TURKEY-DENMARK C/T COOPERATION AND ROJ-TV

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000574 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/27/2028 TAGS: PREL PTER DE TU SUBJECT: TURKEY-DENMARK C/T COOPERATION AND ROJ-TV Classified By: Political Counselor Janice Weiner. Reasons: 1.4 (b)(d). ¶1. (C) During Danish FM Per Stig Moller's March 25-26 visit, he and Turkish FM Ali Babacan signed an MOU (reported septel) which, among other things, agreed to enhance "bilateral cooperation in the field of the fight against terrorism," Danish DCM Soren Jacobsen told us March 27. A separate addendum to the MOU will formalize current arrangements. Denmark proposed the addendum to help compensate for the fact that Denmark could not agree to Turkey's original request for a separate stand-alone counterterrorism agreement. Denmark's Ministry of Justice had been unenthusiastic, preferring to deal with the issue through multilateral rather than bilateral mechanisms. ¶2. (C) As expected, FM Babacan raised Turkey's unhappiness with Denmark's failure to close down ROJ-TV broadcast facilities in Denmark, Jacobsen observed. Moller assured Babacan there is "no political will to protect ROJ-TV if a link between it and the PKK can be proved." To help demonstrate Denmark's sincerity, Moller explained that Copenhagen hoped to send its new chief prosecutor to Ankara the first week of April to discuss closer cooperation. ¶3. (C) When we asked Jacobsen about a report we had received March 25 from Turkey's MFA asserting the Danish government had agreed to allow ROJ-TV production facilities to relocate from Belgium to Denmark, Jacobsen acknowledged that Babacan raised the matter, but without specific details. Since it was the first time the Danes had heard of the issue, Moller had no substantive response. We added that, according to Turkey's MFA, Danish authorities reportedly would provide one million Euros to support ROJ-TV production efforts, apparently as part of a cultural assistance program. Jacobsen speculated that any assistance, if in fact provided, would likely be limited to supporting local broadcasting only. He could not imagine a subsidy for commercial satellite broadcasting. He promised to check and get back to us. ¶4. (C) Comment. Jacobsen felt his FM's visit went well and that the portion dealing with ROJ-TV in particular had not been as difficult as it could have been. He attributed the Turk's relatively moderate response to concrete Danish efforts to address the ROJ-TV/PKK issue, including by immediately sending their new prosecutor to maintain the momentum. Turkey remains skeptical about the sincerity of Danish efforts. Should reports of ROJ-TV production facilities' relocation to Denmark prove true, and particularly any government subsidy for its operations, CT relations will likely be set back at least to square one. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON