DEMARCHE TO TURKISH GOVERNMENT ON HAMAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002736 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2017 TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV KTFN TU SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO TURKISH GOVERNMENT ON HAMAS FUNDRAISING IN TURKEY REF: SECSTATE 153489 Classified By: CDA Nancy McEldowney, reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (U) This contains an urgent action request - please see para 5 below. ¶2. (C) Charge raised reftel points November 8 with MFA Deputy Undersecretary Rafet Akgunay. He was accompanied by Middle East Deputy Director General Omer Onhon. Charge stressed both USG and Palestinian Authority President Abbas' serious concerns about the International Jerusalem Meeting. The Meeting is scheduled at a particularly sensitive juncture: right after Abbas and Israeli President Peres visit Turkey, and immediately before Annapolis. In the past, such meetings have served as fundraising platforms for HAMAS; this meeting will do the same, as well as serve as a platform for statements aimed at undermining Israeli and Palestinian efforts to move toward a peace agreement. The Meeting needs to not happen as scheduled. The website supporting the conference spews HAMAS hatred, including against Turkey and Ataturk. Charge handed over several articles from the website. ¶3. (C) Akgunay acknowledged the sensitivity of timing and topic. The GOT is in no way involved in the Meeting; it has not endorsed it, will not take part and wishes it were not scheduled. Recent reforms make it difficult to ban or shut down such an NGO-sponsored event. Onhon indicated he had spoken to the local Palestinian Ambassador, who had told him that some Fatah representative would attend as well. Charge interjected that it was a conference intended to advocate and support violence, which should be a sufficient hook. Akgunay pledged to pass the information to FM Babacan to see if anything could be done. ¶4. (C) Akgunay asked if we had specific evidence pointing to planned HAMAS fundraising or linking past such events to HAMAS fundraising. Any information we could provide, he suggested, would help the GOT resolve this problem. ¶5. (C) Action request: We would appreciate receiving, on an urgent basis, any information we can share on HAMAS fundraising at previous International Jerusalem Meetings. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ MCELDOWNEY