DEMARCHE ON SECOND ROUND OF UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 006368 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/10/2114 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM EU UP TU SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON SECOND ROUND OF UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: TURKEY REF: A. STATE 240442 ¶B. ANKARA 5847 ¶C. STATE 220961 ¶D. STATE 217357 Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY DEPUTY POLITICAL COUNSELOR CHARLES O. BLAH A BY E.0. 12958, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) On November 10 we presented reftel A demarche to Turkish MFA Eastern Europe Political Officer Yavuz Evirgen, noting that we had demarched the MFA on Ukrainian elections as recently as October 14. Evirgen replied that Turkey had sent ten observers, five members of Parliament and five Turkish Embassy staffers based in Kiev to the first round of elections. For the second round of elections, the GOT plans to send approximately three or four members of Parliament and two or three staff members from the Turkish Embassy in Kiev, but did not have their names. Evirgen noted that academics would like to participate as observers, but the projected cost of $2,050 per person is prohibitively expensive for Turkish universities to fund. ¶2. (C) Evirgen confirmed that GOT participation in sending a larger delegation of observers to monitor Kosovo elections is based in part on protecting the interests of the Turkish minority in that country; there is not a similar concern in Ukraine. EDELMAN