Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ANKARA946
2003-02-06 16:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

TURKISH MFA ON ACCESS FOR NGOS PROVIDING

Tags:  EAID IZ MOPS PREF PREL TU 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000946 

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE AND NEA/NGA
DEPT PASS USAID FOR BHA/OFDA - WGARVELINK/RLIBBY AND FFP
EUCOM FOR JE, JR, J5, SOJ7 AND POLAD
GENEVA FOR RMA
CENTCOM FOR J3, J5 AND POLAD


E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2013
TAGS: EAID IZ MOPS PREF PREL TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH MFA ON ACCESS FOR NGOS PROVIDING
ASSISTANCE FOR TURKEY/IRAQ, CRISIS COORDINATION


Classified by Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Deutsch for
reasons 1.5 (B) and (D).


Summary
-------


C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000946

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE AND NEA/NGA
DEPT PASS USAID FOR BHA/OFDA - WGARVELINK/RLIBBY AND FFP
EUCOM FOR JE, JR, J5, SOJ7 AND POLAD
GENEVA FOR RMA
CENTCOM FOR J3, J5 AND POLAD


E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2013
TAGS: EAID IZ MOPS PREF PREL TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH MFA ON ACCESS FOR NGOS PROVIDING
ASSISTANCE FOR TURKEY/IRAQ, CRISIS COORDINATION


Classified by Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Deutsch for
reasons 1.5 (B) and (D).


Summary
--------------



1. (C) Mission Disaster Relief Officer (MDRO) and Ron Libby,
USAID/OFDA, met with Feza Ozturk, MFA Head of Department for
International Political Organizations, to follow up on
assistance and coordination issues discussed during the
Humanitarian Planning Team,s meeting with MFA on January 28
(septel). Ozturk said that the GOT would insist on tight
coordination of NGO activities in Turkey and in contiguous
territory in northern Iraq where the Turks are prepared to
establish camps for displaced persons, but said it was
prepared to show greater flexibility and openness toward
humanitarian organizations which wanted to ship relief
articles into Iraq beyond the border zone. Ozturk provided
additional background on humanitarian relief corridors. He
also expressed a willingness to establish a civil-military
coordinating framework on humanitarian assistance.


NGO Access
--------------



2. (C) In discussing access for NGOs and other humanitarian
organizations, Ozturk made a sharp distinction between
external assistance for refugee/internally displaced person
(IDP) camps on Turkish territory and contiguous territory in
northern Iraq on the one hand, and aid for the rest of Iraq
during and after a possible conflict. With regard to the
former, Turkey would insist that NGOs sign memoranda of
understanding defining their responsibilities and that relief
efforts be centrally coordinated, as described to the HPT
delegation. He said that the GOT would work out the mandate
to operate camps in the border zone in northern Iraq with the
Iraqi Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red
Cross. He added that it was not clear now how the legal
basis for a Turkish mandate in the zone would be worked out
with these other parties, as it was not a given that Turkey

would enter the area as a coalition partner. He contended
that Turkish military authorities would have the ultimate
authority to determine which NGOs would be given access to
camps in the zone. Ozturk said the GOT was ready to take
full responsibility for camp administration, including for
the welfare of IDPs under its authority. He told us that, in
any event, the GOT expected few IDPs. On centralizing
assistance through the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC),Ozturk
said that NGOs with aid destined for Turkey should donate
their supplies to TRC to avoid taxation of assistance.



3. (C) On humanitarian assistance to Iraq beyond the border
zone, Ozturk said the GOT would be far more flexible. He
said that Turkey was prepared to allow assistance (not
well-defined, but he offered military supplies and office
equipment as examples of what would not be permitted) to be
sent across its border to Iraq, if Turkey determines that
there is a need for this assistance. Such deliveries would
need to be approved on a case-by-case basis, but humanitarian
organizations could request pre-approval from MFA. Ozturk
suggested that the approval process for the first
organization requesting access could take &weeks8 but that
once the bureaucratic procedure was established and the need
for help was clear, the GOT would process requests quickly.
Ozturk said aid transiting Turkey would not be taxed provided
that it was kept in bonded warehouses for no more than 90
days (extendable) in Turkey. MDRO and Libby pointed out
that, if NGOs were authorized in advance to pre-position
goods in Turkey for distribution in Iraq, they would procure
many if not most of the goods in Turkey rather than
elsewhere. Libby told Ozturk that the International Rescue
Committee (IRC) is considering pre-positioning supplies and
may apply for pre-authorized access. Ozturk asked for a list
of NGOs that the USG is working with, which we agreed to
provide. We also suggested that MFA contact UNHCR which is
working with a large number of NGOs as well.



4. (C) MDRO raised the U.S. request to pre-position
humanitarian daily rations (HDRs),noting that the Turkish
General Staff had asked for more details on these supplies
and that we would respond soon. Ozturk stated that it would
be better to store HDRs in Gaziantep, Turkey,s logistics
hub, rather than in Adana, which is reserved for military use.


Crisis Coordination
--------------



5. (C) Ozturk confirmed that, in addition to centers in
Ankara, the GOT would set up coordination centers in
Diyarbakir, Silopi, Van and Gaziantep. Silopi is to be the
principal assistance hub. Van and Gaziantep centers would be
set up if needed to receive aid from abroad. Ozturk said
that the GOT planned to conduct an exercise in setting up a
refugee/IDP camp in Silopi on February 5.



6. (C) Econoff encouraged Ozturk to consider activating a
crisis center before we are overtaken by events in Iraq, and
also asked what the GOT,s thinking is on establishing a
civilian-military coordination center to deconflict
assistance from military operations and otherwise deal with
humanitarian organizations seeking to assist needy
populations. Ozturk replied that MFA was receptive to
setting up a civil-military coordinating mechanism with us
and looked forward to a U.S. proposal, but cautioned that the
GOT would not be ready to do this until the week of February

17. Note: GOT offices are closed the week of February 10
for the Sacrifice Holiday. End Note.


Aid Corridors
--------------



7. (C) Ozturk told us that the GOT has designated Gaziantep
and Van as the principal airports for receipt of humanitarian
assistance, but neither airport has an instrument landing
system (ILS). For this reason, Erzurum, which does have ILS,
is designated as a backup airport.


Comment
--------------



8. (C) While Ozturk,s relative openness to allowing aid to
transit Turkey for Iraq is encouraging, it is not clear to
what extent his views will be endorsed by his superiors in
MFA or by the TGS and other interested ministries. His
remark that it might take weeks to approve an application for
transit of relief shipments in the absence of a crisis
suggests there will be significant bureaucratic hurdles to
surmount within the GOT. Embassy recommends testing the
system by encouraging IRC or other NGOs to apply for
permission to pre-position goods in Turkey for shipment to
Iraq in the event of a humanitarian crisis.



9. (C) On setting up a aid coordination center or framework,
Embassy believes the best approach initially would be for
MDRO, a small number of U.S. military representatives and
their GOT/TGS counterparts to begin regular bilateral
meetings on assistance in Ankara. Until and unless the GOT
approves one or more applications for NGOs to provide
assistance across the Turkish-Iraqi border or activates its
crisis centers outside Ankara, establishing a formal center
in Diyarbakir or Silopi to coordinate such assistance and
deconflict would be of less value at this stage.
PEARSON