TURKISH FONMIN GUL TO OIC: "WE SHOULD FIRST PUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 003507

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2013
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PGOV SCUL TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH FONMIN GUL TO OIC: "WE SHOULD FIRST PUT
OUR (ISLAMIC) HOUSE IN ORDER."


REF: STATE 140027


(U) Classified by Political Counselor John Kunstadter.
Reason: 1.5(b)(d).



1. (U) Much of May 29 Turkish press highlights what it
reports as Deputy P.M./FonMin Gul's strong pro-democracy
statement at May 28 OIC meeting in Tehran. Promoting what
some press characterized as a "visionary" message (one
supporting some USG points in reftel demarche),Gul urged the
transformation of the Muslim world by "put(ting) our house in
good order":


-- telling Muslim countries to reform their administrations
to meet the needs of the modern age through "a vision in
which good governance, transparency and accountability will
reign (over) fundamental rights and freedom and gender
equality are upheld..."


-- calling for reforms to promote democracy, political
participation, equal opportunity;


-- insisting that "rational thinking should be our driving
force";


-- advocating the eradication of illiteracy, corruption and
waste of human, natural and material resources;


-- urging that the OIC's message should be "unity in
diversity."


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COMMENT
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2. (C) We will follow up with members of Gul's delegation and
with MFA contacts for first-hand readouts of what Gul said in
his private contacts with the Syrians and Iranians when the
del returns to Ankara week of June 2. But it is clear that
Gul's comments are significant in several respects,
particularly in terms of the domestic political and policy
battles shaping up in Ankara. First, the philosophical:
Gul's emphasis on "rational thinking," though coming from a
political leader with impeccable "Islamic" credentials, runs
counter to a theme recently reiterated in the Turkish
Islamist press. Abdurrahman Dilipak, a columnist and Embassy
contact with great influence over the Islamist hardcore
rank-and-file, took issue recently with the West's allegedly
"rationalist secular religion," which he charged has no
respect for "sacred values."



3. (C) Equally important, the new activist approach
articulated by Gul under the influence of Ahmet Davutoglu
(now foreign policy adviser to P.M. Erdogan) is essentially
radical in its vision. As such, it is likely to cause
friction in a Turkish foreign policy Establishment habituated
to caution and willingness to look the other way in the face
of the very failings of the Islamic world's political
leadership that most need to be addressed, particularly in
the wake of September 11.
PEARSON