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