GOT PREPARING FOR EVENTUAL ICC MEMBERSHIP,

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002770

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE


E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2014
TAGS: PREL MARR PHUM TU
SUBJECT: GOT PREPARING FOR EVENTUAL ICC MEMBERSHIP,
STALLING ON ARTICLE 98


REF: 03 ANKARA 2317 AND PREVIOUS


Classified by Ambassador Eric S. Edelman; reasons 1.4 b and d.



1. (U) Action request -- para 4.



2. (U) Levent Sahinkaya, head of the MFA International
Political Organizations Department, told us April 22 that the
GOT intends to eventually become a signatory to the
International Criminal Court (ICC). He denied press reports
indicating that Turkey will join the ICC "in the next couple
of weeks." He averred that the GOT is in no hurry, noting
that while the EU has made it clear it wants Turkey to join
the ICC, it does not require that Turkey join before
beginning accession negotiations. He claimed not to know
when Turkey would be prepared to join. Sahinkaya said the
GOT is beginning to prepare the legal ground for becoming a
party to the Rome Statute. For example, on May 7 Parliament
adopted a package of constitutional amendments under which
Article 38 of the Constitution will be revised to allow for
the extradition of Turkish citizens under obligations
required by ICC membership (if and when Turkey joins the
body).



3. (U) We asked Sahinkaya whether the GOT is now prepared to
reach an Article 98 agreement with the U.S. One of the GOT
arguments for not signing an Article 98 agreement has been
that Turkey is not an ICC member. However, it remains clear
that Turkey will become an ICC member at some point as its EU
accession process goes forward. Sahinkaya said there is no
change in the GOT position. The GOT is not willing to risk
an Article 98 agreement becoming an issue for Turkey's EU
candidacy. He said he understands that the U.S. has reached
an Article 98 agreement with the UK, and asked if Embassy
could provide him a copy of that agreement. He also asked
for updates on U.S. efforts to reach agreement with the EU on
the issue. (Note: The Ambassador raised the issue of an
Article 98 agreement in a conversation with MFA U/S Ziyal May
12; Ziyal gave a noncommittal response. End Note).



4. (C) Comment and Action Request: The GOT is still unwilling
to engage with the U.S. on the Article 98 question (reftels),
and is clearly wary of alienating the EU in the run-up to the
December EU Summit. The decision to make reference to the
ICC in the Constitution, before even joining the body, is
clearly intended to impress the EU. Constitutional Committee
Chairman Burhan Kuzu argued during deliberations over the
constitutional amendments that there is no need to make
reference to the ICC in the Constitution, regardless of
whether Turkey is a member. Until such time as EU members
begin to accept Article 98 agreements with the U.S. we cannot
expect progress with Turkey. We would, therefore, welcome
information on the status of Article 98 discussions with the
EU and leading EU members.


EDELMAN