BLACK SEA SECURITY AND TURKISH REPRESENTATION AT

1. (C) Summary: Turkey has actively participated in
preparations for the Black Sea Forum and will be represented
at the Forum at the cabinet level. MFA expects the only
heads of state to attend besides Romania to be those from the
south Caucasus. Ankara is concerned that the Forum not
create an umbrella for or conflict with the work of other
regional cooperation mechanisms, particularly the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organization. It also remains
concerned about keeping Russia engaged in Black Sea security
cooperation initiatives. End summary.



2. (C) We raised Black Sea security issues with MFA
Multilateral Economic Affairs Deputy Director General A. Asim
Arar on May 30. Arar, who is responsible for BSEC and whose
office is takng the lead on Turkey's participation at
Romania's Black Sea Forum, informed us that Minister f State
for International Cooperation Besir Atalay will lead Turkey's
delegation to the Forum. Ankara has been active in the
preparatory meetings for the Forum and helped shape the final
declaration to address what the GOT understands to be
Romania's objectives for the gathering. Turkey did so with
the understanding that the Forum would neither create an
umbrella for nor duplicate any existing regional cooperative
mechanisms.



3. (C) Arar briefly reviewed MFA's understanding of how other
participants were approaching the forum:

-- Russia is not taking the Forum seriously, deliberately
distancing itself from the preparatory work. Arar thought
that Moscow may be regretting this decision now that the
Forum appears likely to occur. Russia will be represented at
the Forum by its ambassador in Bucharest.

-- Greece is not happy with the Forum and its reaching out to
the EU as the GOG perceives Romania trying to supplant
Athens' role as the link between the Black Sea/BSEC and the
EU. Greece will send a minister to the Forum

-- Bulgaria was supportive of the Forum at first, but has
come to share Turkey's concerns about the dangers of
duplicating existing structures and how Forum decisions might
be implemented. Sofia will be represented by a minister

-- The presidents of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan will
participate in the Forum.



4. (C) Arar stressed the GOT concern to not duplicate,
dilute, or conflict with BSEC work. While admitting that
BSEC was still maturing and lacking in concrete results, he
asserted that it was nonetheless a functioning organization.
Arar stated that the GOT was planning a "focused and
realistically achievable agenda" for its six-month
chairmanship of BSEC starting May 1, 2007. He noted that
BSEC was trying to do too many things; for example, the
current Russian Chair paper was too long and ambitious. Arar
advocated choosing one thing - like implementing a
preferential trade agreement. He admitted that there could
be more business participation in BSEC, noting that Turkey
was represented in the BSEC Business Council by the umbrella
business organization DEIK. Arar said the centerpiece of the
Turkish chairmanship would be the June 27, 2007 BSEC Summit
in Istanbul. He voiced concern that if new initiatives arose
out of the Forum, they might distract participants from
efforts to ensure measures undertaken by BSEC succeeded.



5. (C) On more general Black Sea security issues, Arar
reiterated the GOT position about the importance of keepig
Russia engaged in regional cooperative arragements. Black
Sea security cannot be maintained without Moscow's
participation, he said. We responded that while we
appreciate Russia's importance to the region, we did not
believe it should have a veto over the actions of the other
littorals or US involvement in the region.


Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON