TURKS SHARE CONCERNS ON ESDP AND "BERLIN PLUS"

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005312 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2013 TAGS: PREL MARR EU TU SUBJECT: TURKS SHARE CONCERNS ON ESDP AND "BERLIN PLUS" REF: STATE 235459 (U) Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch, reasons 1.5, b/d. (C) Although Turkey is not yet an EU accession state and will not participate in the August 29 Rome meeting, PolMilOff shared reftel points with MFA NATO officer Esra Dogan August ¶19. PolMilOff emphasized that because the US and Turkey had often shared common views on ESDP and had coordinated so successfully in the past, the US hoped that the GOT would echo reftel concerns to its European contacts in the coming weeks. (MFA had previously informed the Embassy that GOT officials were planning to visit European capitols to explain its interest in participation in the Iraq stabilization force.) Dogan noted that the GOT shared US concerns about duplicative institutions to the detriment of both capabilities investment and transparency with NATO. She said she would notify her superiors of the US points. EDELMAN