TURKEY REQUEST DELAY OF IRAN NUCLEAR BRIEFING

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000586 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2021 TAGS: AORC EUN IR KNNP PARM PREL TU SUBJECT: TURKEY REQUEST DELAY OF IRAN NUCLEAR BRIEFING REF: A. STATE 14138 ¶B. ANKARA 489 ¶C. STATE 19792 Classified By: AMBASSADOR Ross Wilson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) As reported in ref (b),the Government of Turkey welcomes the opportunity to be briefed by the United States interagency team concerning the Iran nuclear program. We were informed the afternoon of Feb. 7 that due to the Feb. 15 visits by the Sheik of Bahrain, as well as the foreign ministers of Kuwait and Tajikistan that will tie up MFA Middle East managers, the Government of Turkey requested that the briefing be rescheduled to March. ¶2. (C) Ambassador spoke with MFA Undersecretary Tuygan and Dep U/S Akgunay the afternoon of February 8. Akgunay repeated that a heavy schedule necessitated a delay. The Ambassador pressed, noting U/S Burns and the Secretary's comments to NSC SecGen Alpogan the week before about the paramount importance of the Iran nuclear issue. Alpogan was enthusiastic about the visit, as was PM Foreign Policy Advisor Davutoglu on Feb. 6 when the Ambassador raised it with him. Akgunay suggested a post-March 6 briefing might be better. The Ambassador countered by noting that we think consultations with our Turkish allies before decisions were made (e.g., at the Mar 6 IAEA BoG meeting) are more valuable. He urged Akgunay to look again for flexibility late in the week of Feb. 13 and befitting allies. Akgunay agreed to do so. ¶3. (C) On Feb. 9, Akgunay contacted the Ambassador and reported that the briefings could take place on Feb. 17. Akgunay added that he would instruct his staff to contact Embassy officials to coordinate the briefings. ¶4. (C) Comment: We are in contact with Ambassador Schulte and the other members of the delegation about the change in the schedule. Once we have confirmation that all can accommodate the change, we will provide country clearance in response to ref (c). End comment. WILSON