TURKISH FM GUL'S VISIT TO ISRAEL - ISRAELI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004878

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2021
TAGS: PREL MOPS IS LE TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH FM GUL'S VISIT TO ISRAEL - ISRAELI
AMBASSADOR STRESSES TURKISH PKO PARTICIPATION WELCOME

REF: ANKARA 04875

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

1.(C) Summary: Turkish FM Gul traveled to Israel August 20
for frank discussions with Israeli officials, who urged
Turkey to participate in a Lebanon PKO, even to the extent of
patrolling the Syria-Lebanon border to prevent arms
smuggling. Gul expressed the concern that, while he
understood Hizballah had provoked Israel, the way the war was
prosecuted gained more adherents for Islamic extremism. Gul
assured PM Olmert that Turkey will continue to be vigilant on
Iranian overflights and offered to continue working for the
release of Cpl. Shalit. Gul's visit to Israel seems to have
restored a more healthy tonic to Turkish-Israeli relations
despite the strains imposed by the Lebanon campaign. Indeed,
the Turkish ambassador to Israel reportedly talked about an
Olmert visit to Turkey in November. End summary.


2. (C) Gul's one-day trip included meetings with the Israeli
DefMin, FM, PM, as well as side meetings with the families of
the kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Gul/PM Erdogan advisor Ahmet
Davutoglu had a separate meeting on his recent travels to
Syria. A TGS general also accompanied the party and asked
questions throughout on logistics of a possible UNIFIL
deployment. Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Avivi, who sat in
on the meetings, characterized the meetings as frank, tough,
but very good. Gul's chemistry with FM Livni and PM Olmert
in particular was excellent.


3. (C) Gul,s major preoccupation was that Israel's effort to
root out Hizballah could end up strengthening Islamic
extremists. He said that everyone understood that Israel had
been provoked. In the first days of the conflict that was
acceptable, but Israel's overwhelming firepower, culminating
in the destruction Gul saw on the ground in southern Beirut
last week, caused even those who hated Hizballah to make
common cause with them. A government like the GOT is trying
to show that a modern, liberal, democratic system can
function in this part of the world. Strengthening
fundamentalists in the region runs counter to GOT goals.


4. (C) Despite the focus on Lebanon, Gul told his
interlocutors that he believes the Palestinian problem
remained the tougher one. He feared that the Lebanon
campaign will feed extremism. Avivi said that Israel is
focused on the probability that Palestinians in Gaza, having
seen the effectiveness of Hizballah rocket and anti-tank fire
on Israel and Israeli forces, may now try to acquire such
Iranian arms.


5. (C) The Israelis explained to Gul that they see two key
locations for the expanded UNIFIL -- in southern Lebanon and
on the Syrian-Lebanon border to prevent the infiltration of
arms from Syria to Hizballah. Gul reiterated that Turkey is
looking carefully at participation, but does not want to be
in a combat role. The GOT also wants to be sure that its
troops are really welcome and that UNIFIL has the support it
needs to function properly. FM Livni told Gul that the GOI
welcomes Turkish troops. She added that while she could not
directly ask that the Turks patrol the Syrian-Lebanese
border, the Israelis would be very pleased if that happens.
Gul took the request on board.


6. (C) Israeli officials, including PM Olmert, asked Gul
whether the Turks will continue to monitor Iranian
overflights and, as needed, request that they land for
inspection. Gul responded the Turks will continue to do so,
though the information they had received so far had not been
good (i.e., they had found nothing). Turkey, he assured
Olmert, will continue to be vigilant in response to
information received.


7. (C) Livni complained about PM Erdogan,s "very tough, very
one-sided reaction" to the Lebanon campaign and thanked Gul
for Turkish MFA efforts to moderate the message and mitigate
anti-Semitism and anti-Israel attitudes in Turkey. On
anti-Semitism, Gul responded that one-sided newspaper
coverage of the conflict had fanned the fires. In a country
like Turkey, whenever people see young Islamic children

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dying, it touches the hearts of all. He stressed that the
one-sided coverage had not been manipulated. (Comment:
Newspapers across the spectrum, aswell as TV, carried
particularly gruesome pictures of dead children during the
conflict. But the GOT did nothing to point out Hizballah's
role. End comment.)


8. (C) The Israelis stressed that Israel's goal is to have
Lebanon a fully sovereign state, in control of all its
territory. Hizballah, they told Gul, is not a local militia,
but is armed and directed by Iran. The funding and arms flow
from Iran through Syria -- both of which border Turkey -- to
Hizballah. This, as Iran's nuclear ambitions, will
eventually pose a danger to Turkey, much as it does to
Israel. Gul accepted this, Avivi said, but did not comment.


9. (C) There were some recriminations about Sgt. Galit. Gul
regretted that GOT efforts to help with the first kidnapped
soldier were rejected by Israel. He offered the GOT's
continued good offices and indicated several times that they
continue to try to engineer Shalit's release through various
contacts with Syria and Hamas. Ambassador Avivi believed
that Gul elaborated on this further in a one-on-one with
Olmert, but had gotten no report from the Israeli PM.
Israel, Avivi said, carefully did not send any message for
Gul to take to Damascus, though the Turks apparently tried to
elicit one. Avivi also noted a split within Israel on
whether or not to try to engage Syria in order to try to
split it from partnership with Iran. In his personal view,
the moment for any such engagement had passed several years
ago.


10. (C) Avivi heard from the Turkish Ambassador to Israel
that PM Olmert had been invited to Turkey for bilateral
meetings in November, to coincide with the World Economic
Forum in Istanbul. This was noteworthy in light of the hard
anti-Israel line PM Erdogan had taken during the conflict,
and he had yet to confirm it. Gul and his party reportedly
said nothing about this.


11. (C) Gul also met with Abu Mazen. Avivi said that, while
the GOI had sent no messages for Damascus, they had sent many
for the Palestinian president, including pledges to work with
him and avoid taking steps that could undermine him.


12. (C) In a separate conversation, Turkish MFA Deputy U/S
(Middle East) Uzumcu told us that Gul complained that the
unilateral and disproportionate use of force would in no way
contribute to a permanent settlement of problems in the
region. He said the Israelis made clear their wish to see
Turkey in UNIFIL-plus; they said they trust Turkey and
believe its capable armed forces will make a difference --
including to make this kind of UN force that Israel has
traditionally been skeptical of a success. Olmert reportedly
surprised the Turks by looking for 2000-3000 Turkish forces
for Lebanon.

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

WILSON