MFA U/S APAKAN ON TURKISH IMPLEMENTATION OF UNSCRS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001210 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2017 TAGS: KNNP PREL PARM UNSCR IR TU SUBJECT: MFA U/S APAKAN ON TURKISH IMPLEMENTATION OF UNSCRS 1737 AND 1747 REF: A. ANKARA 926 ¶B. ANKARA 1135 Classified By: Classified by DCM Nancy McEldowney, reasons 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) In a meeting with Ambassador May 15, U/S Ertugrul Apakan confirmed that the GOT sanctions decree against Iran called for under UNSCR 1737 is still with the Prime Ministry and had not been approved by the Council of Ministers. Apakan told Ambassador that Council of Ministers' approval was expected within days. ¶2. (C) Apakan said the UNSCR 1747 sanctions package had not left the MFA. The MFA had informed financial institutions of the provisions of UNSCR 1747, but the package could not be moved to the Council of Ministers for final approval until the UNSCR 1737 decree was promulgated. ¶3. (C) Ambassador stressed the urgency of the getting 1747 sanctions into law so that financial institutions in Turkey could take action and asked Apakan to do as much as possible to speed the process. Ambassador reiterated that it would harmful if the GOT allows months to pass before implementing the sanctions. He noted in particular that freezing assets six months after the asset freeze was to have been implemented defeats the purpose of the sanctions. Apakan told us the MFA would be prepared to send the 1747 language to the Prime Ministry immediately after the UNSCR 1737 decree is issued. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON