TURKEY/GEORGIA: ABKHAZIA DISCONNECT

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000679

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV GG TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY/GEORGIA: ABKHAZIA DISCONNECT

REF: A. TBILISI 536


B. ANKARA 643

C. 07 ANKARA 2596

Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Kelly Degnan, reasons 1.4 b,
d


1. (C) The GOT has told Georgia it is ready to facilitate
Georgia's Abkhaz autonomy proposals (ref A and B),Georgian
DCM Irakli Koplatadze told us April 8. Turkish facilitation
is acceptable to Georgia, he said, as Georgian President
Saakashvili has previously told President Gul and FM Babacan.
However, Koplatadze implied a level of discomfort with
Turkey's objectives, and suggested that a disconnect exists
between the two sides on how to proceed. The Georgians are
concerned that Turkey -- despite its oft-pronounced
commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity and
Euro-Atlantic aspirations -- chose not to support offering
Georgia a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) in the absence of
NATO consensus on the issue -- a weak position in his view.
Tbilisi, he said, is also annoyed with a recent Turkish state
broadcaster (TRT) segment on Abkhazia in which Abkhaz
de-facto president Bagapsh was interviewed and reportedly
discussed Abkhazia's independence aspirations. (We have not
seen the broadcast.) Georgia believed it had a GOT assurance
the segment would not be transmitted, and has complained to
the TRT Director and to MFA.


2. (C) Koplatadze acknowledged that a Bagapsh visit would
allow the Turks to inveigh upon the Abkhaz the importance of
Georgia's autonomy offer and propose to the Abkhaz "opening a
Turkish window." MFA officials have complained to us the
Georgians keep pulling the plug on an "unofficial" Bagapsh
visit, much to the annoyance of the five million-strong
ethnic-Abkhaz community in Turkey (ref C). Koplatadze
suggested -- for the first time to us -- that Russia may have
discouraged Bagapsh from visiting Turkey in the past,
implying that Georgia could not so easily dictate to the
Turks whether Bagapsh can visit in a private capacity, as the
guest of the Turkish-Abkhaz community. (In an October 16,
2007 meeting, he characterized Georgia as dead set against
the visit, unofficial or not.) Georgia, he said, can accept
a Bagapsh visit to Turkey, so long as it is done quietly and
for the purpose of facilitating a dialogue between Georgia
and Abkhazia. Georgia cannot accept a highly-public Bagapsh
visit to Turkey, providing him a platform to advance Abkhaz
independence demands. Commenting on the Trabzon-Sukhumi
ferry connection, he reiterated that the Abkhaz have rejected
Georgia's proposal to embed Georgian custom authorities with
Turkish authorities in Trabzon to provide Georgian customs
clearances for ships traveling from Trabzon to Sukhumi
directly; he was unclear of the latest Turkish thinking is on
the proposal. A lack of customs clearance has caused GOG
authorities to interdict Turkish ships en route to Abkhazia
in the past -- an irritant in the relationship with Turkey he
said Georgia would like to eliminate.


3. (C) Koplatadze underlined that Turkey is an ally and
partner, committed to Georgia's territorial integrity. In
order to help bridge the gap between Ankara and Tbilisi, and
position Turkey to play the facilitating role it wants to,
Koplatadze believed Turkey needs to more actively support
Georgia's NATO aspirations and encourage a more constructive
position from the Turkish-Abkhaz community. As he often
does, Koplatadze expressed wariness of Ankara's efforts to
balance relations with Moscow, citing Turkish energy dealings
and Black Sea security cooperation.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey

WILSON