DEMARCHE TO TURKEY ON FUEL SUPPLIES TO IRAQ

UNCLAS ANKARA 007141 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR NEA/I AND EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EPET MOPS PREL IZ TU SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO TURKEY ON FUEL SUPPLIES TO IRAQ REF: A. STATE 273248 ¶B. ADANA 171 ¶C. ANKARA 7119 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Post passed on ref a message to foreign ministry officials on December 24. Turkish MFA says it is seized with the issue and is doing what it can to encourage transporters, fuel contractors and truckers to resolve the strike. MFA officials believe the single biggest problem is fees levied by authorities in Northern Iraq which add to Turkish truckers' costs. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Following up on CDA's conversation with Turkey's Special Representative on Iraq Koruturk yesterday (ref c), Acting Econ Couns passed on the message in ref a to Koruturk's office as well as to Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Ender Arat. Both Koruturk and Arat are at the parliament all day today as the Foreign Ministry defends its budget. A/EconCouns spoke separately with Director General for Economic Affairs Oguz Ozge and with Deputy DG Mehmet Gucuk who has been following this issue. ¶3. (SBU) Both officials undertook to pass on the message to Arat and Koruturk. Ozge claimed that, in addition to financial issues, there were "political considerations" that Koruturk is looking into. When pressed to explain, Ozge suggested their may be a "Kongra Gel" (i.e. PKK) link to the intimidation experienced by those truckers trying to deliver product. In the conversation with Gucuk, he said the GOT was trying to stop the intimidation but he did not allude to any Kongra-Gel connection. ¶4. (SBU) Gucuk went into more detail on economic factors. He said the MFA is seized with the issue, up through the Minister, who had met with the manager of one of the transport companies whose truckers are striking last week. This particular transporter is also a board member of the RODER transporters' union. Gucuk said that the Minister urged the transporters to do what they could to resolve the strike but that the transport companies say they can no longer control individual truckers. ¶5. (SBU) Gucuk also said that the Turkish authorities believe that the single biggest problem is the fees levied by "Northern Iraqi authorities." He said that even if SOMO raised its payments, the "Northern Iraqis" would increase their fees accordingly, as this has happened in the past. According to Gucuk, the "Northern Iraqis" charge an average of $300 per truck on all petroleum products. Gucuk also said that the $300 sometimes runs as high as $500. He said there are other charges on other products, such as $368 per truckload of electronics. ¶6. (SBU) Finally, Gucuk said that both the Foreign Ministry and Foreign Trade Undersecretariat would continue to work on the issue, and would welcome discussions with SOMO and the IIG on how best to resolve this complex problem. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: Post passes on GOT officials' comments without being able to verify their assessment of the problem in Northern Iraq. Post also urges the Department and Embassy Baghdad to factor in the information obtained by Consulate Adana in ref b, based on discussions with contractors and transporters on the ground. On ref a's reference to Petrol Ofisi being government-owned, post notes that majority ownership (51%) of Petrol Ofisi was sold to private companies in 2000 and our understanding is that the company operates like a private business. Moreover, post's understanding is that Petrol Ofisi is the leading contractor on sustainment fuels, but is only the third or fourth largest Turkish supplier to SOMO. ¶8. (U) Baghdad Minimize considered. O'BRIEN