TURKISH VIEWS ON RENEWAL OF ISAF'S UN MANDATE AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 004765 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/2015 TAGS: MARR PREL AF TU IZ NATO UNSC SUBJECT: TURKISH VIEWS ON RENEWAL OF ISAF'S UN MANDATE AND INTERNATIONAL USE OF FORCE REF: A. STATE 146276 (NOTAL) ¶B. ANAKRA 4186 (NOTAL) Classified By: Acting DCM James R. Moore for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Polmilcouns raised ISAF's UN mandate with MFA Deputy Director General for NATO Affairs Fatih Ceylan on August 11 as instructed ref A. Ceylan said that some offices within MFA had been discussing the use of force, mandates and international legitimacy recently. His office has argued that Turkey should avoid being overly rigid or legalistic in its approach because "you never know when we (Turkey) might need to do something." On the specific issue of whether ISAF's UN mandate must be changed to allow expansion of ISAF's security role, Ceylan said the mandate was technically broad enough as is, although more explicit language in the mandate would make the expansion of ISAF's role easier to sell to the government and parliament. He was sure that Turkey would not stand in the way of a consensus in Brussels. Ceylan thought France and Germany would have reservations as might some other allies. Winning the Germans over would be key, he stated. ¶2. (C) Returning to Ceylan's comments on use of force, polmilcouns asked what conclusions had been reached. Ceylan emphasized that no decisions had been made, merely a number of offices had gotten together to brainstorm. He had argued the need to retain options in the event Turkey needed them some day. He recalled the Kosovo crisis, how Turks had been on the scene prior to UN or NATO action. Similar situation could come up in the future, he said. Regarding mandates, he thought parliamentary approval might suffice. Polmilcouns observed that that might suffice domestically, but parliamentary action alone would not provide international legitimacy. Ceylan agreed. ¶3. (C) Comment: Regarding ISAF's UN mandate, it appears Turkey would welcome -- but not require -- a change for ISAF to take on an expanded security role. On the broader issue of Turkey's use of force, Ceylan did not say what sparked the internal discussions, but we suspect it was statements by the Prime Minister and other senior government and military leaders in the past few weeks about the PKK terrorist organization and the prospects for "hot pursuit" into Iraq (ref b). End comment. MCELDOWNEY