TURKEY DROPS OUT OF NEWPORT PSI EXERCISE; LIMITS

UNCLAS ANKARA 005380 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KNNP MNUC PARM PREL ETTC TU SUBJECT: TURKEY DROPS OUT OF NEWPORT PSI EXERCISE; LIMITS PSI PARTICIPATION REF: A. ANKARA 5015 ¶B. STATE 188228 ¶C. ANKARA 3740 AND PREVIOUS (U) Classified by Ambassador Eric S. Edelman. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) MFA Disarmament Department Head Bulent Meric contacted EXBS Advisor on September 20 to inform him that the GOT had decided to not send a delegation to the Newport, Rhode Island PSI exercise next week. Meric explained that after considering the negative US response to Turkey's request to join the PSI Core Group (ref B),Ankara had decided to limit its participation in PSI to Turkey's region (i.e., Mediterranean, Middle East, Caucasus, Balkans). This did not diminish Turkey's commitment to PSI, he continued, and the geographic limitation of Turkey's involvement could be reconsidered if Turkey were admitted to the Core Group or if that body ceased to exist. ¶2. (C) Comment: We had heard over a week ago that a decision along these lines might be coming. We tried to convince the Turks to refrain from taking any action until Washington had had time to consider the GOT's reaction to our points on Turkey and the Core Group (ref A). Unfortunately, they did not wait. We expect MFA and perhaps TGS will explain this decision further to visiting OSD/ISA DASD Brzezinski during his meetings on September 22. End Comment. EDELMAN