TURKEY: NO PLANS TO SELL ARMS TO SUDAN;

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000489 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2018 TAGS: AA PGOV PREL SU TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: NO PLANS TO SELL ARMS TO SUDAN; ESTABLISHING SECOND FIELD HOSPITAL REF: ANKARA 148 Classified By: Pol-Mil Counselor Carl Siebentritt, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) In the read-out of Sudanese President al-Bashir's January 21 visit to Ankara (reftel),MFA Africa Section Chief Aykut Kumaroglu denied media reports that Turkey has any immediate plans to supply Sudan with military equipment. Kumaroglu did acknowledge that the two sides are seeking to expand defense relations, and said this was one of the issues raised by Defense Minister Gonul during his November 2007 visit to Khartoum. Kumaroglu admitted the two sides are in the process of negotiating a framework agreement on bilateral military cooperation, but at present there are no bilateral military agreements between Turkey and Sudan. An agreement of this type, he suggested, might be several years away. He underscored that the GOT would not sell any military equipment, including light arms, to the Sudanese military until after the situation in Darfur improves. ¶2. (C) Emphasizing GOT's commitment to being a constructive force in ending what he described as a &humanitarian catastrophe8 in Darfur, Kumaroglu noted that the GOT is planning to establish a second field hospital there. The existing Turkish field hospital in Darfur is staffed by some thirty Turkish nationals and is capable of treating up to 400 patients per day, according to Kumaroglu. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON