DAR AL ISLAM - TURKEY: IRANIAN WEAPONS, TRAINS, TURKISH INTELLIGENCE & THE KURDISH PKK

Controversy grows over weapons found in derailed train

Two days after authorities said Wednesday that a cargo train derailed in a bombing attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was not carrying missiles, contrary to news reports, various scenarios surrounding the incident continued to be widely covered by the Turkish media -- with officials still keeping silent.

A consignment revealing that the cargo containing weapons hidden among construction materials were loaded in Iran was obtained by Turkish daily Hürriyet, which published the scanned copy of the consignment drawn up in English, French and Persian. There were three stamps on the document, each of which belonged to Iran customs, Turkish customs and the station office of the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) at the Kapıköy border gate in the eastern Anatolian province of Van, Hürriyet also reported.
The cargo was discovered when authorities checked containers on the train, which was attacked by the PKK on May 25 near the town of Genç in the southeastern Bingöl province.

Iranian Energy Minister Parviz Fattah, who was in the Turkish capital for talks with his Turkish counterpart, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Güler, on Thursday, suggested that the incident had nothing to do with his country and implicitly blamed the US and Israel for trying to hinder improving relations between Ankara and Tehran. On Wednesday the Iranian Embassy in Ankara issued a statement denying that the weapons belonged to Iran, and said the allegations were being made "by circles" aiming to disrupt Turkey's close relations with Iran.

"Relax, there is no missile," Genç State Prosecutor İsmail Sarı was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency on Wednesday after the conclusion of an investigation into the derailed containers. Earlier in the day Anatolia reported that two of the 10 containers derailed in the attack were found to have been loaded with cotton. Reports earlier in the day said the cargo included machine guns and pistols. According to reports the train's cargo included a rocket launchpad and 300 rockets as well as other weapons and ammunition.

According to the Article 6 of the Contract for International Carriage of Goods by Rail (CIM), Iran is responsible for the loaded weapons as Iranian railways put its stamp on the consignment showing that it agreed to carry the load, Hürriyet also said.

Meanwhile Customs Deputy Undersecre-tary Bülent Ertem said that intelligence services apparently were involved in the incident. Speaking with daily Milliyet, Ertem also said that the PKK might have been used as a "subcontractor" by an intelligence service that was aware of destination of the weapons.

Web sites known to be close to the PKK also reported that the PKK knew that the train was carrying weapons loaded in Iran when they planned the attack. Reports referring to a statement by the armed wing of the PKK said that it believes that "weapons displayed secret relations between Turkey and Iran."

The PKK statement also said the organization -- listed as a terrorist organization by a majority of the international community -- carried out the attack via their own intelligence and without any support from any power from abroad.



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1) Controversy grows over weapons found in derailed train