FRIENDS OF PAKISTAN: TURKEY TO FOCUS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001972 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SE, SCA/PB E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2018 TAGS: PREL PTER ECON EAID AF PK TU SUBJECT: FRIENDS OF PAKISTAN: TURKEY TO FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY; TRILATERAL SUMMIT DECEMBER 5 REF: A. SECSTATE 119783 ¶B. ANKARA 1917 ¶C. ANKARA 1970 (NOTAL) Classified By: Acting POL Counselor Chris Krafft, reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) We conveyed ref A points on the "Friends of Pakistan" meeting in Abu Dhabi to MFA South Asia Section Head Emre Karagol November 13. Karagol, who will accompany MFA DG for South Asia and Iran Huseyin Dirioz to the November 17 meeting, told us Turkey plans to concentrate on the security and development components of the proposed plan of work; it will not get too involved in energy or institution building. ¶2. (C) As reported in ref B, Turkey has proposed or is undertaking a number of diplomatic, developmental and other actions to help improve security in Pakistan, particularly along the border region with Afghanistan. On October 30, PM Erdogan hosted a trilateral meeting in Istanbul between Afghan President Karzai and Pakistani PM Gillani where the three sides reaffirmed their support for the trilateral Ankara process in a Joint Declaration, expanding the scope of cooperation to include security, as well as stability and economic cooperation. MFA DDG for South Asia and Iran Babur Hizlan told us separately November 13 the Afghan and Pakistani sides appear to have agreed to December 5 for a second presidential-level trilateral summit in Istanbul. (NOTE: This date has slipped before. END NOTE.) ¶3. (C) Karagol said he believes Turkey, which enjoys strong military-military relations with Pakistan, could help build the anti-terrorist capacity of Pakistan's armed forces (note ref C). Turkey proposed to Pakistani CHOD GEN Kayani, during his November 5 visit to Ankara, that Pakistan and Turkey include Afghan officers in upcoming joint military exercises; we do not yet know how Kayani responded. On the development side, a key element of the Ankara process is the "Istanbul Forum," established in October 2007 by the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) to foster cooperation between the national chambers of commerce and industry of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This program is modeled on TOBB's "Ankara Forum" process for Israel and Palestine, an initiative that led to the creation of an industrial development zone in the Gaza Strip. TOBB has been active in promoting the forum and working to identify joint projects, hosting a number of meetings with its Pakistani and Afghan counterparts, but poor security and limited Turkish industry experience operating in the border region have hindered the initiative. The Turks have looked to us to help create a framework for regional economic cooperation through our Reconstruction Opportunity Zone (ROZ) proposal. The GOT and TOBB believe Turkish industry, which has considerable experience doing business in Central Asia and Afghanistan, could be well-placed to take advantage of the ROZs and help create employment in the region, if the legislation is approved by Congress. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON