TURKEY: RATIFICATION OF NATO ACCESSION PROTOCOL

UNCLAS ANKARA 001737 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/RPM, AND L/T E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM MARR NATO PREL KTIA TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: RATIFICATION OF NATO ACCESSION PROTOCOL FOR NEW MEMBERS ON TRACK REF: STATE 106321 ¶1. (U) We delivered reftel demarche requesting an update on the status of Turkey's efforts to ratify the NATO accession protocols for Albania and Croatia to MFA NATO Policy Department Head Gulhane Ulutekin on October 6. She said the bills to approve the accession protocols have been drafted and are currently under review at the Prime Ministry. Ulutekin, who has been tracking the status of the protocols for the MFA, said she did not expect any problems with the ratification process. ¶2. (U) Ulutekin explained that once the Prime Ministry has approved the text of the draft bills, it will circulate the bill for signature by the Council of Ministers. With the Council of Ministers' approval, the bill will be sent to the speaker of parliament, who will in turn submit the draft to the parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees for review. Once the committees approve, the bill will go to the full parliament for a vote, where a simple majority is needed to approve the protocols. Ulutekin noted that the Croatian embassy in Ankara has been actively checking on the status of the ratification process and has requested an appointment with the speaker of parliament to brief him on Croatia's efforts to join NATO. Ulutekin predicted that the bill will be submitted to the speaker of parliament by the end of the month and ratified before the end of the year, well in advance of the April 2009 NATO summit. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON