FONMIN GUL RESPONSE TO SECRETARY POWELL RE

UNCLAS ANKARA 005940 SIPDIS IO/SHA PLEASE PASS TO SASHA MEHRA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPDC PHUM PREL TU SUBJECT: FONMIN GUL RESPONSE TO SECRETARY POWELL RE COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS WEOG ROTATION REF: A. STATE 209853 ¶B. ANKARA 5764 ¶1. Turkish response on Commission for Human Rights WEOG rotation is contained in letter from FonMin Gul to Secretary Powell (para 2; original being pouched to Department). Turkey asks for U.S. support for increase in number of years allocated to Turkey. ¶2. Text of Turkish response: Dear Mr. Secretary of State, Thank you very much for your Letter of 29 September 2004 (Reftel A). Turkey, as a country which is fully committed to achieving the highest standards in democracy, the rule of law and the promotion and protection of human rights is very much interested in serving actively in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (CHR). Within this framework, Turkey gives utmost importance to improving the work of the Commission and looks favorably at a rotation scheme for membership of WEOG countries. With this understanding, Turkey is ready to accept a rotation plan for the CHR within the WEOG. We believe that objective criteria such as size, population, GDP, and contributions to the UN should be used in determining as to how many a years a country will serve in the CHR. However, the Dutch-Canadian proposal, which has been recently conveyed to us, does not seem to be fair with regard to the distribution of years for membership for Turkey. During the 21-year period, the Dutch-Canadian proposal envisages only 6 years for Turkey while granting more to other countries such as Italy (14), Spain (11),Austria (8) and Portugal (7). We believe that as a country which has achieved sweeping reforms that have been highly regarded by the international community, Turkey is better placed today to play a much more active role within the CHR. With these considerations we request that Turkey be a member of the CHR for at least 8 years during this period. While desiring a successful conclusion of the long-standing efforts in bringing a rotation scheme for membership of WEOG, I look forward to your support for a longer term for Turkey's participation in the CHR than the one proposed in the Dutch-Canadian conceptual framework. Sincerely, Abdullah Gul. End text. EDELMAN