TURKEY'S PARTICIPATION IN MADRID DONOR'S CONFERENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 006449

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2013
TAGS: BEXP ECON IZ PREL TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S PARTICIPATION IN MADRID DONOR'S CONFERENCE


REF: A. STATE 287995

B. STATE 280992


Classified by A/DCM Scot Marciel for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d).



1. (U) Baghdad Minimize Considered.



2. (C) SUMMARY: Turkey is still developing its delegation
and pledge for the Iraq Donor's Conference October 23-24 in
Madrid, though FM Gul will not attend. On assistance, MFA
officials could only say that Turkey's pledge will be much
higher than the USD 5 million pledged in Tokyo for
Afghanistan. Turkish MFA said the October 10 visit of the
Iraqi delegation to Turkey was useful, but MFA was
disappointed that only two members of Iraqi delegation were
able to come, because they were not able to respond to the
significant interest shown by Turkish businesses. Turkey is
preparing to send a 7-person team to the private sector
conference October 23 in Madrid. End Summary.


Iraq Donor's Conference



3. (C) MFA Ambassador Okcun, who is the GOT's Coordinator
for Iraq Rconstruction, told Econoff that Turkey has not yet
determined who will lead the Turkish delegation at the Iraq
Donor's Conference. Foreign Minister Gul will not be able to
attend; the delegation will be led by another Minister TBD.
Ambassador Okcun and Turkey's Special Representative to Iraq
will also be in the delegation. Turkey has not yet decided
what to pledge at the conference, but Okcun said that the
final figure would be "much higher" than the USD 5 million
that Turkey pledged for Afghan reconstruction. He noted that
current budget constraints meant that Turkey could not be as
generous as it might want to be. However, he noted that
Turkey has already exceeded its pledge for Afghanistan and he
expected that over the course of the program, the GOT would
easily exceed the pledge for Iraq. He pointed out that
Turkey will also count in its pledge some of the expected
expenditures it will make for Turkish peacekeeping forces in
Iraq. (Note: He did not specify what kinds of expenditures
would be included.)



4. (U) Okcun said the GOT was encouraging individuals and
NGOs to contribute to humanitarian efforts in Iraq. He was
scheduled to meet with three groups in the next two days, and
he expected total private contributions to be in the millions
of dollars.


Visit of Iraqi Delegation



5. (C) Okcun said the October 10 visit of the Iraq
delegation was useful and urged that it be repeated,
However, he was disappointed that only Ambassador Belka and
Mr. Al-Hakim were able to come to Turkey. Okcun said the MFA
arranged a series of meetings in Ankara and Istanbul with
business groups with a strong interest in Iraq. However, the
small Iraqi delegation was unable to answer some important
questions. For example, Okcun said that Turkey's large
agricultural bank is very interested in operating in Iraq and
was eager to talk to Mr. Al-Shabibi from the Central Bank,
who did not come to Turkey.


Private Sector Conference



6. (SBU) Turkey plans to send a 7-person delegation to the
Madrid Conference on the Role of the Private Sector in Iraq.
The group was selected in coordination with the Turkish
Chamber of Commerce. (See delegation list in para 7.) State
Minister Tuzmen will not be able to attend. Ambassador Okcun
is the GOT point of contact for the conference. His phone
number in Ankara is (90-312) 287-1295.



7. (U) Delegation List:


-- Omer Aydiner, Union of International Contractors
-- Rasit Unuvar, Association of Turkish Consultant Engineers
and Architects
-- Cetin Nuhoglu, Association of International Transport
-- Selahattin Onen, Turkish Employers Association of the
Contruction Industry
-- Sahnur Agaik, Association of Turkish Industrialists and
Businessmen
-- Rusen Cetin, Asssembly of Turklish Exporters
-- Ercument Aksoy, Foreign Economic Relations Board.
EDELMAN