INTERAGENCY BRIEFING TEAM ON GUANTANAMO ISSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001485 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2010 TAGS: PTER KAWC PINR PREL TU SUBJECT: INTERAGENCY BRIEFING TEAM ON GUANTANAMO ISSUES REF: A. STATE 45507 (NOTAL) ¶B. STATE 38056 (NOTAL) ¶C. ANKARA 1210 Classified By: DCM Robert S. Deutsch for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is an action request--please see para. 3. ¶2. (C) Embassy appreciates DoD's offer to lead an interagency team to Ankara to discuss Guantanamo issues with Turkish officials. However, Turkey has only two detainees at Guantanamo, and per refs b and c we understand one of these will be released imminently. Moreover, Turkish officials do not raise vigorous concerns about treatment of their nationals there. A visit by the interagency team would only serve to make Guantanamo a higher-profile issue. Thus we do not believe a visit would be advisable at this time. ¶3. (SBU) Action request: Turkish officials, the press, and members of the public do periodically ask questions about Guantanamo, regarding both the conditions there and the legal aspects of our policy on detainees. We therefore would appreciate if Washington could provide talking points we can use to deal with these queries as needed. EDELMAN