SRAP CONSULTATIONS IN ANKARA, DECEMBER 2-3

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001819 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AF PGOV PK PREL TU SUBJECT: SRAP CONSULTATIONS IN ANKARA, DECEMBER 2-3 REF: A. ANKARA 1727 ¶B. ANKARA 1702 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On December 2-3 an interagency U.S. delegation led by Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman met with Turkish MFA officials and representatives from Turkish ministries and agencies that have a current or potential role in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The delegations discussed areas of potential U.S.-Turkey collaboration in Afghanistan and Pakistan in several broad categories, including health, governance, agriculture, economic development, education and counter-narcotics, and together developed a "summary note" outlining specific areas in each category where the U.S. and Turkey could take quick joint action. The Turkish delegation also presented information on its PRT in Wardak and planned PRT in Jawzjan as well as on its current and planned programs in the field of religious training. Both sides agreed to follow up with meetings between the respective embassies in Kabul and Islamabad within the next month. END SUMMARY. Health -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Ministry of Health gave a presentation on its projects in Afghanistan, which include polio screenings and donations of vaccines, and training Afghan healthcare workers in Turkey. The Ministry of Health is interested in organizing more health courses and medical screening campaigns, and increasing efforts toward curbing infant mortality. TIKA (Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency, the equivalent of USAID) has also done work in Afghanistan's health sector, including construction of 15 clinics and hospitals, four of which it managed in ¶2009. TIKA has also donated medical equipment and trained Afghan healthcare workers. In Pakistan, TIKA was the administrator of Turkish emergency aid to IDPs in the Northwest Province. The delegations discussed TIKA's plan for a basic health care certificate program targeted at young girls in Afghan villages and focusing on midwife training and basic nursing. The U.S. delegation suggested such a program should be harmonized with the curriculum of and feed into a professional nursing degree program at Kabul University and provided information on U.S. plans to develop university-level nurses training. At the conclusion of talks, the Turkish and U.S. delegations determined that one of the most immediate deliverables would be to jointly equip a hospital in Afghanistan and/or Pakistan. Both sides also agreed to consider additional support to Kabul Medical University, joint vaccination campaigns and/or polio eradication efforts, midwife training, and jointly producing a documentary on midwife techniques, and joint work on increasing maternal and child healthcare. Good Governance -------------- ¶3. (SBU) TIKA president Musa Kulaklikaya told the U.S. delegation the Afghan Civil Service Commission (ACSC) was committed to reform, and had asked for Turkish examples of civil service training, and had sent representatives to visit related Turkish institutions. TIKA has organized "train the trainers" courses for Afghan civil servants in Turkey, and TIKA intends next year to build a training center for civil servants in Kabul. The planned center will have a capacity of 80 students at time and will focus on training trainers for civil servants at all levels in all sectors. The U.S. side emphasized the importance of civil service training, especially at the sub-national level, and both sides agreed that a short-term project for joint cooperation in this sector could be assisting in training the trainers at the Kabul ACSC training institute as well as through the rehabilitation of provincial training centers, including one in Jawzjan The Turkish delegation also agreed to a U.S. suggestion that both sides support informal local governance structures in Northern Afghanistan (on the basis of the Afghanistan Social Outreach Program (ASOP) model.) Agriculture -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The U.S. delegation highlighted agriculture as a top area of priority for the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and referred to President Obama's December 1 speech. Both sides agreed that the collaboration between Turkish PRT in Wardak and USAID in cold storage was a success they wanted to replicate in other areas of Afghanistan and/or in Pakistan. The U.S. suggested adding an element of increasing local capacity in food processing and building on U.S. expertise in connecting farmers to markets. Both sides also agreed to consider: providing senior advisors to the Afghanistan ANKARA 00001819 002 OF 003 Ministry of Agriculture, agriculture vocational training in Afghanistan, improving transportation infrastructure, establishing a farm and milk processing center in Wardak, and developing irrigation projects. Economic Growth -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Turker Ari, head of the Turkish PRT in Wardak, raised the idea of developing an industrial park in Afghanistan, and possibilities for cooperation and encouragement of the new Afghan Chamber of Commerce in Wardak. TEPAV (economic policy research foundation) managing director Guven Sak was less positive about the possibilities for an industrial park, however. He said it was important first to develop Afghanistan's business and investment possibilities (and security) enough to encourage companies and investors to go there. Sak said supporting and working with chambers of commerce in Afghanistan could bring positive benefits, but that he felt Afghanistan would benefit more by enacting the Turkish model of mandatory chamber of commerce membership. The U.S. and Turkish delegations agreed that replicating the Wardak provincial chamber of commerce and linking provincial chambers of commerce would be a short term deliverable for cooperation in the economic sector. The U.S. side highlighted that cooperation on improving agricultural capacity and energy cooperation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan would also have a positive effect on economic development. Several Turkish parasatal companies presented on energy projects they would be willing to undertake in both countries if they could find sufficient private financing. The U.S. delegation explained that its energy assistance programs in both countries focused on the need to improve efficiency and the energy regulatory framework. The U.S. side also briefly presented some models for private financing of energy projects. Education -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Ministry of Education (MOE) representative Yucel Yuksel said that the MOE runs one girls school in Akcha, where 19 Turkish teachers instruct along with Afghan teachers. Yuksel said the MOE would like to do more projects like this, but faces a shortage of qualified local teachers. Both sides agreed on the need for more teacher training, as well as for assisting in developing curriculum and training materials for other Afghan and Pakistani schools. The U.S. delegation raised the idea of establishing "centers of excellence" in Afghan and Pakistani universities specializing in particular disciplines and twinning them with U.S. (or potentially Turkish) universities. The Turkish side was open to this idea and Yuksel mentioned that recently Konya and Mazar-a-Sharif agricultural schools signed a "sister school" agreement for cooperation. The delegations decided development of a nursing curriculum and schools should be an early priority for cooperation. They also agreed to consider future cooperation on creating master programs, establishing multi-program vocational high schools, providing advisors to the Ministry of Education, enhancing scholarship programs, and/or establishing partnering relations with Afghan universities. While TIKA director Kulaklikaya said Turkey was ready to take a role in developing religious education in Afghanistan and had begun construction of a religious faculty in Kabul, the U.S. highlighted the need also to train religious school teachers in core academic subjects such as math, science, and language arts. Counter-narcotics -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The Turkish delegation was interested in collaborating with the U.S. in the short-term on a joint anti-narcotic/drug use public awareness campaign in Afghanistan (and also potentially with Pakistan.) TADOC (Turkish International Academy Against Drugs and Organized Crime) deputy director Ilkay Akyay said TADOC had done alternative livelihood and anti-drug use campaigns with other countries, for example in Burma, but that Afghanistan would likely be more difficult as it is a "bigger prize" for those in the drug trade and they would fight back harder. The delegations agreed that future projects could include establishing a drug rehabilitation center, training more counter-narcotics officers, Turkish sharing of more intelligence with ISAF, enhancing the capacity of the Afghan Counter-Narcotics Training Academy, and promotion of alternative livelihoods/licit crops. Religious Training and Instruction -------------- ANKARA 00001819 003 OF 003 ¶8. (SBU) Two representatives from the Turkish Ministry of Religious Affairs (Diyanet),presented their current and potential activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Diyanet officials said their goals abroad, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan, are to "save youth from extremism" and ensure a stable future for both countries based on an accurate understanding of Islam. To accomplish this goal, the Diyanet brings Afghan students at various levels to Turkey for religious education. Around 300 Afghan students have completed undergraduate and/or graduate study in theology in Turkey. These students often then return to Afghanistan to work in public services, which is the goal of the Diyanet. The Diyanet had planned to build a theology school for Afghan religious personnel in Mazar-a-Sharif, but canceled the project due to security concerns. The Diyanet is still considering opening a theology school in Kabul, which they thought could attract more students because of its central location. If this were successful, they said could then potentially build branches around Afghanistan. They also offered other possibilities for their engagement in Afghanistan, including helping to organize an Afghan Diyanet, offering Turkey's system of religious schools (Imam Hatip schools) as a model for Afghan religious school reform (as they have already offered to Pakistan),and more religious faculty exchanges and seminars. They also explained their desire to teach moderate, tolerant Sufi beliefs through publications of Rumi's works in local languages and encouraging their use in religious instruction and general education. The U.S. side noted that the U.S. had a very limited role in religious instruction and general education reform in Afghanistan and Pakistan and any joint efforts in this area would be Turkish-led, but said the SRAP office could help connect Turkey with other countries, such as the UAE and Egypt, that might be interested in contributing to or funding work in the field of religious education. PRT Jawzjan -------------- ¶9. (SBU) MFA Department Head for South Asia Korkut Gungen said plans were still underway for a new Turkish PRT in Jawzjan, which would also undertake development activities in Sar-e-Pol. It will be based on the same civilian-led model as the current Turkish PRT in Wardak, focusing on police training, health care, and humanitarian/development work. Gungen said discussions with Sweden and NATO were ongoing, and security was the main outstanding issue. Turker Ari, head of PRT Wardak, noted that Turkey's "hearts and minds" campaign (of engagement with and support to local residents) itself brought security benefits. He also requested strong and public U.S. support for Turkey's efforts to establish a PRT in Jawzjan. Turkish Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Engin Soysal said that if agreements on security arrangements can be reached with Sweden, PRT Jawzjan would be operational by mid-2010. Regional Conferences -------------- ¶10. (SBU) As part of the way forward, the delegations discussed upcoming regional conferences on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Turkish SRAP Ambassador Soysal said Turkey planned to host three conferences in 2010: the fourth Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral summit, as part of the "Ankara Process," would likely take place in early February and would focus on education; Turkey plans to host a regional summit of all of Afghanistan's neighbors, including China and key extra-regional partners such as the Gulf and Arab states, in the first half of 2010; and Turkey plans to host RECCA (Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan) in the second half of 2010. Soysal noted that the trilateral summit could also include a foreign ministers meeting and education ministers meeting. He noted that Pakistan might object to the topic of education and the education ministers meeting, as Pakistan does not want to be grouped with Afghanistan on education issues, but he said Turkey would continue to push for the education topic. The U.S. delegation encouraged Turkey to consider inviting to the regional summit non-traditional partners, such as Egypt and Indonesia, which have indicated an interest in engaging on civilian assistance to Afghanistan. Soysal said Turkey was also considering a parallel brainstorming conference of prominent regional think tanks and academics. ¶11. (U) This message has been cleared by SRAP. SILLIMAN "Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"