TURKEY NOTIFIED OF USAFE MANPOWER REDUCTION PLANS

S E C R E T ANKARA 001823 SIPDIS SIPDIS HQ EUCOM FOR MAJ FEGENBUSH E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2017 TAGS: PREL MARR PARM NATO TU SUBJECT: TURKEY NOTIFIED OF USAFE MANPOWER REDUCTION PLANS REF: A. STATE 86447 ¶B. STATE 85662 Classified By: Political-Military Counselor Carl Siebentritt, reasons 1 .4 (b and d) ¶1. (S) We informed MFA Head of Department for the Americas Oguzhan Ertugrul on July 17 of US Air Force Europe plans to reduce manpower over three fiscal years across the command (ref b). We provided specific figures for reductions planned for Turkey by location, emphasizing that the adjustments are being driven by an Air Force-directed reorganization resulting from Quadrennial Defense Review decisions and that they will be implemented gradually over several years. We reassured Ertugrul that the changes in force levels do not have any bilateral policy implications and that they will affect USAFE personnel in a number of countries besides Turkey. We advised that the proposed changes will be declassified in the near future and that our desire was to inform the GOT beforehand. ¶2. (S) Ertugrul thanked us and said he would share the information with the Turkish General Staff (TGS) and Ministry of Defense. He sought to confirm that the reductions will be implemented in other countries and asked if, for purposes of comparison, we could provide MFA with figures for the size of the personnel changes anticipated for other countries which host USAFE personnel. We replied that we did not have such figures available to us, but would seek to provide at least a general answer. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON