CFE/ISTANBUL: TURKEY SHARES OUR SKEPTICISM ABOUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002817 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2017 TAGS: PREL RS NATO OSCE KCFE TU SUBJECT: CFE/ISTANBUL: TURKEY SHARES OUR SKEPTICISM ABOUT GERMAN/SPANISH PROPOSAL FOR MADRID MEETING REF: A. STATE 158847 ¶B. LOOK/LAURENDEAU-SIEBENTRITT E-MAILS Classified By: Pol-Mil Counselor Carl Siebentritt for reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) We shared ref a points with MFA Arms Control and Disarmament Deputy Director General Ahmet Gun on November 21. Gun was grateful to have our views in advance of the arrival of the German and Spanish ambassadors, who met with Deputy Undersecretary Rafet Akgunay later that day to push the German/Spanish proposal for a meeting at 30 in Madrid prior to the OSCE Ministerial. Gun reported that Akgunay expressed Turkey's strong skepticism to the ambassadors, stressing that Turkey would not seek to block a meeting at 30 but saw many risks with such a gathering and would prefer a NATO-only meeting beforehand. He told them that Turkey would not welcome a repeat of the embarrassment experienced at the Paris seminar and that disagreement over CFE should not be allowed to cast a shadow over the OSCE Ministerial. ¶2. (C) Gun said he hoped the German and Spanish ambassadors had heard the message. The MFA will continue to engage other allies and will be prepared to reiterate its position at the November 26 HLTF deputies meeting. He requested further details on what position the U.S. plans to take with Germany. ¶3. (C) A German embassy contact here confirmed that the Turks had taken a skeptical stance and requested a NATO-only meeting before any meeting at 30. He said the German embassy had immediately reported the Turkish position to Berlin and acknowledged that other NATO Allies have voiced similar concerns. ¶4. (C) We also raised with Gun Russian press reports claiming that the Turkish General Staff (TGS) told Russian counterparts that the TGS is not overly concerned with the flank regime or Russian withdrawal from CFE. Gun said such reports were a distortion and that the GOT's insistence on retaining flank limitations remains as before. A TGS general officer familiar with the issue confirmed that the Russian press reports were inaccurate. However, both suggested that neither MFA nor TGS were inclined to issue a public clarification of the Turkish position at this time. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON