TURKEY FINE WITH F-16 REQUEST WITHDRAWAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005504 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/SE AND PM E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2015 TAGS: MASS PK TU SUBJECT: TURKEY FINE WITH F-16 REQUEST WITHDRAWAL REF: A. STATE 173015 ¶B. ANKARA 4551 ¶C. ANKARA 3843 ¶D. STATE 117933 Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Timothy A. Betts, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). (C) Per reftel a request, Acting PolMilCouns and PolMilOff advised MFA Deputy Director General for South Asia Aydin Evirgen and South Asia Department Head Murat Ulku on Sept. 21 of US appreciation for Turkey's willingness to consider a transfer of some of its F-16s to Pakistan but explained that such a transfer would not be necessary and provided a copy of Ref A points. Ulku said Turkey was aware of the US plan to transfer two F-16s to Pakistan and understood the rationale behind our withdrawal of the request for Turkish F-16s. He added that, when originally approached, the Turkish General Staff had raised concerns about the gaps such a transfer would create in Turkey's inventory, but saw this as an opportunity to upgrade some of its fleet if the US was willing to provide Turkey with newer F-16s in exchange. Both Evirgen and Ulku understood that the US did not have surplus F-16s for transfer to Turkey and saw no problem with the request withdrawal. MCELDOWNEY