MFA OPPOSES EXBS TRAINING IN NORTH, BUT SOFTLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L NICOSIA 000918 SIPDIS STATE FOR ISC, YVETTE WONG E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2018 TAGS: KNNP KSTC PREL CY SUBJECT: MFA OPPOSES EXBS TRAINING IN NORTH, BUT SOFTLY REF: NICOSIA 887 Classified By: AMB F. URBANCIC FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) Following his meeting with econoff on November 3 (reftel),the Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary wrote an interagency memo reporting possible USG interest in training customs "officials" in north Cyprus on WMD detection at northern ports. In response to this memo, MFA requested a briefing on the issue which econ and pol officers provided to Yiorgos Christofides, Director of the MFA Permanent Secretary's office, on November 20. Christofides' message was that ports "are an especially sensitive issue for us" because 'only states exercise authority over ports" and so MFA was opposed to our proceeding with any customs training. ¶2. (C) We noted that the EU has provided training, equipment and temporary personnel in north Cyprus in a variety of areas (money laundering, data collection and analysis, casino regulation, the writing of laws, environmental protection and remediation and resource management, among others.) We further explained that the USG had worked with the EU in helping train Turkish Cypriot "officials" in combating money laundering, that our embassy worked to keep RoC anti-money laundering authorities apprised of these efforts and that no GoC objections were made. Nonetheless, Christofides maintained that ports are a special case and any training would be used by "the pseudostate" to "upgrade its status." We noted that in the current negotiations both sides already agree that customs would be a federal competency in a reunified Cyprus, so that any upgrading would be to the overall skill levels of a combined customs service, not to the "TRNC's" political status. ¶3. (C) Christofides said he understands that interdicting WMD is an important issue for the US, acknowledged and stated appreciation for the resources the USG has devoted (via EXBS and related programs) to improving security at RoC ports, and agreed (eventually) that it is easy for people to cross from north to south with little hindrance. However, he argued that rather than training anyone in the north, the US should impress on the Turkish military the need to improve security at the ports and along the Green Line. After further discussion of the nature of the anticipated training (short duration, little equipment to be provided) and his acknowledgement that the GoC has little control over who or what comes into the country from north Cyprus, he said that his ministry would further consider the possible USG initiative. ¶4. (C) Comment: The very different reactions of Finance and MFA officials to the idea of working to prevent WMD from entering north Cyprus reflects the MFA's primary function of ensuring that the "TRNC" is never recognized as a state. Christofides himself admitted that for the MFA this issue even trumps national security. We note that the MFA official weakened his initial opposition, and that the demarche - delivered by a mid-level officer - did not threaten any reaction if we proceeded with the training. Urbancic