TURKISH REQUEST FOR SMALLPOX/ANTHRAX VACCINES

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001079 SIPDIS SECDEF FOR OUSD-P/ISP/TSPCP/CTR E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2013 TAGS: AMED ASEC AMGT MARR PREL TU SUBJECT: TURKISH REQUEST FOR SMALLPOX/ANTHRAX VACCINES REF: A. ANKARA 944 ¶B. 02 STATE 256701 ¶C. 02 STATE 256691 (U) Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) MFA's International Political Organizations Department Head Feza Ozturk reiterated GOT's acceptance of our offer to provide access to smallpox and anthrax vaccines at meetings on 2/17 with EconCouns and 2/18 with EconOff, Post Medical Officer and the Team Leader of the Department's Smallpox Vaccination Program. The GOT request (Ref A) is to receive vaccines for 30,000 persons (30,000 doses) for smallpox and for 70,000 persons (420,000 doses) for anthrax. Once we advise that the vaccines have been allocated to Turkey, MFA will arrange for our expert team to meet with the Ministry of Health and Turkish General Staff regarding training, vaccine handling and other logistics. ¶2. (C) ACTION AND COMMENT. Demarche instructions (Ref B) refer to U.S. willingness to provide access to vaccines and to the offer as foreign assistance. They do not mention costs or payments. The Turks understood this to mean "no cost." We offered the vaccines to the Turks and they accepted our offer. Embassy requests confirmation that vaccines are to be delivered at no-cost to GOT. Embassy also requests confirmation as soon as possible that we can meet GOT request for specified quantities and receive information on how these vaccines will be made available. PEARSON