TURKEY: DEMARCHE ON PRESIDENT'S EMERGENCY PLAN

UNCLAS ANKARA 001151 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID KHIV PREL SENV SOCI TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: DEMARCHE ON PRESIDENT'S EMERGENCY PLAN FOR AIDS RELIEF REF: STATE 38300 ¶1. (U) Regional Environment Officer briefed Health Ministry officials on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, per instructions reftel. Kamuran Ozden, Head of the Ministry's External Relations Department, was pleased to receive the information, adding that he agreed with the U.S. global strategy, since AIDS does not respect borders. Ozden asked if the U.S. had identified the 100 countries under the USD 5 billion portion of the strategy and offered that Turkey was eager to cooperate with the U.S. ¶2. (U) Ozden said that Turkey continues to be fortunate that the incidence of AIDS in Turkey remains quite low. However, the government realizes that Turkey is a crossroads for legitimate and illegitimate migration and trade and therefore is at risk from the growing AIDS epidemic in neighboring countries. "If it shows up in Moscow, it will eventually show up in Istanbul," he said. ¶3. (U) Ozden said Turkey had a bad experience with the Global Fund, which rejected a number of Turkish proposals and did not take into account the national characteristics of Turkey. EDELMAN