TURKEY PLANS TO DEPOSIT NATO INSTRUMENT OF

UNCLAS ANKARA 005209 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/RPM-LANGENKAMP, L/T-HOLLERAN, AND EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM MARR PREL KTIA SUBJECT: TURKEY PLANS TO DEPOSIT NATO INSTRUMENT OF RATIFICATION ON ENLARGEMENT THIS FALL REF: STATE 235543 Turkish MFA NATO Head of Department Bulent Meric told PolMilOff August 15 that the seven bills to approve the Accession Protocols for the new NATO members have been approved in committee and are now before the full Parliament. As a "priority" item, the bills should be considered immediately upon resumption of Parliament October 1. If approved, they would then have to be signed by the President before being published in the Gazette. Then the instruments of ratification would be submitted to the State Department. However, because the bills are "priority," if the GOT calls an extraordinary session of Parliament in September, the bills would have to be considered during the extraordinary session and cannot be deferred until October 1. In any case, Meric believed the instruments of ratification would be deposited by the end of October. Embassy will report on any developments in this area. EDELMAN