TOPICS FOR TURKISH NSC SECGEN'S MAIDEN VOYAGE TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000208 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV TU IZ IR SY SUBJECT: TOPICS FOR TURKISH NSC SECGEN'S MAIDEN VOYAGE TO WASHINGTON REF: ANKARA 28 Classified By: Ambassador Ross Wilson, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Kenan Ipek, Special Advisor to National Security Council Secretary-General Ambassador Yigit Alpogan, advised us on Jan. 17 that the SecGen is pleased with the meetings scheduled for his Jan. 23-27 visit to Washington and looks forward to this opportunity to discuss issues of mutual interest. Echoing the SecGen's earlier message to the Ambassador (reftel),Ipek stressed that Alpogan welcomes the opportunity to bring home any messages the U.S. wishes to send with respect to Iran, Iraq and Syria. We also updated Alpogan on Nagorno-Karabakh and suggested Washington interlocutors may want to discuss how Turkey can support progress there. According to Ipek, Alpogan has already scheduled meetings with both Prime Minister Erdogan and President Sezer immediately upon his return to Turkey. ¶2. (U) In addition to his meetings at the NSC, State and DOD, Alpogan plans to give a speech at both the Washington Institute and the Nixon Center. The NSC is also evaluating possible press opportunities. This will be Alpogan's maiden trip to Washington since becoming the first civilian to head Turkey's NSC in September 2004. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: Ipek's invitation to discuss Iran provides a good opportunity to send a firm message to the Turks that the time for fence-sitting is over and the government's public statements must reflect a firm stance against Iran's nuclear ambitions. Recent statements on Iran's nuclear program, while not particularly emphatic, have been in the right direction. However, in responding to a question at a Jan. 18 press conference, MFA spokesman Namik Tan unhelpfully suggested that, while no plans for a visit by Iranian President Ahmadinejad have been made, there will be a visit and it will not be of the "slightest relevance to America or any other country." Such patently untrue statements should stop. WILSON