TURKEY CFE ENTITLEMENT TRANSFER MOU

UNCLAS ANKARA 000681 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCFE NATO PARM PREL TU SUBJECT: TURKEY CFE ENTITLEMENT TRANSFER MOU REF: STATE 37715 ¶1. (SBU) As requested reftel, we informed MFA Arms Control DDG Ahmet Muhtar Gun's office that the U.S. agrees with all of the Turkish proposed changes to the draft text of the CFE entitlement transfer MOU, and that we seek to put the MOU into final form, exchange notes, and transmit the text to Washington for final approval as soon as possible. ¶2. (SBU) In Gun's absence on March 26, we explained to Haldum Erdem, CFE expert on this staff, that we accept Turkey's proposed text for Article II, para d, regarding any retransfer of entitlements, but that we desire to establish a mechanism for timely consultations on retransfer requests. We stressed that we are not seeking any modification of the MOU text on this issue. ¶3. (SBU) We also advised Erdem that we have considered how to address Article III regarding the timeline the issuance of future CFE Treaty notifications that would result from any decision to alter the MOU. Again, we emphasized that we are not seeking any changes to the text as we do not regard reference to this point as essential. We did inform Erdem that if Turkey seeks explicit language on future notifications, we would be prepared to offer a final sentence as provided reftel. ¶4. (SBU) Erdem was appreciative of U.S. agreement on the text, promised to pass our points to Gun, and suggested that we follow up with Gun on March 27 regarding the exchange of notes. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ MCELDOWNEY