U/S APAKAN'S POINTS ON CYPRUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001216 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2017 TAGS: PREL CY TU SUBJECT: U/S APAKAN'S POINTS ON CYPRUS REF: ANKARA 959 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Ambassador Ross Wilson, reasons 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) MFA U/S Ertugrul Apakan told Ambassador on May 15 that Turkey hopes the UN report on Cyprus will contain a reference to the May 28, 2004 UN report. Apakan complained that the buffer zone was being extended at the expense of Turkish Cypriots. He provided Ambassador with a paper containing talking points which note that Turkish side wants to maintain the July 8th approach, but that process risks being deadlocked and President Papadopoulos has resorted to delaying tactics (para 4). ¶2. (C) The UNSYG report on Cyprus was due soon, Apakan noted, and Turkey hopes that it will retain reference to the 28 May 2004 UN report, as contained in previous years' reports. The report emphasizes the need to ease the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. ¶3. (C) Turkey is not pleased that the buffer zone is being extended at the expense of the Turkish Cypriots, Apakan told the Ambassador. This "trick" will not be tolerated; the buffer should include equal territory from both sides. This is the main issue blocking movement towards re-opening the Ledra Street crossing, according to Apakan. ¶4. (SBU) Begin talking point text: The Turkish side keeps its constructive approach vis-a-vis the 8th of July process. Hence the non-paper presented by Pertev on the 26th April. Unfortunately, this goodwill is not reciprocated. The non-paper conveyed by Conis on 11th of May clearly reflects that the Greek Cypriot side is preserving its intransigent attitude. They insist that the issue of property is discussed at the Technical Committees. They refuse to add power-sharing to governance and guarantees to security. However, this is the terminology which the Turkish Cypriot side has taken from the UN documents. The whole process risks being deadlocked due to the unwillingness of the Greek Cypriot side. Papadopoulos is resorting to delaying tactics. It is apparent that his aim is to bury the Direct Trade Regulation. The 8th of July process presents a unique opportunity for him to escape the pressure of the international community. Likewise, the so-called goodwill gestures of the Greek Cypriot side of the last months have turned out to be fake. Take, for example, the opening of the Lokmaci Gate. Despite the willingness by the Turkish side to open the gate since November 2005, the crossing is yet to open. Had the Greek Cypriot side not put preconditions at every turn, it would have been opened by now. For purposes of clarification, I would like to underline that the military unit in the area belongs to the Turkish Cypriot forces and not to the Turkish Peace Force, and there is no Turkish Cypriot military post at the TRNC side of the gate. Papadopoulos is now trying to create more confusion by bringing up the question of the status of the area which is clearly a TRNC territory since 1974. Papadopoulos knows that once the status issue is opened it will be subject of discussion for many years. Thus it will prevent the opening of the gate. Therefore, the issue of status should be disassociated from the opening of the gate which is a practical matter. This understanding has already been adopted during the opening of other gates. We hope that the Permanent Members of the UNSC will not give credit to the Greek Cypriot maneuvers. The upcoming UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) report will be published soon. We hope that, like in the previous one, a reference is again made to the 28 May 2004 report of the former UNSG which, inter alia, addressed the unjust isolation of the Turkish Cypriot people and called for its lifting. Recently, our Permanent Representative to the UN sent a letter to the UNSG Mr. Ban in which he expressed Turkey's expectation for the endorsement by the UN Security Council of the said report. In this letter a copy of which I am presenting to you, he drew attention of the UNSG to the provocative policies pursued by the Greek Cypriot administration to represent the whole island. ANKARA 00001216 002 OF 002 In the UNFICYP report, we hope that the views and concerns of the Turkish Cypriot side expressed in the letter dated 26 January 2007 addressed by the TRNC Foreign Minister to the UN Secretary General will be duly taken into account. SIPDIS Since this will be the first UNFICYP report by the new Secretary General, it is very important that it turns out to SIPDIS be an objective one which aptly respects the established UN terminology, and that it does not contain any material mistakes. We trust that you will do your utmost in this respect. End talking point text. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON