THE GUAM ORGANIZATION: PRE-SUMMIT DEMARCHE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001554 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2017 TAGS: PREL EAID AJ GG MD UP TU SUBJECT: THE GUAM ORGANIZATION: PRE-SUMMIT DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 83491 Classified By: Polcouns Janice G. Weiner, reasons 1.4 b, d ¶1. (C) We delivered reftel points to MFA South Caucasus Desk Officer Yavuz Kul. Kul noted that Turkey follows the group, and said that member countries have solicited Turkey's more active involvement, believing it will strengthen the organization. Turkey, however, is only represented by its Ambassador to Baku, and is attending only as a "guest." He said Turkey could be characterized as an "ad-hoc observer" to the group. Turkey, he said, maintains close relations with all four GUAM members, but wants the group to be as inclusive as possible to participation by other interested countries. Turkey does have some concerns about GUAM's mandate overlapping with that of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC),of which all four parties are a member. Turkey is chairing BSEC this year and has invested considerable energy into raising its profile and expanding its competencies to include areas such as law enforcement, transport, energy, environment, trade, and development. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON