TURKEY MUST CONSULT WITH EU BEFORE RENEGOTIATING

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000894

SIPDIS

DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR FOR KIMBERLY CLAMAN & MARK MOWREY
EEB/IFD/OIA FOR MICHAEL TRACTON
EUR/SE FOR PAUL MALIK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2018
TAGS: EINV ECON TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY MUST CONSULT WITH EU BEFORE RENEGOTIATING
THE BIT

REF: STATE 45743

Classified By: Economic Counselor Dale Eppler for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)
.


1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 4.


2. (C) We delivered reftel demarche to Turkish Treasury DDG
for Foreign Investment, Murat Alici, who told us that,
because Turkey is involved in the EU accession process, the
GOT will have to consult with the European Commission (EC)
before deciding whether to begin negotiations on a revised
BIT with the U.S. As part of Turkey's EU harmonization
process, the EC identified three of Turkey's BITs -- with the
U.S., Japan and Bangladesh -- as priorities for updating to
include a Regional Economic Integration (REI) clause. Alici
asked if the U.S. has negotiated a BIT on the basis of the
2004 Model text with any current EU members or accession
countries and, if so, what the EU's position is on the new
Model BIT.


3. (C) Regarding the timing of a GOT response to our
request, Alici said that the GOT's deliberation process will
be lengthy because they must first consult with the EC and
then with several Turkish agencies. Accordingly, he did not
believe that the GOT would be able to discuss the BIT on the
margins of the planned June 20 Trade and Investment Framework
Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting. He said that Turkey will
follow the recommendations of the EC in this matter and that
from his discussions, he thought the EU would prefer amending
the existing 1990 BIT text rather than starting with the 2004
text.


4. (C) Action Request: Given the prominence that the EU will
apparently play in BIT discussions with Turkey, we request
Department guidance on any prior EU reaction to the 2004
Model BIT text and information about any USG BIT negotiations
that have occurred or are ongoing with current EU members or
accession countries. We also request Department guidance on
the inclusion of the EU's REI clause into the U.S.-Turkey BIT.


5. (U) Points of contact for this process are Economic
Counselor Dale Eppler (epplerdb@state.gov, IVG 295-7075),
until July 1, Economic Officer Rebecca Kimbrell
(kimbrellrj@state.gov, IVG 295-7071),and after July 21,
Economic Officer Jeff Borenstein, borensteinjd@state.gov.

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

WILSON