courses in the first half of 2008. Police officers who are trained in Turkey in turn go on to become trainers for officers in their countries.

    TADOC courses have trained 121 Kosovars, 56 Afghans, 23 Azerbaijanis and many others, including participants from Germany, China, Guinea, Holland, Pakistan, Mongolia, Malta, Syria and Sudan.

    Police departments from Asia, Africa, Europe and America send participants to TADOC courses, which are supported by the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and other economic cooperation organizations. Upon Turkey’s success in tackling drug dealers of the Golden Triangle — centered in Afghanistan and where the largest amount and highest quality opium is produced and distributed — the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and NATO requested that Turkey organize another training program in 2008.

    Turkey also organized four training programs for Afghan officers in cooperation with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in order to strengthen the capabilities of official Afghan bodies in combating drug trafficking. Later, Pakistani police officers were also trained in the programs. Police officers from another key part of the Golden Triangle, Tajikistan, have also received training in Turkey.

    Courses on HIV/AIDS and officer exchanges

    TADOC also organizes courses on HIV/AIDS, training representatives from Balkan countries such as Romania, Serbia and Macedonia.

    In a capacity-building program in the western Balkans and Mediterranean region through the targeted drug law enforcement exchange (Lex-Pro), which was organized under the leadership of UNODC, police officers from countries like France, Belgium, Holland and Egypt came to Turkey for training programs. TADOC officers also traveled to those countries to take courses on drug trafficking.

    In a recent report released by the Turkish Security General Directorate, Turkey was listed as the second most successful country, after China, in exposing illegal drug trade. Last year alone, the total volume of illegal drugs seized in Turkey exceeded the volume seized in all European countries.

    The report states that in 444 operations conducted in 2007, 4,842 drug smugglers were caught while 2,067 kilograms of marijuana, 63 kilograms of heroin, 141 kilograms of opium, 11 kilograms of cocaine, 3,444 Captagon pills and 627,591 Ecstasy pills were found. The report also showed that the number of drug smugglers increased by 48 percent compared to statistics from 2006.

    16 August 2008, Saturday

    ERCAN YAVUZ ANKARA

    Source: Today’s Zaman, 16 August 2008