Military Cable < Australia >

[Jay]

Dışişleri Bakanlığı Ministry of Foreign Affairs​

AUTHENTIC COMMUNIQUE OF THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Security Clearance: Secure and Encrypted ŞİFRELEME KORUMASI: KAPLUĞA​

[Recipient]: Ministry of Defense, HIC, Ministry of Defense Australia < Owen > [Sender]: Serhat Aksoy, Office of the Defense Staff < SDAksoy@tskgb.tr.gov > [Subject]: Confidential //

On behalf of the Turkish Air Force Air Transport Command, I respectfully write to formally request landing clearance and facility support for Operation Extended Hand, a humanitarian airlift mission dispatched by the Republic of Türkiye to assist Australian authorities in response to the ongoing bushfire emergency in Victoria. The deployment consists of six (6) Antonov An-225 Mriya heavy transport aircraft carrying Turkish firefighting personnel, firefighting vehicles and equipment, and Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) medical, food, and emergency relief supplies, accompanied by two (2) civilian-registered Canadair CL-215 amphibious firefighting aircraft intended for operational use upon arrival. We kindly request the following support and permissions: - Authorization to use Australian-affiliated facilities in Singapore as an intermediate refueling and crew rest stop prior to the final leg of the journey. - Air Traffic Control coordination and landing clearance at RAAF Base East Sale, Victoria, for the arrival of the full aircraft formation. - Ground handling, apron space, and reception support for the staggered offload of personnel, vehicles, and relief cargo. - Coordination with the Country Fire Authority (CFA) for reception, staging, and operational integration of firefighting personnel and CL-215 aircraft. A detailed flight manifest, aircraft registrations, and arrival schedule will be forwarded through appropriate liaison channels ahead of arrival for coordination purposes. The Turkish Air Force sincerely appreciates the cooperation and support of the Government of Australia and Victorian authorities in facilitating this humanitarian relief effort, and looks forward to your confirmation at the earliest opportunity. Regards, Col. Serhat Aksoy Air Transport Command Turkish Air Force +90 (312) 555-0187 Chief of the Air Defense Staff Office Ankara 06790, Türkiye

 

[Owen]

​

AIR COMMANDER AUSTRALIA​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: SECRET​

8 February 2009

Dear Colonel Aksoy, Your requests are approved and RAAF air traffic controllers will guide you into both RAAF Base Tengah and RAAF Base East Sale. You're also approved to use RAAF Base Darwin, RAAF Base Learmonth, RAAF Base Curtin and RAAF Base Truscott for refuelling purposes. Yours sincerely, Air Vice-Marshal Leo Davies.

Russell Offices, RUSSELL, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6144 9190​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Jay