US Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff discussed the FBI-initiated program yesterday with Turkish Interior Minister Beşir Atalay during a visit to Ankara, officials said. Chertoff is expected to have further discussions with justice, defense and interior ministers as well as officials from the General Staff before wrapping up his visit today.A draft plan to instantly share data across an international network had already been sent by the US Embassy in Ankara to the Turkish Police Department for examination a few months ago. Identity data belonging to suspected criminals and terrorists will be shared across the network, which is currently operational among the US and such countries as Italy and Britain. The network will allow the police in cooperating countries to track information about suspects, most notably plane flight information.
It is not clear whether Turkey will accept the US invitation to join the international network. Police officials are cautious, saying that Turkey is unlikely to join without first passing a national law regarding the protection of personal identity data.
Names, photographs, passport numbers and code names of suspected terrorists will be shared across the network, allowing for tracking of their flights. The system also allows for tracking of suspects when they use credit cards, withdraw money from a bank or make a phone call.
If Turkey agrees to join, it will have instant access to identity data belonging to thousands of people. This is expected to help Turkish authorities in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The US cooperates with Turkey in the fight against the PKK by providing intelligence about the terrorist group's movements in northern Iraq and airspace clearance for Turkish military fighter jets to attack the terrorist group's targets in Iraq's north. The beginning of cooperation against the PKK in Iraq eased years of tension in Turkey-US ties stemming from Turkish complaints over US inaction against the terrorist group in Iraq.
If the new cooperation on instant intelligence sharing gets under way, the personal data of persons with suspected links to organizations such as the PKK and al-Qaeda will be accessible to partner countries' authorities. Necessary information will be shared instantly when authorities detect any threat against one of the participating countries.
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