ISTANBUL TO HOST WORLD WATER FORUM 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000245

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/CPD/CRUSNAK
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE AND OES

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ENRG SENV PREL TU
SUBJECT: ISTANBUL TO HOST WORLD WATER FORUM 2009

REF: ANKARA 639

ISTANBUL 00000245 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary. Even as the country enjoyed sunshine
instead of rain (reftel),Istanbul hosted a preparatory
meeting for the World Water Forum 2009, an international,
tri-annual meeting organized to highlight water needs and
resources worldwide since 1997. Istanbul was chosen as venue
for the 2009 meeting during the convocation in Mexico last
year. Speakers representing the organization's permanent
leadership tended to reflect most passionately the themes of
dire water need around the world. End summary.

THE PLACE
--------------


2. (SBU) Turkey's representative on the umbrella
organization's, World Water Council (WWC),board of
governors, Professor Veysel Eroglu, currently Director
General of Turkey's State Hydraulic Works, said he
successfully pushed for holding the 2009 Water Forum in
Istanbul during the 2006 WWF gathering in Mexico. As past
director of Istanbul's Water and Sewerage Administration
1994-2002 during then-Mayor Tayyip Erdogan's administration,
1994-1998, the city had advanced from water distribution
every 15th day in some locales to distribution and quality at
"international standards," he claimed. The Forum in 2009
should mark a turning point for Istanbul, Eroglu said with
additional accomplishments; there would be a "before and
after" effect. While not naming a completion date, ground
was broken for a Bosphorus tunnel to link a 185-kilometer
channel bringing water from the Menem River in Anatolia to
European Istanbul. Eroglu referred to this tunnel and
Istanbul's two existing bridges over the Bosphorus as
metaphors for Istanbul's role as the link between cultures
and continents. Turkey, he said, would work with WWC to hold
regional meetings worldwide to advance and prepare for the
2009 Forum in Istanbul, the first of which is to be held in
Antalya, Turkey, March 22-24 with an appearance by the Prime
Minister. Other regional meetings were already planned for
the Balkans, Central Asia, the U.S. and Russia.

THE PASSION
--------------


3. (SBU) WWC President Loic Fauchon injected intensity into
his description of the disaster WWC members see in water
distribution worldwide. Water supplies are challenged by
pollution, population pressures and global warming and the
precious resource is no longer always to be found where it
was once routinely expected by planners. Systematic
approaches were critical to combat the consequences of abuse
of water reserves. WWC's objective is to "convince those in
power that the priority...must be given to water and
sanitation because water is the first guarantee for health
and education." With two billion people worldwide without
running water, political acceptance of the group's goals was
a duty. Fauchon did not name a figure but said there was
money to prevent the 25 million annual deaths he attributed
to water-related disease and drought. "Resource transfers"
would be sufficient to respond adequately to the needs in
each region of the world. WWC would work through the media
and other up-to-date methods of reaching a mass audience to
create a powerful lobby to reach political, economic and
social decision-makers at all levels to bring about effective
decisions.

THE PLAN
--------------


4. (SBU) With Grand National Assembly Speaker Bulent Arinc,
Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas and other politicians joining the
closing session of the preparatory meeting in the grand entry
hallway of the sparkling Dolmabahce Palace, Turkey's hosts
seemed to have other points uppermost in mind. A film and
speakers showcased Istanbul as home to multiple faiths
(Jewish, Christian and Muslim),as well as to successive
iterations of powerful civilizations. The film described the
special role of water in each of these civilizations,
culminating in the Muslim culture and its use of water.
Turkish speakers also highlighted Turkey's breathtaking
beauty and Istanbul's spectacular monuments punctuated by the
cool waters of the Bosphorus with its bridges visually and
literally linking Europe and Asia.


5. (SBU) Comment. The gathering's closing ceremony at the
palace seemed drawn in high definition for politicians
seeking a wider stage. WWC's message of ecology came across

ISTANBUL 00000245 002.2 OF 002


as a bit dull compared to the technicolor presentation
covering the host city and country. Turkey does not yet
appear to have set up a secretariat to prepare for the 2009
World Water Forum, but will likely draw support staff from
large central government offices well practiced at planning
and organizing multilateral meetings as well as from the
Istanbul Mayor's office. We will work with the Mayor's
office as well as with Embassy Ankara to track the
development and organization of the secretariat. End Comment.
JONES