FOREIGN TRADE CLAIMS TUZMEN'S VISIT TO IRAQ

S E C R E T ANKARA 000352

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR NEA/NGA AND EUR/SE
AGRICULTURE FOR FAS - U/S PENN AND EC - CHAMBLISS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2008
TAGS: ETRD ETTC IZ PREL TU UNSC
SUBJECT: FOREIGN TRADE CLAIMS TUZMEN'S VISIT TO IRAQ
GENERATED 700 MILLION EURO IN CONTRACTS FOR TURKISH FIRMS


REF: A. ANKARA 262

B. ANKARA 302

C. ANKARA 8863


(U) Classified by Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Deutsch.
Reasons 1.5 (b) and (d).



1. (C) Econoff met with Tevfik Mengu, Director General for
Agreements at the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat, on January
14 for a readout on State Minister Kursad Tuzmen's January 10
to 12 visit to Baghdad. Mengu characterized the visit as
very successful, noting that, in addition to Tuzmen's
one-on-one meeting with Saddam Hussein, the delegation, which
included Energy Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Nermin Berki
and an MFA official, had met with ten Iraqi ministers and the
Deputy Vice-President Taha Yasin Ramazan. He asserted that
the 400 Turkish executives travelling with the delegation had
closed about 700 million euro worth of contracts in a range
of industries. While he did not go into detail, he guessed
that about one quarter of the contracts were in agriculture,
including some wheat exports. He stated that the total value
of the contracts would not be known until companies sent the
contracts to the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat for
submission to the UN Oil for Food Program.



2. (SBU) In a briefing for the press, Tuzmen said that the
two sides signed memoranda of understanding in the energy
sector (on Iraq-Turkey natural gas exports, the Gharraf Field
Oil development and oil exploration). However, MFA energy
officials told us that the delegation discussed the existing
Turkey-Iraq Gas Protocol (ref C),but no new agreements
resulted from the meetings. Tuzmen also told the press that
a Turkey-Iraq Joint Economic Commission meeting would be held
in March in Ankara. Mengu noted that no date for the JEC had
been set.



3. (S) Tuzmen has said he used the visit to deliver a
political message to Saddam Hussein from PM Gul. MFA
Undersecretary Ziyal told the Ambassador that Tuzmen had
delivered a strong message that the onus was on Saddam to
avoid war in the region by disclosing information on weapons
of mass destruction (ref B). However, the substance of
Tuzmen's visit was overwhelmingly commercial, and has come
under criticism from Ak party colleagues, the political
opposition and the press. Emin Sirin, the Deputy Chairman of
Parliament's Foreign Policy Committee, strongly criticized
the visit on January 6 (ref A). In private conversations
with Polmilcouns on the margins of bilateral military talks
on January 13, a number of Turkish general officers roundly
criticized the Tuzmen visit as ill-timed and
counterproductive to Turkey's longer-term interests. The
press has widely cited Tuzmen's joint press conference with
Deputy Vice President Ramazan, which Ramazan apparently cut
short on being asked a question about Turkish claims to Mosul
and Kirkuk. Numerous articles have questioned Tuzmen's and
the GOT's judgement in leading such a large delegation to
Iraq at this time. Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman
Deniz Baykal said that Turkey had been humiliated and
subjected to rude behavior, and that the visit was
"meaningless, untimely and unnecessary".



4. (C) Comment: On Iraq matters, Tuzmen and Turkey's Foreign
Trade bureaucracy appear to be oblivious to anything beyond
short-term commercial gain. However, domestic criticism of
Tuzmen's trade mission suggests that many view Tuzmen and his
visit as out of step with Turkey's larger interests. In our
meetings with GOT officials, we have pointed out that,
because of its heavy commercial tone, this visit sent a
decidedly mixed message to Saddam.
PEARSON