TURKEY ENCOURAGES PAKISTAN TO CONTRIBUTE TO IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005233 SIPDIS FOR EUR/SE AND SA E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2013 TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS TU IZ PA SUBJECT: TURKEY ENCOURAGES PAKISTAN TO CONTRIBUTE TO IRAQ STABILIZATION FORCE REF: A. ANKARA 5146 ¶B. STATE 236770 (U) Classified by Ambassador Eric Edelman, reasons 1.5, b/d. ¶1. (C) PolMilOff delivered ref B info to MFA Iraq deskoff Haldun Tekneci August 15. Tekneci thanked PolMilOff but made no comment on the information. ¶2. (C) During an introductory call August 18, MFA U/S Ziyal gave the Ambassador a brief readout of Pakistani FonSec Khokhar's meetings in Ankara. According to Ziyal, the GOT encouraged Pakistan to contribute to the stabilization force, noting that it was important to have Muslim countries involved. The GOT also offered to "help" Pakistan, but Ziyal did not specify what type of assistance Turkey was prepared to offer. Ziyal said Pakistan had not decided whether to participate in the force, but he inferred from his Pakistani counterpart that Islamabad was hesitant because it perceived such a deployment as potentially injurious to the conventional balance of forces between India and Pakistan. EDELMAN