TRADE MINISTER TUZMEN WASHINGTON MEETINGS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005122

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USTR FOR LISA ERRION
USDOC FOR CHERRY RUSNAK
USDA FOR FAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2010
TAGS: ETRD EAGR EINV BEXP TU
SUBJECT: TRADE MINISTER TUZMEN WASHINGTON MEETINGS


Classified By: Econ/C Tom Goldberger. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Turkish State Minister Tuzmen does not
appear to have a specific agenda for his September 8-9
meetings at USTR, Commerce and DHS. In addition to our
agriculture and IPR issues, it would be helpful to remind the
tin-eared Minister of the importance of communication and
dialogue on issues of importance to both countries,
otherwise, we will have no choice but to take steps -- such
as WTO dispute resolution -- we would rather avoid. It will
also be useful to remind the Minister that it is premature to
talk of market access preferences for Turkish companies when
U.S. firms feel they are not playing on a level field in
Turkey. End Summary.


2. (U) Kursat Tuzmen, Turkey's State Minister responsible
for foreign trade and customs issues, has meetings with
Secretary Gutierrez and Ambassador Portman September 8-9 and

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has requested a meeting with Customs Commissioner Bonner.
According to the Minister's staff, Tuzmen does not have a
specific agenda for his meetings. In an August 25 courtesy
call by Charge, Tuzmen said he would use the USTR and
Commerce meetings to preview his plan to focus 2006 Turkey's
trade and investment promotion agenda on developing new
markets in the Western Hemisphere, including the United
States. At Customs, Tuzmen is likely to raise our request to
include Turkey in the Container Security Initiative as well
as Nonproliferation Cooperation activities including the
exchange of information and training, and the modernization
of the Turkey's equipment and methods.


3. (SBU) It would be useful for USTR and Commerce to use
their meetings with Tuzmen to raise our ongoing concerns with
market access for agricultural products (particularly the
rice licensing scheme) and Turkey's inadequate protection of
confidential test data submitted by pharmaceutical companies

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in support of applications to the Ministry of Health for
marketing authorizations. Tuzmen was defensive on both
issues in the meeting with the Charge, claiming that
responsibility lay with the Ministry of Agriculture and the
Ministry of Health respectively. (The Charge specifically
reminded him that Turkey's current rice regime was not
consistent with its WTO commitments.)


4. (C) It would also be helpful to reinforce with the
Minister the importance of maintaining a dialogue. The U.S.
Government has attempted without success at many stages to
engage the Turkish government in a substantive dialogue on
both issues, which are of great importance to U.S. industry.
After four years without a meeting, it is good that we will
have a TIFA Council meeting later this year in Ankara (the
Turks have proposed dates between November 28 and December
2),but we both must be prepared to engage on the substance
of difficult issues with domestic sensitivities. (Although
his formal TIFA Council counterpart will be Under Secretary
Tuncer Kayalar, it could be useful for AUSTR Donnelly to seek
a separate introductory meeting with Tuzmen in Washington.)


5. (C) Tuzmen considers himself a skillful "bargainer" and
has a zero-sum attitude regarding trade relationships. His
vision of trade and investment promotion centers on special
incentives and market preferences for Turkish companies. (He
will likely raise the Turkish travertine industry's petition
for a competitive needs waiver under the GSP program and may
have other ideas up his sleeve.) Tuzmen needs to hear again
(and probably again) from his interlocutors that the
principle impediment to increased U.S. trade and investment
with Turkey is Turkey's opaque legal and regulatory system.
Businesspeople do not feel they will get a quick or fair
hearing in Turkey's legal system in the event of a
contractual dispute and believe that the regulatory system is
designed to favor local companies. Turkey has recently
cleaned up some long-standing disputes, such as that of
Cargill. In other cases, disputes have been resolved when
the U.S. company, e.g. Newmont Mining, sold its interests to
local investors. But these are one-off solutions; what is
required is systemic institutional change to modernize and
streamline the judicial bureaucracy, update commercial laws,
and train judges in modern judicial practice.

Biographical Information
--------------


6. (U) Following is the Minister's official bio: Kursad
Tuzmen was born in 1958 in Ankara. He graduated from the
Middle East Technical University in 1981, with a degree in
business administration. He received his MBA from Illinois
University in 1991. Tuzmen served in managerial positions in
the private sector (1981-84),and as an expert in the State
Planning Organization (1984-1991),before he started working
in the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat (FTU). He specialized
in free trade zones and worked as a Head of Department, a
Deputy Director General and Director General in FTU,s Free
Zones Department (1991-1997). He served as the Deputy
Undersecretary (1997-1999) and the Undersecretary of Foreign
Trade (1999-2002). He was appointed as the Minister of State
in 2002, and as the Minister of Environment in 2003. Tuzmen
became the Minister of State in charge of trade and customs
in May 2003. Tuzmen is a national swimmer, professional
diver and a member of the National Olympics Committee. He is
married and has two children.
MCELDOWNEY