TURKEY RESPONSE: PRESIDENT'S GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY

UNCLAS ANKARA 000976 DEPT FOR EEB/TPP/MTA - CVOLTMER DEPT FOR EEB/TPP/ABT - GCLEMENTS & JBOBO DEPT FOR EEB/TPP - MLURIE USDA/FAS/OCRA/SEIDBAND USDA/FAS FOR CJACKSON AND MHOUSE DEPT PASS USTR FOR MMOWREY SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD EAGR EAID ECON TBIO TU SUBJECT: TURKEY RESPONSE: PRESIDENT'S GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY INTITIATIVE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY Ref: A) STATE 52628, B) STATE 53346 ¶1. This report was coordinated with FAS Ankara. ¶2. We delivered reftel messages to Turkish Foreign Trade Undersecretariat Deputy Director General for Multilateral Affairs, Hasan Yalcin. He told us that Turkey too is concerned about rising food prices. It has long supported a reduction of agricultural subsidies during discussions at the WTO and asked us for information on any specific new proposals the U.S. plans to submit in support of the President's Global Food Security Initiative. Yalcin expressed concern, however, that with global food prices already at a "crisis" level, an abrupt end to agricultural subsidies could further increase prices in the short term instead of leveling out the market and providing relief. He said that any proposal would be carefully considered by Turkey. ¶3. We provided Yalcin the information in ref B about agricultural biotechnology and mentioned the EU's WTO requirements related to this subject. Turkey is harmonizing its regulations with the EU and has often sided with the EU on this issue. We will report septel about our efforts to increase public awareness about the benefits of agricultural biotechnology in Turkey. WILSON