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Abstract:

The official Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reported on 2 February 1999 that Turkish agents in the western Turkish city of Bursa had seized 100g of 'enriched uranium' from four 'dealers' who had smuggled it into Turkey from Azerbaijan. According to the report, which did not specify the level of enrichment of the uranium, the smugglers had hoped to sell the uranium for $700,000. A report by the Turkish Anatolian agency on 3 February 1999, by contrast, reported that the Turkish police had seized 'a total of 5g of uranium, having a market price of 115 billion Turkish Liras [about $340,000],' and did not use the term 'enriched' to describe the uranium, instead terming it simply 'uranium.' This report named the four suspects in the case as Orhan Kahraman, Ibrahim Aslantas, Halil Aslanta and Yuksel Kucuk, saying they were arrested in Bursa and Kayseri provinces. It noted that the seized uranium had been sent to the Nuclear Research and Training Center in Kucukcekmece for analysis. This report also said the uranium had been smuggled into Turkey from Azerbaijan.[1] The Baku newspaper AZADLYG reported on 3 February 1999 that the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry had refused comment on the case. The paper argued that since Azerbaijan has no uranium, the material must have originated in Russia.[2] A report in the Moscow daily IZVESTIYA on 4 February 1999 repeated the information found in the ITAR-TASS item of 2 February 1999, describing the material seized from the smugglers as '100g of enriched uranium.' IZVESTIYA also said the material was worth '$7 million,' adding: 'Turkish.specialists have no doubt: the uranium could be used for the construction of nuclear warheads or other weapons of mass destruction.' However, this report did not give any specific information about the level of the enrichment of the uranium.[3] Another report in the Turkish daily SABAH on 5 February 1999 said that interrogation of the suspects, who were arrested by police agents posing a buyers, had revealed that Orhan Kahraman was the 'gang leader,' adding that the group hoped to sell the uranium in Greece. SABAH said the four suspects were charged with 'organizing a group to smuggle nuclear substances,' and transferred to the State Security Court in Istanbul. Like the other Turkish source, this article also did not use the term 'enriched' to describe the uranium seized. It also did not specify the quantity of uranium involved.[4] In September 1998, media reports indicated that plutonium had been seized from a group of smugglers in Turkey, but Turkish officials have since denied these reports, saying that only 'low-grade uranium' (probably low-enriched, natural, or depleted uranium) was involved in that incident (see entries below for 10/19/98 and 9/7/98).
[1] 2/3/99 - Anatolia (Ankara); in 'Gendarme Teams Seize 5 Grams of Uranium, 4 Detained,' FBIS Document FTS19990203000586.
[2]2/3/99 - 'Uranium was Smuggled Through Azerbaijan,' AZADLYG (Baku), by Elkhan Shahinoglu, pp. 1, 3; in 'No Comment by Azeri Security Ministry on Uranium Smuggling,' FBIS Document FTS19990205000134.
[3] 2/4/99 - IZVESTIYA, 'Sled uranovoy kontrabandy vedet v Azerbaydzhan,' by Gennadiy Charodeyev, available at http://win.www.online.ru.
[4] 2/5/99 - SABAH (Ankara edition), 'Smugglers of Uranium,' by Murat Savas, p. 3; in 'Turkish Intelligence Units Arrest Uranium Smugglers,' FBIS Document FTS 19990209000117.