TURKEY/CYPRUS/EU - MEETING WITH TURKISH ACTING FM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000191

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2025
TAGS: PGOV PREL TU EU CY
SUBJECT: TURKEY/CYPRUS/EU - MEETING WITH TURKISH ACTING FM

REF: A. STATE 08233


B. ANKARA 07631

Classified By: Ambassador Ross Wilson, reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (U) This is an action message. See paragraph 8.


2. (C) Summary: Ambassador and UK Ambassador Westmacott were
convoked January 18 by Turkish Acting FM Tuygan to discuss
Cyprus and related EU accession issues. Tuygan described in
familiar terms the elaboration of FM Gul,s proposals to deal
with the EU Customs Union ports/airports issue, ease the
isolation of Northern Cyprus and enable Turkey to meet its EU
Customs Union obligations. He said that Turkey,s UN
ambassador will meet with UNSYG Annan on Friday, January 20
to solicit support, and he appealed for an encouraging word
to Annan,s office about US and UK interest in the Turkish
initiative. Both the US and UK ambassadors welcomed the
Turkish initiative and undertook to relay the request to New
York. Westmacott did not address specifics in the Turkish
initiative, but urged packaging it in a strategic context )
that the status quo on Cyprus is bad for its people, the
region and the world. He and the US Ambassador also urged
careful marketing, including accompanying it with Turkish
moves on non-Cyprus issues, such as dropping freedom of
expression prosecutions and making a gesture on Cypriot
membership in international organizations. Regarding the
Turkish paper we had seen earlier (but that the Turks did not
discuss further),the Ambassador urged that the Turks
describe their ideas as pragmatic and flexible. Per ref a,
he suggested that one element might be Turkish ports in
exchange for Famagusta access. Tuygan said he wants to see
Turkey act on a variety of fronts, including the non-Cyprus
issues to which the Ambassadors referred, but urged that the
US and European responses to the Turkish initiative not focus
too much on the other things Turkey needs to do; such an
approach would empower those here who say the whole EU and
Cyprus diplomacy efforts are fruitless and should be
abandoned. Post recommends that USUN indicate to the
UNSYG,s office that the US welcomes the Turkish initiative
and is prepared to work with the UK, the UN, the EU and
others on it. End Summary.


3. (C) Tuygan said that Turkey believes the EU accession
process is proceeding well. Cyprus remains a problem which
FM Gul,s May 2005 initiative on ports/airports and trade had
been designed to move forward. Since there had been little
reaction, Turkey had decided to try again and to elaborate
Gul,s ideas in ways that might stimulate discussion and get
Cyprus out of its current dead end. Besides discussions in
late 2005 with the US and the UK, Turkey had briefed Russia,
China and France, and the reaction was by and large positive.
Turkey,s UN PermRep hopes to get some positive reaction
from UNSYG Annan (e.g., &workable8 or &useful8) that
might facilitate negotiations. Turkey is prepared to sit
down with the Greeks, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots and
whomever else is interested and work out an arrangement. For
years, the US and UK had urged Turkey to take the high moral
ground on Cyprus. Despite the erosion of Turkey,s high
ground since the Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan Plan, this
initiative was being put forth in that spirit, and Tuygan
appealed for support with Annan prior to the Friday meeting.


4. (C) Westmacott admitted that the EU had badly handled
Cyprus. The failure - for reasons largely not of Turkey,s
making - of the Cyprus settlement was bad for the EU, bad for
the EU,s important enlargement initiatives, bad for regional
security, and bad for the people of Cyprus. EU members need
to take more responsibility on Cyprus, without supplanting
the UN, and show greater resistance to the tactics of one
member (Cyprus). He urged that Turkey, in presenting its
initiative, describe this in a broader context, including why
the lack of movement on Cyprus is bad. The UN Good Offices
mission needs a breath of fresh life, and Turkey,s
initiative is a useful addition.


5. (C) Marketing the Turkish initiative in the EU will be
difficult, Westmacott indicated. The strategic vision would
be important. Positive words from the UNSYG will help. As
far as possible, Turkey should try to move ahead on
non-Cyprus issues on the accession agenda, including, e.g.,
the Pamuk/freedom of expression cases, the Halki Seminary,
and other items in the news recently, such as the Agca case
and alcohol bans. Turkey should also consider making a
gesture on Cypriot membership in international organizations
) such as the OECD on-line information initiative, an
international weather organization, etc. Turkey might even
drop its objection to Cypriot membership in Wassenaar and
call on Nicosia to stop blocking Turkey,s European Defense
Agency (EDA) bid. Even if Cyprus rejected the quid pro quo,

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Turkey would help itself with other Europeans.


6. (C) Ambassador endorsed, echoed Westmacott,s arguments,
and made the points in ref a. He recommended that the
Turkish proposals be as narrowly focused and have as many
flexibilities (e.g., in timing and phasing) as possible. He
specifically mentioned the Famagusta proposal contained in
ref a, to which Tuygan did not respond. He strongly urged
action on the non-Cyprus agenda of issues, including
especially freedom of expression, Halki and the various other
issues associated with the Ecumenical Patriarch, all of which
were the right thing to do and would help build support for
Turkish EU accession among skeptical European publics.
Ambassador also seconded Westmacott,s points on Cypriot
membership in international organizations and Wassenaar.
What is needed is (a) something to delay a derailment in the
accession process over Cyprus while the effort achieves a
cruising altitude and (b) Turkish steps on other fronts that
show Europeans that Turkey is indeed reforming and is good
and important for European security, values, etc. Turkey
might even consider this when staking its position on Iran
(also a topic of discussion with Tuygan) or activating its
diplomacy on Caspian gas to European markets.


7. (C) Tuygan did not disagree with any of the ambassadors,
suggestions and said flexibilities are built into Turkey,s
Cyprus initiative. He stressed that Turkey wants to, as PM
Erdogan has put it, stay one step ahead of the Greek
Cypriots, and this initiative is designed to do that. If the
EU accession process boils down to the one problem of opening
Turkish ports and airports to Greek Cypriot vessels,
especially now, then the process will stop before it even
gets started. The goal should be to prevent that.


8. (C) Action request: Post recommends that USUN find a way
to make the UNSYG,s office aware that the Turks have
consulted us and the UK on their initiative, that we welcome
it and support what it represents, and that a positive
reaction ) that avoids endorsement of the specifics put
forward by the Turks ) by the SYG will be helpful in getting
Cyprus out of its current dead end.
WILSON