Ambassador's remarks and public events

Remarks at Closing Ceremony DEA Afghan-Turkish Drug Unit Commanders Course

February 2, 2007

Good Afternoon.

I am delighted to be able to participate in this ceremony that brings to a close this joint training program run by our Drug Enforcement Administration for our Turkish and Afghan friends.  This Drug Unit Commanders Course was made possible thanks to funding provided by the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.  We appreciate DEA's efforts here, and I want to thank the Turkish National Police and its world-class training academy, TADOC, for its help and support.  We are grateful for the leadership of Deputy General Director Emin Arslan, Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Chief Ahmet Pek, and TADOC director Celal Bodur.  I also want to thank all the Afghan Narcotics Interdiction Unit for its support and participation here. 

Why is this course important?  We hope that this course has helped Turkish and Afghan law enforcement professionals, who are doing the difficult work of fighting the drug trade, be more effective in your countries and together.  The course was designed to share with you the knowledge DEA has built up over the years on topics such as interviewing suspects, working with informants, planning operations and leadership.  It is hoped that this kind of practical, hands-on sharing of expertise has been useful to you in the very important work that you do.

But the course is also important on other levels.  Most importantly, in putting this course together we want not just to work with our Turkish and Afghan partners to add to their capabilities, but we also wanted to help them -- help you -- develop your capability to work together.  We hope that your time here together has helped you build relationships that you can use in the future to work together to fight cross-border trafficking rings.  Criminals do not respect borders, and in this global war on drugs, law enforcement officials need to work closely together to combat this international scourge.  Close, effective cooperation between Turkish and Afghan counter-narcotics experts is a key priority of these efforts: about 90% of world opiates are produced in Afghanistan and many of these opiates flow through Turkey for sale in Europe.

Of course, as American Ambassador to Turkey, I hope and believe that the collaboration here over the past several days has contributed both to TNP's abilities and, in a general way, to US-Turkish relations.  Turkish law enforcement  in general, and the Turkish National Police in particular, have an impressive track record in fighting this flow of narcotics.  As I understand Jim Allen and Organized Crime Division Director Ahmet Pek mentioned at the opening of the course, Turkish law enforcement seized 10 tons of heroin in 2006, more than the quantity seized in the entire European Union during the same period.

We in the U.S. Government place a particular importance on our close cooperation with Turkish law enforcement agencies and the Turkish National Police.  We fight shoulder to shoulder not only against narcotics, but also against cybercrime, human trafficking and terrorism in all its forms. 

Finally, I believe this course fits perfectly into the priorities of the United States, Turkey, NATO and the international community in providing support to Afghanistan.   Only a few days ago, Secretary Rice traveled to Brussels to urge our NATO partners to recommit to our allied effort in Afghanistan.  She announced that my country will provide an additional $10.6 billion in support of Afghanistan, on top of the $14 billion we have already allocated for help to Afghanistan since 2001. 

Turkey also attaches great importance to Afghanistan.  Despite own pressing needs at home, it has pledged generous humanitarian assistance worth $100 million,  as well as troops for the NATO force.  Turkey has twice commanded ISAF, participates in the rotating Kabul Regional Command,  and provided NATO's senior civilian official in Afghanistan for several years, the distinguished Turkish statesman Hikmet Cetin.  Turkey has opened up a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Wardak province.   I understand that TADOC itself has hosted numerous training seminars for Afghan officials as well.

So, for all these reasons, it gives me particular pleasure to be here today.  I congratulate all the participants for their hard work and achievement.