TURKEY'S OPPOSITION CHP CONTINUES TO TRY TO HAVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002800 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2013 TAGS: PREL PGOV TU SUBJECT: TURKEY'S OPPOSITION CHP CONTINUES TO TRY TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS ON RELATIONS WITH THE U.S. REF: A. ANKARA 674 ¶B. ANKARA 1634 (U) Classified by Political Counselor John Kunstadter. Reason: 1.5 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In private conversations with us, opposition CHP M.P.s assert they value U.S.-Turkey relations and claim the party is the United States' "best friend." Publicly, experienced CHP deputies continue to pursue an anti-American line that belies their private assurances. End Summary. -------------- Privately "Our best friends in Turkey"... -------------- ¶2. (C) Reftels noted opposition CHP's unhelpful and often anti-American stance with regard to U.S. Iraq policy. In private meetings over the last month, however, CHP M.P.s have expressed overwhelming support for continued Turkish-U.S. relations. Our contacts include: CHP vice chairman Sinan Yerlikaya; Foreign Affairs Committee member and former ambassador to NATO Onur Oymen; Human Rights Committee member Engin Altay; Ataturk's right-hand man Ismet Inonu's granddaughter and Ankara deputy Gulsun Bilgehan; and pro-U.S. Kurdish M.P. Esat Canan. ¶3. (C) As if from talking points, these deputies all offered the following: 1) they profess to be the United States' best friends in Turkey; 2) they have been eager to explain away CHP's anti-war policy, in part, as merely "opposition politics;" and 3) they hearken back to the history of U.S.-Turkey relations to suggest that these relations cannot be spoiled by "temporary misunderstandings." Indeed, in an April 25 conversation, Bilgehan evoked the 1946 visit of the battleship Missouri to Istanbul as the beginning of a strong relationship that "will not be broken." Rationalizing in a bizarre way, Canan, who in previous private meetings has lambasted CHP for its Iraq policy, told us April 29 that the party could not support the AK government on Iraq, because AK had followed the wrong policies in its relations with U.S. ¶4. (C) In an April 28 meeting with CODEL Wexler, Oymen underscored the importance CHP places on relations with the U.S. and agreed that Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee should look into ways it can positively reinforce Turkish-U.S. ties to the public. Commenting on Parliament's newly formed Turkish-U.S. Friendship Group, whose board in the initial election -- now apparently voided -- was entirely CHP, Oymen quipped, "this means CHP likes the U.S. more than the government party." -------------- ...But in public it's another story -------------- ¶5. (C) What CHPers feed to the press is another story. Mainstream press coverage of the Wexler-Oymen discussion focused on two minor points the CHP deputy made during the one-and-a-half hour meeting. Oymen suggested that the U.S. remove a "welcome to Kurdistan" sign at the Iraq border and replace it with one reading "welcome to Iraq." While pointing out Turkey's sensitivities to U.S. pressure, Oymen asked why former Secretary Christopher visited Syria 22 times but never Turkey. The media have portrayed these statements as CHP standing up to the U.S. bully. ¶6. (C) In a series of April articles in Turkey's leading mainstream dailies, CHP deputy and foreign affairs committee member Sukru Elekdag, who was ambassador to Washington for 10 years, harshly criticized U.S. Iraq policy. He called the war "immoral, illegal, and disgusting." Moreover, he suggested that Turkey might re-orient its foreign policy towards its Arab neighbors if the U.S. does not respect Turkey's interests in N. Iraq. Yerlikaya unconvincingly dismissed Elekdag's statements, because the former ambassador is not a member of the party's Central Administrative Board and therefore not part of CHP leader Deniz Baykal's inner circle. "In any case, he is 80 years old. How can we keep quiet a man of such experience and stature?" Yerlikaya tried to ask rhetorically. In any event, Baykal continues to be quoted as saying things highly critical of the U.S. -------------- Comment: Same ol' CHP -------------- ¶7. (C) CHP's contradictory public and private faces reflect the party's desire to have it both ways. We continue to emphasize to our interlocutors that this is unacceptable. PEARSON