TURKEY SUPPORTS AHTISAARI'S DELAY IN KOSOVO STATUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 006470 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV YI TU SUBJECT: TURKEY SUPPORTS AHTISAARI'S DELAY IN KOSOVO STATUS PROCESS REF: A. STATE 187642 ¶B. STATE 186217 ¶C. ANKARA 5475 Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) We discussed ref a points November 17 with Turkish MFA Head of Department for Non-EU Western Europe, including the Balkans, Hasan Asan. Asan said Turkey understood the reasoning behind Ahtisaari's decision to delay submitting his final status settlement (as reported ref b) and supported him. Asan made clear Turkey's MFA will continue to align its Kosovo policy with the U.S. and the EU and expressed the hope that Kosovars will continue to demonstrate the patience they have shown thus far in achieving their eventual independence. Responding to a question about what Turkey would do in reaction to a unilateral declaration of independence by Pristina, Asan responded that it would be unlikely Turkey would support it absent broad support from the international community. He added candidly, "Turkey does not want to be first in line in recognizing an independent Kosovo." ¶2. (C) However, Asan noted that, although there is not much debate currently in Turkey on the issue (see ref c),he would not entirely rule out the possibility that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government might find it useful to support such a declaration by Kosovo should it believe there is a sufficiently large number votes to be gained through such a stance in the run-up to Turkey's own parliamentary elections in Autumn 2007. Were that to come to pass, Asan stressed Turkey's MFA would argue strongly in favor of the importance of aligning Turkey's policy vis-a-vis Kosovo with the U.S. and the EU. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON