TURKEY: BASE REALIGNMENT - ROUND 40 CONSULTATIONS

S E C R E T ANKARA 002054 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2016 TAGS: MARR TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: BASE REALIGNMENT - ROUND 40 CONSULTATIONS AND CLOSURE OF YUMURTALIK SEA TERMINAL REF: STATE 14485 Classified By: Political-Military Counselor Timothy A. Betts for reason s 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: TGS indicated that Turkey would likely respond positively to a US notification to close the Yumurtalik Sea Terminal in accordance with provisions of the bilateral Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement (DECA) which assume the Terminal will be turned over to Turkey. TGS also suggested that there will be legal and financial issues related to the condition of the infrastructure and the environment. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (S) The TGS J-5 Agreements Division told us on February 9 it could not provide a position on the potential closure of Yumurtalik absent a formal notification of closure. That said, TGS did indicate outstanding "legal" matters related to the pipeline and infrastructure that would have to be addressed, including environmental degradation caused by leaks and tampering with the pipeline by thieves. TGS stated that, upon receipt of a formal US notification, it would begin to evaluate the issue and would want to discuss both the time frame of and procedures for turnover to Turkey. ¶3. (S) We relayed the TGS view to the MFA Americas Affairs Office on February 10. The MFA deferred to TGS for the final government position on the closure, and requested time to elicit a more fulsome, albeit interim, response from TGS that would indicate more definitively whether the GOT viewed the closure positively or negatively. ¶4. (S) On April 13, the MFA notified us verbally that TGS provided the following interim position on the closure: TGS is evaluating the closure of the Yumurtalik Sea Terminal. The answer is expected to be positive. In that eventuality, Turkey would expect that, according to DECA Article VII.2, the terminal would be returned to the Turkish military. Once Turkey receives a formal notice of closure from the US, it will respond accordingly. ¶5. (U) DECA Supplementary Agreement 3, Article VII.2 covers the ownership of non-removable property and states the following regarding disposition: Upon final termination of the use by the Government of the United States of any such non-removable property, the right of such use will be transferred to the Government of the Republic of Turkey which will compensate the Government of the United States for the residual value, if any, of the property as determined by mutual agreement, taking into account past practices. Such property shall include those basic utility systems and other fixtures which have been permanently installed in or affixed to the property. ¶6. (S) COMMENT: Turkey is unlikely to oppose the closure of Yumurtalik but should be expected to press for compensation for perceived environmental degradation and repair work. Past practices have yielded no USG compensation from similar transactions due to the residual value implied/inferred by the GOT. In the best case, the environmental cost and the residual value will cancel each other. END COMMENT. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON