UPDATE ON TURKEY'S IMPLEMENTATION OF UNSCRS 1737

S E C R E T ANKARA 001135 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/10/2017 TAGS: KNNP PARM EAIR IR TU SUBJECT: UPDATE ON TURKEY'S IMPLEMENTATION OF UNSCRS 1737 AND 1747 REF: A. STATE 61222 ¶B. ANKARA 926 Classified By: Acting Political-Military Counselor Margaret Nardi, reas ons 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) Summary: MFA Head of Department for South Asia Murat Ahmet Yoruk told us May 11 that the implementing language for UNSCR 1737 is still awaiting the approval of the Council of Ministers and that the UNSCR 1747 implementation package has not yet been forwarded to the Prime Ministry. The GOT will exercise vigilance regarding travel of UNSC-designated individuals, but is worried about political repercussions of the denial of overflight clearance to third-country commercial aircraft. End Summary -------------- Slow Motion on 1737 and 1747 -------------- ¶2. (C) Yoruk did not know why the Council of Ministers had not yet acted on the 1737 implementation decree, but expressed hope that it would be enacted before parliamentary elections, expected on July 22. He claimed that the EU has not yet fully implemented 1737. We pointed out that Turkey should be able to act more quickly than the EU, which requires agreement by 27 member states, and also noted that the EU Council had agreed on measures that go beyond 1747. On 1747 implementation, Yoruk said the MFA had convened interagency meetings and was working to prepare an implementation package for submission to the Prime Ministry. ¶3. (C) Regarding the specific allegation that Bank Sepah may have correspondent accounts with banks in Turkey, Yoruk said he was not aware of any information that any listed entity had accounts in Turkey but he still could not explicitly refute the allegation. He reiterated that financial regulatory institutions had no authority to take action until the Council of Ministers decree is passed. -------------- Travel and Transit -------------- ¶4. (S) On the travel and transit of UNSC-designated individuals, we noted ref a example of Iran's use of the travel to Russia of IRGC General Mohammed Baqer Zolqadr for propaganda purposes and urged that Turkey adhere to the UNSCR guidelines and maintain vigilance. We also expressed US disappointment about the lack of GOT action on the March transit of Turkish airspace made by SBIG Director Merdada Akhlaghi Ketabachi. ¶5. (C) Yoruk emphasized that Turkey has cooperated on this issue in the past, will be vigilant, and will comply with UNSCR 1747, but pointed out that the resolution does not call for the outright denial for UNSC-designated persons to enter Turkey. If the GOT has information on the travel to or transit through Turkey of individuals on the sanctions list, the GOT will report it, Yoruk assured us. In most cases, he argued, the GOT would not have any advance information on the flight manifest for third country commercial flights transiting Turkish airspace, and would generally know if a UNSC-desigated person was transiting only if the flight was scheduled to land at a Turkish airport. ¶6. (S) In the Ketabachi case, Yoruk explained that the GOT was reluctant to deny overflight clearance to a commercial Iran Air flight, or force it land in Turkey, because of the political and potential economic consequences. There are "sensitivities" with Turkey's relations with its neighbor Iran that require caution. Yoruk told us that Turkey also fears that its considerable volume of eastbound commercial aircraft traffic transiting Iranian airspace could be subject to retaliatory overflight clearance denials. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON