TURKEY: NO MOVEMENT ON CFE ACV ENTITLEMENT TRANSFER

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 006772 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2016 TAGS: PARM PREL TU NO GR SUBJECT: TURKEY: NO MOVEMENT ON CFE ACV ENTITLEMENT TRANSFER REF: STATE 202660 Classified By: Acting Political-Military Counselor Maggie Nardi, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Per reftel request, we met on December 29 with MFA Arms Control and Disarmament Department Head Ahmet Muhtar Gun (Note: Gun will succeed Bulent Meric as Deputy Director General for OSCE, Arms Control and Disarmament on January 4, 2007) to reiterate US appreciation for Turkey's tank entitlement transfer and its willingness to consider an additional transfer of ACV entitlements. Gun stated that the decision rests with the Turkish General Staff (TGS) which has not formally responded to the last MFA inquiry, made at our request, on this issue. He added, however, that Colonel Fevzi Barutcu, the TGS J-5 Arms Control and Disarmament action officer, had told him informally that TGS did not expect to be able to fulfill the US request and that a formal notice to this effect would be sent once the issue had been presented to the Chief of the General Staff GEN Buyukanit. Gun recognized the US understanding that GEN Buyukanit had indicated to former EUCOM Commander GEN Jones that Turkey would seriously consider a ACV contribution but said that Barutcu "was unable to confirm this impression." ¶2. (C) According to Gun, the decrease in Turkey's Zone V ACV headroom to 82 and TGS ACV procurement plans makes it difficult for Turkey to share any ACV entitlements. If Turkey were to give up any of its limited headroom numbers, he said, the military's flexibility to change its operations would be severely hampered. Given Turkey's neighborhood and the ongoing battle against the PKK terrorist organization in southeastern Turkey, the military needs to maintain this flexibility. Gun emphasized that the ACV issue is in no way linked to Turkey's offer of tank entitlements, where it has significant headroom. He also noted that Greece, even after a contribution of 91 ACV entitlements, would still have double the headroom that Turkey has in that category. At the mention of Turkey's position as the only flank country with an exclusion zone, Gun said that Turkey's neighborhood provides a good reason for this. He dismissed any suggestion that this put Turkey in a better position to make an ACV contribution. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: Gun promised to advise us as soon as he receives a formal response from TGS but emphasied that we should anticipate a negative response. We attempted to meet with Colonel Barutcu at TGS, but our appointment was canceled at the last minute. We will continue to try and discuss the matter directly with TGS. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON