U/S APAKAN ON BILATERAL RELATIONS, IAEA, NSG

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002126 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2023 TAGS: PREL NATO CY US TU SUBJECT: U/S APAKAN ON BILATERAL RELATIONS, IAEA, NSG REF: STATE 126581 Classified By: Ambassador Jim Jeffrey for Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: MFA U/S Apakan and Amb discussed U.S.-Turkish cooperation on energy, Afghanistan, and Iran. Apakan asked for U.S. support for a Turkish proposal to increase NATO-ESDP cooperation, and expressed concern for NATO's support for exercise Noble Archer. Amb asked for Turkey's continued support to investigate and contain Iran and Syria's nuclear programs, and asked that Turkey support the ad ref text of the Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines for transfers of enrichment and reprocessing technology. END SUMMARY. -------------- NATO AND ESDP -------------- ¶2. (S) MFA U/S Ertugrul Apakan enthusiastically described for Ambassador and DCM December 15 his successful Shared Vision consultations in Washington with U/S Burns. He emphasized that Turkey's Western orientation, relations with the US, NATO membership, and EU aspirations were all strategic decisions that would not change. He said that a strong NATO and US-Europe relations would be good for Turkey's future. Apakan said that Turkey is working a paper in Brussels to promote greater NATO-ESDP cooperation and asked for USG support for the paper. ESDP needs "political articulation" in order to cooperate properly with NATO and be relevant in the 21st century. -------------- ENERGY: CASPIAN AND IRAQ -------------- ¶3. (C) Apakan confirmed what he had earlier told U/S Burns in Washington that at the November 29 Turkey-Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan summit in Turkmenistan, the Azeris and Turkmen had agreed to work toward linking their offshore gas fields with a 60 km pipeline, permitting Turkmen gas to move westward into Turkey and onward to Europe. (We learned subsequently from MFA sources that the two sides also agreed to establish a committee on Azeri-Turkmen Caspian Sea delimitation to be chaired by the two energy ministers). On Iraqi energy, Apakan made a pitch for Turkish corporate involvement in Iraqi gas and oil development. He said he had instructed the MFA to work for another meeting of the US-Turkey Energy Working Group in Ankara in January. -------------- AFGHANISTAN -------------- ¶4. (S) Amb thanked Turkey for its continued support to NATO efforts in Afghanistan and pressed for expanded contributions �00A;to the Afghan National Army's (ANA) trust fund. Apakan responded that Turkey is considering expanding train and equip programs for the ANA, and is researching which of its facilities it will make available for the ANA's use. Turkey believes that Afghanistan also needs a greater emphasis on civic and development programs. He underlined the importance of the Turkic population of Afghanistan and their proven record of opposing the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the past. Ambassador Jeffrey thanked Turkey for accepting Dostam in Ankara for medical treatment. -------------- EARLY OBAMA VISIT TO TURKEY -------------- ¶5. (U) Apakan said that the Turkish government would be very pleased if President-Elect Barack Obama could visit Turkey early in his administration. Such a visit, he commented, would do much to cement and expand our ties. He also urged that the new administration early enunciate a policy of support for Turkey's EU vocation, stressing how helpful such public U.S. positions have previously been. -------------- NOBLE ARCHER AND NATO -------------- ¶6. (C) Apakan brought in a briefer from his NATO department to explain in detail Turkey's displeasure with NATO's support of the Noble Archer exercise. Noble Archer, the briefer claimed, was a Greek national exercise which had been given NATO cover by the use of NATO AWACs aircraft. NATO should not in any way support either side in a dispute between two member states, no matter what NATO thinks of the merits of the dispute itself. The issue of NATO support for Noble Archer and overflight of Agios Efstratios is not only a legal issue, but is also highly politically sensitive. NATO's negative precedent, she asserted, would hurt Turkey-Greece bilateral relations. FonMin Babacan had spoken to NATO SYG de Hoof Scheffer to protest what Turkey sees as a deviation from established practices in NATO. -------------- IAEA AND NSG -------------- ¶7. (S) Amb asked for Turkey's support for continued full IAEA investigation into Syria's al-Kibar nuclear facility. The world must remain united against countries who violate their commitments and attempt to develop nuclear weapons. MFA Deputy DirGen for Security Affairs Ahmet Gun said that Turkey has pressed Syria to cooperate fully with the IAEA's investigation, and that Syria said that it would. Amb also asked Turkey to support the ad ref text of the Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines for the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing equipment and technology (ref) -- ahead of the NSG Chairman's report on December 19. He emphasized that the guidelines have been years in the making and underscored that a consensus would benefit both Turkish and U.S. security interests. Gun responded that Turkey's week-long Bayram/Eid holiday had delayed coordination of a response, but that Turkey still had some concerns about paragraphs 6 and 7 of the draft. Spain and South Africa also had similar concerns. Amb assured them that those other countries would receive similar messages. -------------- ARMENIA -------------- ¶8. (S) Apakan stressed that Turkey was still committed to the path of improved relations with Armenia and would aggressively pursue opportunities to make progress. He was also upbeat, without being specific, on Nagorno-Karabakh. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey Jeffrey