TURKEY SUPPORTS U.S. POSITION ON CITES DEMARCHE ON

UNCLAS ANKARA 007972 SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/OA (RCHEW) SANTIAGO FOR ECON/POL BLINK E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIS SENV XX TU SUBJECT: TURKEY SUPPORTS U.S. POSITION ON CITES DEMARCHE ON WHALES REF: SECSTATE 215101 ¶1. Post provided materials in Ref A to MFA Head of Environment Department Asli Oral. On Nov 5, MFA advised that an interagency committee met in Turkey prior to COP 12 and agreed to respond negatively to the Japanese proposal on Northern Hemisphere minke whales and the western North Pacific stock of Bryde whales. Though this position is unlikely to change, the GOT will follow discussions closely before casting formal reply. Turkey will be a non-party to discussions on the Mexican proposal regarding cooperation between CITES and IWC. ¶2. Representing Turkey at the conference on these issues will be Ms. Safak Kemaloglu, Head of Section, Ministry of Environment; Mr. Hasan Kilic, Agriculture Engineer, Ministry of Agriculture; and a third secretary from the Embassy of Turkey in Santiago. PEARSON