Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02ANKARA9040
2002-12-18 13:02:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE MEETS WITH TURKISH

Tags:  PREL PGOV PINS TU 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 009040 

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2012
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS TU
SUBJECT: AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE MEETS WITH TURKISH
LEADERS, INCLUDING PRESIDENT SEZER

Classified by Ambassador W.R. Pearson; reasons: 1.5 (b)(d).


C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 009040

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2012
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS TU
SUBJECT: AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE MEETS WITH TURKISH
LEADERS, INCLUDING PRESIDENT SEZER

Classified by Ambassador W.R. Pearson; reasons: 1.5 (b)(d).



1. (C) Summary: In Dec. 13 meetings with President Sezer,
MFA Deputy U/S
for the Middle East Tuygan, and representatives of ruling AK
Party and main
opposition CHP, American Jewish Committee (AJC) leaders
affirmed AJC's support
for Turkey. End summary.



2. (C) Dec. 13 AJC President Tanner, Director of Government
Affairs Isaacson and
Strategic Studies Director (retired FSO) Jacobs visited
high-level GOT and
party officials to reaffirm AJC's continued lobbying support
for Turkey.






Meeting with President Sezer





3. (C) DCM accompanied Tanner, Isaacson and Jacobs to their
meeting with Sezer, who,
noted his appreciation for the AJC's work on behalf of
Turkey. Tanner reassured
Sezer of Turkey's importance for the U.S. Jewish community,
as well as AJC's
support of Turkey's application to the EU.



4. (C) Commenting that Turkey's relations with the U.S. are
improving, Sezer
focused on the particularly close bilateral political and
military relations and
looked forward to closer commercial relations. In this
regard, he noted the
mutual U.S., Israeli and Turkish efforts to establish
qualifying industrial zones (QIZs)
in Turkey. Affirming the cooperation among the U.S., Israel
and Turkey, he
commented that both Turkey and Israel live in a region where
terrorism occurs
and violence escalates daily. Since the escalation of
violence is not to
the advantage of Israelis or Palestinians, Sezer stated
Turkey is ready to help
initiate a new round in the MEPP and to host an international
meeting of both
sides regarding these issues.



5. (C) In response, Tanner appraised a number of Turkey's
strengths: (1) its
location -- on the one hand, it can negotiate to join the EU
and on the other
hand it is part of the Middle East; (2) it is a large
democratic country that
is a bridge between east and west; (3) its geography
facilitates a unique role.
Tanner said the people of Israel thirst and hunger for peace.
He asked that
both he and Sezer pray in their separate ways so that people

in Turkey and
Israel can settle on a two-state solution and people can be
recognized by
their neighbors in peace. In response to Sezer's questions
about regional
instability, a U.S. operation against Iraq, expansion of
tensions, and expansion of
Israeli settlements, Tanner replied he is always concerned
about war, but that
the potential operation against Iraq is not an Israeli war.
The Israelis are
in great jeopardy and more exposed than anyone else, but as
an organization,
the AJC has no position on war. Even if the Jewish community
or Israel felt
the United States should wait until some other event
occurred, war is
not an issue the AJC could influence. Sezer concurred that
Turkey faces similar
problems from terrorist activities and efforts for peace will
take longer to be
achieved.




Meeting with Ambassador Ali Tuygan





6. (C) In his meeting with the delegation, Deputy U/S for
Bilateral Political
Affairs with the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific
Ali Tuygan (has served as
Turkish ambassador to Riyadh) commented that the Qataris have
indicated they
would like to conduct a "dialogue of civilizations."
Exploring the idea of
mutual understanding in response to a question from Isaacson
about how to avoid
expressions that are offensive in the Arab world, Tuygan
responded it is necessary
to insert Turkey in the dialogue. Tanner said that since
September 11, he
has noted that education in the Arab world is geared toward
hatred of Israel,
the Jews, U.S. and Christians. Tuygan concurred, saying
Turkey faces similar
problems with its neighbors promoting anti-Turkish
sentiments, but Turkey is
making an effort to change this, although necessarily slowly
and patiently.

7. (C) Jacobs declared that Saudi Arabia is seen as a source
of terrorism
financing, particularly in promoting a hatred of Jews.
Tuygan noted this is
known to everyone and that Turkey faced a similar situation
in the Balkans.
Responding to Jacobs' discussion of schools as a breeding
ground for terrorism,
Tuygan replied that the desire for change in Turkey's
neighbors is genuine.
For example, in Iran, women are gradually pulling their
scarves back from their
faces and showing small, but incrementally significant
portions of their
hairline. In response to Isaacson's question about how the
friends of democracy
can speed change, Tuygan pointed to economic cooperation and
the willingness to
face a certain amount of uneasiness. Discussing other
relationships in
the region, Tuygan declared:


--Iran and Iraq have a chance to finish each other off.
--Turkey's relationship with Syria changed after the
rendition of former
PKK leader Ocalan; cooperation is on the rise. Bashar Assad
was brought in by
the old guard of advisors.
--Egyptians are quiet about their relations with Turkey; Amr
Moussa is
trying to be moderate.



8. (C) Queried about initiatives for future peace
conferences, Tuygan
suggested working through football, soccer or basketball
sports clubs,
emphasizing that governments and NGOs must also make efforts.








Meeting with AKP Vice Chairman Murat Mercan





9. (C) AK vice chairman for media and information Murat
Mercan opined
that EU membership is being withheld from Turkey perhaps
on (1) cultural grounds, (2) religious grounds or (3)
possibly the EU
leadership's failure to prepare the populace and its system
for Turkish
accession. Mercan declared that Turkey is better developed
and better prepared than
other aspiring EU candidates in eastern Europe. He also
observed that
he does not have as close relations with the Israeli Embassy
in Ankara
as with the German, French and U.S. embassies.



10. (C) Tanner emphasized the uniqueness of both
Israel and Turkey in being the only democracies in the
region. Mercan and
Tanner both agreed on the need to fight terrorism to protect
the world for
their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.




Meeting with CHP Chairman Deniz Baykal





11. (C) Baykal described his party's current mandate as
"containing the
situation and preventing any move to rewrite the constitution
of
Turkey. Asked about Cyprus, clearly a sensitive issue for
him, Baykal averred
that the situation is difficult and does not reflect the
aspirations of the Turkish
community. However, Baykal said he supports negotiations for
a peaceful solution.
He recommended that a third party should intervene to achieve
a solution in Cyprus;
the UNSYG is best positioned to do this. Baykal
concluded by speculating that relations between the U.S. and
Turkey could deteriorate if Turkey is not admitted to the EU.



12. (C) Tanner, who had met with AKP Chairman Erdogan in
Washington, described him as "practical and straightforward."
In response,
Baykal asserted that AKP would need to establish itself in
Turkish politics to
determine the proper direction of the society's wishes. CHP
will monitor
AKP's program to be sure AK stays on track and does not
try to "initiate unacceptable practices." CHP will create
momentum to prevent
radical changes. At the end of the meeting, Baykal expressed
appreciation for
U.S. assistance to Turkish reconstruction after World War II.
Tanner said
that Truman Doctrine assistance to Turkey had its roots in
Henry Morgenthau's
father's tenure as the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey in 1913.


PEARSON
PEARSON