MFA REACTION TO CONGRESSIONAL DRAFT RESOLUTION ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000885 SIPDIS DEPT. PLS. PASS TO EUR/SCC WESTON, EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2013 TAGS: PREL CY TU GR SUBJECT: MFA REACTION TO CONGRESSIONAL DRAFT RESOLUTION ON CYPRUS (U) Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch. Reasons: 1.5(b)(d). ¶1. (C) MFA Cyprus DG Ertugrul Apakan called us Feb. 4 to pass on GOT views about the draft resolution on Cyprus currently circulating on the Hill. ¶2. (C) Apakan stated that the GOT disagrees wholly with the substance of the draft resolution. He offered the following comments, which he said represented the coordinated position of the MFA: -- Turkey has strong reservations about the timing of the resolution draft. "We don't want two crises -- Iraq and Cyprus -- at the same time. The resolution will not be helpful on Iraq," particularly regarding attitudes in the Turkish Parliament; -- If the draft goes ahead as is, the AK Government will "find itself cornered" and unable to explain to either the Turkish people or to the Parliament the USG's position; -- "We are at a critical stage in the Cyprus negotiating process; this is most unhelpful"; -- The admission of "Greek Cyprus'" to the EU will usher in uncertainties and cause problems for Turkey and others; -- Turkey maintains the rights of a guarantor power on Cyprus pursuant to relevant treaties; "no one -- not even the UN -- has the right to refer to Turkey as an 'occupying power'"; -- "TRNC President" Denktas is doing his best to find a solution to the Cyprus problem. Cyprus President, Clerides, he insisted, was not/not ready to sign the Annan plan at the EU Copenhagen summit, perceptions to the contrary notwithstanding. David Hannay himself recently confirmed this to Turkey; -- New, "reputable" public opinion polls on Cyprus show support for Denktas is high. ¶3. (C) Comment: MFA's sensitivities and attitudes toward Cyprus are not new. What is at issue here, however, is the prospect that the draft resolution uproar will be used by conservative elements in the MFA and other GOT bureaucracies to dig in their heels against a possible move to settlement. PEARSON