TURKEY: EU TROIKA PRESSES ANKARA ON CYPRUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001747 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL TU EU CY SUBJECT: TURKEY: EU TROIKA PRESSES ANKARA ON CYPRUS REF: A. ANKARA 1586 ¶B. ANKARA 1568 Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady, Reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. The Turkey-EU Troika meeting on November 26 in Istanbul focused on Turkey's EU bid, but made reference to Turkey's unwillingness to implement the Ankara Additional Protocol. (The Swedish Embassy passed us their final report on this meeting but emphasized that not all EU members had received a copy and asked that the document be kept close hold.) FM Davutoglu stressed that Turkey looks forward to future cooperation with Spain and underlined Turkish efforts on three major issues concerning Turkey's EU accession bid: Cyprus negotiations, the National Unity Project (formerly known as the Democratic Opening initiative),and normalization of relations with Armenia. The EU, for its part, touched on Turkey's relations with Greece, the Balkans, South Caucuses, and Iran. Overall, the bulk of the discussion concentrated on Turkey's EU aspirations. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) The EU Troika was led by Swedish FM Carl Bildt, State Secretary Diego Lopez Garrido (incoming Presidency), Ambassador Marc Pierini (EU Commission),the Council Secretariat, and team members. The Turkish delegation was headed by FM Davutoglu and Minister of State for EU affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis. The Turkish delegation said that Turkey is determined to fulfill the opening benchmarks of Chapter 5 (Public procurement); Chapter 8 (Competition); Chapter 12 (Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy); and Chapter 19 (Social policy and employment) in the near term. (Note: Turkey's timeframe is most likely referring to the Spanish presidency, which begins on January 1, or Belgium presidency. End Note) Turkey, however, stressed that the lack of progress on Chapter 15 (Energy) was disappointing, as its opening is in the mutual interest of both Turkey and the EU. Davutoglu stressed that any decision taken by the December Council that would hamper the accession process would have a negative impact on reform efforts and Cyprus talks. (Note: On November 19 we met with the Turkish EU Secretariat Director of Sectoral Policies, Erol Saner, whose directorate is in charge of ushering internal reforms on Chapter 25; Chapter 27 (Environment); Chapter 21 (Trans-European networks); and Chapter 14 (Transport policy). Saner said that his office does not expect that Chapter 15 will meet opening benchmarks anytime soon because of Cypriot objections and is instead focusing on other chapters. End note) ¶3. (C) Both the EU and Turkish delegations referred to the Cyprus negotiations, acknowledging that ongoing talks have a bearing -- whether directly or indirectly -- on Turkey's EU accession aspirations. The EU Troika encouraged Turkey to make progress on the Ankara Additional Protocol. Full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Protocol was a contractual obligation for Turkey and should be honored. The EU regretted that Turkey had not fulfilled this obligation or made any progress towards normalization of relations with Cyprus. The Turkish delegation responded that Cyprus is a separate issue from the accession negotiations and cannot be a precondition. It repeated its well-known views on the Direct Trade regulation and the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community, emphasizing that creating artificial deadlines for the Additional Protocol implementation was not helpful. Turkey, however, said it supported an island negotiation process aimed at a solution comprising a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality as defined by relevant Security Council resolutions, and reaffirmed its support for the joint statement made by the leaders of the two communities on May 23, 2008. The Turkish side also stated a deal could be reached in the first months of 2010 if the process speeds up. ¶4. (C) FM Davutoglu said that the EU process and reforms will continue, but warned that anti-Turkish statements issued by some European leaders undermined support for the EU in Turkey. Separately, Saner indicated that there is much frustration within Turkey because a date has not been set for accession, which has led to a loss in some public support. To ease this issue, Saner said the Turkish government and the EU Secretariat are preparing to launch a new initiative to ANKARA 00001747 002 OF 002 energize its EU bid in January 2010. Saner said that the new strategy includes the Turkish EU Secretariat's enlargement, a revamped communications strategy, and logo. For example, he said, the Secretariat should soon have a staff of 340 people, most of them experts, whereas it started in 2001 with only 60 people. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: We gather from our Swedish colleagues that the Troika made a sincere run at their Turkish hosts for movement on the Ankara Protocol, but found little resonance. Our soundings at the MFA have been similar. Although the EU warns that Ankara should brace for increasing criticism from the EU, sparked by the Greek Cypriots, at the EU Heads of Government meeting December 10-11, the Turks remain unimpressed and unmoved. The perception that the EU accession process is already stalling is diminishing the EU's credibility. Silliman "Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"