TURKISH ENVOY OZCELIK PREVIEWS ERDOGAN VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002147

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS PINR ECON TU IZ
SUBJECT: TURKISH ENVOY OZCELIK PREVIEWS ERDOGAN VISIT

Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: Turkish envoy to Iraq Murat Ozcelik, on the
evening of July 8, met with the Ambassador to preview Prime
Minister Erdogan's visit to Baghdad, scheduled for July 10.
Ozcelik gave an overview of the bilateral committee of
ministers that ERDOGAN and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki will
announce during the visit. He confirmed that KRG President
Massoud Barzani's public denial that the PKK is a terrorist
organization had led the Turks to drop their earlier desire
for an Erdogan-Masoud meeting, but Ozcelik said an ERDOGAN
meeting with KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani remains
possible and Ozcelik himself still hopes to meet Massoud
Barzani at an undefined future date when the latter visits
Baghdad. Finally, Ozcelik said he will focus in the coming
months on Iraqi-Turkish economic relations, particularly on
improving the Iraqi business climate so that Turkish
companies reasonably can do business in Iraq. End summary.

Erdogan Visit to Yield Bilateral Ministerial Committee
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2. (C) Ozcelik previewed the bilateral structures that the
Erdogan visit will produce. A ministerial committee will
hold three meetings per year, consisting of the Turkish
Energy, Trade, Interior, and Foreign Ministers and their
Iraqi counterparts. (Note: the Iraqi Oil, Water, and
Electricity Ministers are all counterparts of the Turkish
Energy Minister. End note.) The Prime Ministers officially
will chair each committee and Maliki will reciprocate
Erdogan's visit at an unspecified date, but Iraqi Deputy
Prime Minister Barham Salih will take the de facto lead on
the Iraqi side both because he doubles as a Kurdish leader
and because of his mastery of the economic and commercial
issues on which the Iraq-Turkey relationship is likely to
depend. Ozcelik said he had suggested that Turkish Deputy
Prime Minister Ekran chair the committee as a means of
bolstering Salih, but encountered resistance in Ankara.

Barzani Statement Only A Temporary Setback
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3. (C) The Turkish envoy confirmed that ERDOGAN would have
met with Massoud Barzani if the KRG President had not
recently asserted publicly that the PKK is not a terrorist
organization. In spite of this setback, Ozcelik said he is
still pushing Ankara to approve Nechirvan Barzani's presence
at a dinner for ERDOGAN at President Talabani's compound, and
offered to inform the USG the following morning (July 9) of
Ankara's decision. Ozcelik also plans to meet Massoud on the
latter,s next trip to Baghdad -- Talabani, he claimed, has
promised to alert Ozcelik when next Massoud visits.

Business, Not Politics, To Dominate Iraq-Turkey Relations
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4. (C) Ozcelik said his portfolio for the foreseeable future
will focus more on economic relations than on politics. A
key goal will be improving the Iraqi business climate so that
Turkish companies reasonably can enter Iraq -- Iraqi leaders
regularly welcome Turkish firms, which are eager in principle
to conduct business, but Ozcelik said that the sorry state of
Iraqi laws and tenders deters them. Ozcelik suggested
establishing a free trade zone on the Iraqi-Turkish border
governed by international business standards, which would
circumvent corruption, set an example for the rest of Iraq,
and foster Turkish-Kurdish economic ties. Ozcelik said he
plans to bring several Turkish businessmen with him on every
Iraq trip henceforth, but cautioned that currently most will
only consider deals in Iraq if they carry the security of a
U.S. partner.
CROCKER