Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ANKARA2800
2003-04-30 07:57:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:
TURKEY'S OPPOSITION CHP CONTINUES TO TRY TO HAVE
how-toThis record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available. 300757Z Apr 03
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).
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
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