AFGHANISTAN: TURKEY MODIFIES ITS PRT STANCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000356 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2030 TAGS: MARR PREL PGOV TU AF UK SUBJECT: AFGHANISTAN: TURKEY MODIFIES ITS PRT STANCE REF: ANKARA 353 Classified By: PolMil Counselor Timothy A. Betts for reasons 1.4 (b) an d (d) ¶1. (C) Late January 19, MFA South Asia DDG Aydin Evirgen told PolMilCouns that, after further consideration "at high levels," Turkey was modifying its position on participating in PRTs in Afghanistan from that which he conveyed to us on January 18 (reftel). He said the Turkish General Staff (TGS) had been authorized to offer a Turkish contribution to the Italian-led PRT in Harat at the NATO force generation conference on January 20. Evirgen said that this contribution would be "an alternative" to taking over the British PRT at Mazar-e Sharif, but the Turkish representative at the Jan. 20 meeting would not address the Mazar option as Ankara preferred to wait to hear the USG thoughts on it. PolMilCouns welcomed this message, noting that he had heard informally that HMG may have already found others to take over Mazar. When pressed as to whether the two options -- contributing to Harat or leading in Mazar -- were mutually exclusive, Evirgen allowed that in the event both contributions were desired, the GOT would consider them. For now, however, the decision was one or the other. ¶2. (C) Comment: This is the first hint that Turkey is prepared to participation in Stage 2 expansion of ISAF. We defer to USNATO on the merits of this new proposal in meeting ISAF force requirements. From the perspective of encouraging greater Turkish participation in ISAF, however, we should capitalize on this sudden change of heart if we can. End comment. ¶3. (U) Kabul minimize considered. EDELMAN