CFE: TURKEY MAKES NEW FLANK ENTITLEMENT OFFER

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000180 SIPDIS SIPDIS USNATO PLS PASS JENNIFER LAURENDEAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2017 TAGS: KCFE PARM PREL NATO TU SUBJECT: CFE: TURKEY MAKES NEW FLANK ENTITLEMENT OFFER REF: STATE 10667 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol-Mil Counselor Carl Siebentritt for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) . ¶1. (C) MFA Arms Control Deputy Director General Ahmet Muhtar Gun told us January 29 that the Turkish government is now prepared to offer 35 (thirty-five) tank and 20 (twenty) ACV flank entitlements from its headroom vice the original offer of 63 tank entitlements. He said this offer has been cleared by the Turkish General Staff and approved at the political level at the MFA. Gun said he had personally worked hard to get interagency agreement for the offer of twenty ACVs, given Turkey's limited headroom, and had agreed to sacrifice 28 tank entitlements with the hope that Norway or Greece could make up the difference. ¶2. (C) Gun said he looked forward to reviewing the Turkish offer with US counterparts at the HLTF pre-coordination session on January 31. He would also like to exchange views with US officials on managing the likely Russian reaction to the exchange of flank entitlements, noting that the Russians had raised questions at a recent Joint Consultative Group meeting. ¶3. (SBU) We presented Gun with the talking points and draft Memorandum of Understanding contained reftel. Gun promised to look over the US text and be prepared to discuss on the margins of the February 1 HLTF. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON