IRANIAN FM MOTTAKI'S VISIT TO ANKARA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 007098

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/02/2015
TAGS: PREL PTER ENRG PHUM ETRD IR TU
SUBJECT: IRANIAN FM MOTTAKI'S VISIT TO ANKARA

REF: ANKARA 7027

Classified By: POLCOUNS JANICE G. WEINER FOR REASONS 1.4 (b,d).

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Summary
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1. (C) Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki visited Ankara
November 30 to December 1 and met President Sezer, PM
Erdogan, FM Gul and key opposition party leaders. Press
coverage was low-key and largely positive. Turkish leaders
reportedly gave Mottaki a "clear message," warning that
Iran,s nuclear programs could be referred to the UN Security
Council. FM Gul raised human rights with Mottaki and
stressed that government accountability and human rights are
important Islamic tenets. On the Middle East, Gul told
Mottaki that supporting the Roadmap is the only way to an
independent Palestinian state. Mottaki noted that Iranian
Kurds were now in the PKK and promised continued Iranian
cooperation on countering Kurdish extremism. The Turks found
Mottaki "relaxed" on Iraq, unconcerned that Iraq might
fragment. Bilateral trade and energy issues were also
discussed. End Summary.


2. (C) Iranian FM Mottaki arrived in Ankara on November 30
for two full days of meetings with nearly everyone in the
Turkish political elite. He saw President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Parliamentary
Speak Bulent Arinc, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister Abdullah Gul, Turkish Chamber of Commerce President
Refat Hisarciklioglu, Republican People's Party (CHP)
Chairman and former Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal, former
Prime Ministers Bulent Ecevit and Necmettin Erbakan, and
former president Suleyman Demirel. The Iranian FM, per our
MFA contacts, arranged most meetings on his own, thanks to
contacts from his controversial time here as Iranian
Ambassador in the late 1980s. MFA flatly denied that Mottaki
had met with Chief of the Turkish General Staff General Ozkok.

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Iraq, PKK, MEPP
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3. (C) Charge d' Affairs and POLCOUNS received a readout on
Mottaki's visit December 1 from the PM's foreign policy
advisor Ahmet Davutoglu and MFA DG for Middle East Oguz
Celikkol. Celikkol and Davutoglu said that Mottaki appeared
relaxed when discussing Iraq. Celikkol and Davutoglu
surmised that the Iranians no longer believe that the
territorial integrity of Iraq (a key Turkish concern) is in
danger. Gul reportedly told Mottaki that the Iranians have
to support the Roadmap if they want an independent
Palestinian state. Mottaki responded that they have "seen
many roadmaps and plans," starting with Oslo, and none had
arrived at the goal.


4. (C) Mottaki raised the PKK issue first, noting it had
become their own domestic issue since there were now Iranian
Kurds in the PKK. The Iranian proclaimed Tehran is ready to
cooperate with Turkey against the PKK. Celikkol noted that
the Iranians had recently acted cooperatively in this regard.
(Note: Turkish television has carried stories in recent
months about Iranian military operations against the PKK in
northwestern Iran. End Note.)

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Nuclear and Human Rights Issues
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5. (C) Mottaki told the Turks that Iran will re-start talks
with the EU-3 in two weeks. The Turks claimed that PM
Erdogan and FM Gul both delivered a "clear message" that if
developments did not go in the right direction, the issue
could be referred to the UN Security Council. Gul reportedly
told the Iranian FM that Turkey is opposed to any countries
in the region gaining nuclear weapons. Gul, according to
Celikkol, stressed to Mottaki that the Turks know how serious
the issue is because they sit in on NATO and EU meetings.
Mottaki reportedly replied that referring the issue to the
UNSC would be a "lose-lose" proposition -- for Iran and for
the West.


6. (C) Celikkol said that Gul also raised human rights,
noting that the Turks view violations in the entire region as
their problem. Mottaki responded that they had to look at
violations in the West as well. Gul,s rejoinder, Davutoglu
said, was that it is necessary for countries here to look at
and deal with their own shortcomings. Celikkol added that
Gul had noted that administrations need to be accountable to
their own people and that Turkey (and Iran) had not yet
reached that point. Gul reportedly told Mottaki that respect
for human rights is an important tenet of Islam.

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Economic Issues
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7. (C) Mottaki expressed a willingness to resume negotiations
on the price of natural gas supplied to Turkey and discussed
the transit of Iranian gas to Europe. MFA's energy DDG
Mithat Rende said that Gul agreed to resume talks (there have
been many unsuccessful rounds over the years),but only on
the condition that there be a real give and take on the price
issue (as opposed to the "maximalist" approach the Iranians
have taken in the past). The MFA official was not optimistic
that there had been a genuine change in the Iranian approach
on these difficult subjects. The Turkish side also "asked,"
he said, that Iran buy more Turkish goods in order to redress
the trade balance that is currently heavily weighted in
Iran's favor, and resolve Turkcell and TAV disputes.

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Positive, but Muted Press Coverage
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8. (C) Press coverage was decidedly muted. Cumhuriyet
covered the story on page 8, Radikal on page 12, Zaman on
page 13, and Milliyet on page 20. Some Turkish papers
completely ignored the story. NTV had a softball interview
with Mottaki, but in general TV coverage of the event was
light and positive.


9. (C) On this trip, Mottaki did not visit the mausoleum
dedicated to Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
-- normally de rigeur for official visits. In addition, the
contentious bilateral commercial issues were scarcely
mentioned in the press.


10. (C) FM Mottaki had an interview with NTV, an independent
news channel. He was relaxed and positive throughout the
interview, which largely consisted of softball questions
about issues of the day. Mottaki repeatedly claimed that
Turkish and Iranian relations were very good and that they
were cooperating to bring peace to the region. Mottaki also
asserted that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, but "other
states" in the region do. He said that Iran does not have
any concerns regarding the territorial integrity of Iraq and
the Iraqi people will make the necessary decisions regarding
state structures (e.g. federalism).

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Comment
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11. (C) The Turks appear to have talked seriously to the
Iranian FM. Still, Mottaki got virtually complete access --
he saw nearly everyone of substance in Ankara. The absence
of critical press coverage was striking, given the
controversy that could have surrounded Mottaki and current
issues on the Turkey-Iran agenda -- the Turkish press appears
to have gotten the word to spin the visit positively. (In
the late 1980s, Mottaki was Iranian Ambassador to Turkey and
left under a cloud in 1989 because of alleged interference in
domestic Turkish politics and "subversive activities".) End
Comment.
MCELDOWNEY