TURKEY PLANS ITS BSEC SUMMIT BIRTHDAY PARTY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000804 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE PARIS FOR USOECD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL SENV KCRM TU SUBJECT: TURKEY PLANS ITS BSEC SUMMIT BIRTHDAY PARTY A) STATE 40938 B) ANKARA 367 C) ANKARA 58 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Turkish MFA held a meeting with Embassies April 4 to describe its planning for the June 25 BSEC (Black Sea Economic Cooperation) Summit meeting of heads of state and government. Turkey aims to use its chairmanship to revitalize BSEC as it commemorates its 15th anniversary at the Istanbul Summit. Embassy recommends that the Department send a senior official to represent Secretary Rice, who has regretted. Both BSEC and Turkey support a U.S. proposal for a symposium on environmental protection, targeted for September or July, as a way to contribute as a new observer. End Summary. -------------- Turkey's BSEC Summit Roll-Out -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director General Multilateral Affairs Ahmet Asim Arar and BSEC Summit Coordinator Cetiner Karahan presented MFA's plans for the June 25 BSEC Summit in Istanbul to Ankara based representatives of members and observers. They noted that this will be one of the flagship activities under the Turkish BSEC Chairmanship that begins May 1. BSEC Deputy Secretary General Murat Sungar also attended the April 4 meeting. Here is the scenario under planning for events in Istanbul: -June 23-24: Committee of Senior Officials meetings - Conrad Hotel -June 25: Morning - Special meeting of Foreign Ministers - Ciragan Palace Luncheon for Ministers and Heads of State hosted by the GOT PM - Ciragan Palace Afternoon - Summit Conference - Ciragan Evening - Summit Dinner hosted by the GOT President - Dolmabahce Palace, followed by Bosphorus cruise -June 26: Separate CERA-TEMA organized "East Meets West" Energy Conference ¶3. (SBU) Turkey has invited heads of state from members and foreign ministers from observers. Embassy recommends that the Department send a senior official to represent Secretary Rice in recognition of the USG's new observer status and our interest in using that status to contribute to revitalizing BSEC during Turkey's Chairmanship. This would boost this organization aimed at fostering economic linkages and cooperation in this challenging region. By helping Turkey build common ground during its chairmanship, we can help pull BSEC more together and towards the Atlantic. (Note: We have conveyed Secretary Rice's regrets with intention to send a senior State Department official per Ref A.) Observers' Ministers or his/her representative can attend all the events on June 25. The expenses of the Minister or representative will be covered by BSEC. -------------- --- U.S. Proposed Environment Symposium - Next Steps -------------- --- ¶4. (SBU) DDG Arar and BSEC Deputy Sungar confirmed that the U.S. proposed Environmental Protection for Economic Growth Symposium was favorably received by the Environment Working Group in March in Belgrade, noting that it was now being circulated for comments. They agreed with the U.S. proposal that the symposium be scheduled before or after a meeting of the Environment Working Group to save travel expenses. While the next scheduled working group meeting is in September, they said that it might be possible to schedule a ANKARA 00000804 002 OF 002 special session in July, potentially facilitating early realization of the symposium. Arar said that the GOT would be holding meetings on planning for its chairmanship which would include scheduling. The next steps for the U.S. proposed environment symposium are to firm up the funding and date and to identify speakers. Wilson