TURKEY: U/S APAKAN PREVIEWS CYPRUS GRIEVANCES TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000890 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV CY TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: U/S APAKAN PREVIEWS CYPRUS GRIEVANCES TO BE RAISED WITH TROIKA DELEGATION Classified By: Ambassador Ross Wilson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) During a May 5 meeting on various subjects, Turkish MFA U/S Apakan outlined GOT concerns about Cyprus that he planned to raise with the EU Troika during its May 6 meetings in Ankara. His purpose was not to complain, but to highlight areas where Greek Cypriots and President Christofias are acting unhelpfully. Apakan bemoaned that Cyprus is using its EU membership as leverage against both Turkey and the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)." Furthermore, he argued the Greek Cypriots' efforts to evoke EU jurisdiction on broader Cyprus issues is an ill-disguised attempt to link Turkey's accession aspirations to a settlement. If Christofias has legitimate problems with the negotiations, he should address them with Talat, not the GOT. ¶2. (C) Apakan planned to report five specific examples of Greek Cypriot counter-productive behavior. First, the ROC has prohibited high-level EU representatives from meeting with "TRNC President" Talat. The policy that Papadopoulos adopted in 2004, Apakan claimed, Christofias has chosen to continue. Second, Christofias has pursued legal claims against two projects extended to the Turkish Cypriots under EU financial protocol. The EU Court of Justice's agreement protects EU companies on both sides. Third, Christofias has endeavored to make Turkish implementation of European Court of Human Rights decisions a benchmark required to open Chapter 23 on judicial and basic rights. This is something new and an additional Greek Cypriot demand that extends beyond the eight chapters that were frozen at Nicosia's insistence in 2006. Fourth, Apakan noted Christofias has created an "unfriendly tone" by frequently criticizing Turkey, adding that the GOT has refrained from replying and "microphone diplomacy." Finally, the Greek Cypriots are reportedly trying to amend long-standing EU policy that refers to future accommodation in the form of a comprehensive settlement and interest in Cyprus having one voice and sufficiently strong institution to be effective in the union. Changes proposed by the Greek Cypriots aim to modify this to provide for their continued dominance in post-unification institutions. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON