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 -------------- -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- -- ¶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