TURKEY/AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN: ANKARA TO HOST THIRD

S E C R E T ANKARA 000467 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SE, SCA/A, S/SRAP E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2019 TAGS: PREL PINS PTER PINR MARR AF PK TU SUBJECT: TURKEY/AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN: ANKARA TO HOST THIRD TRILATERAL SUMMIT APRIL 1 REF: A. ANKARA 379 ¶B. RENZULLI-OPSCENTER 3/26 TELCON Classified By: Acting POL Counselor Chris Krafft, reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (S) MFA South Asia Department Head Babur Girgin previewed for us March 26 Turkey's objectives for the trilateral Afghanistan-Pakistan-Turkey summit that it will host in Ankara on April 1. The summit is the third in the "Ankara Process," the last occurring in December 2008 in Istanbul. Girgin emphasized that Turkey had no intention of hosting such frequent summits; it was meant to be a yearly event. He said President Karzai requested a trilateral meeting at the March 10-11 Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Summit in Tehran; President Zardari supported the idea (reftel). ¶2. (S) The summit will include Presidents Karzai and Zardari, as well as the FMs and Intelligence Chiefs of both countries. Afghan Defense Minister Wardak will lead Afghanistan's military delegation. Pakistan CHOD GEN Kayani will also attend, but it is not clear whether he will be officially "accredited" to the Pakistani delegation. Regardless, he will be "at the table" for the summit meeting hosted by President Gul, but it was not clear whether he would participate in other meetings. ¶3. (S) Turkey intends to use the summit to help bolster intelliRQKQQQl float a proposal for a trilateral joint military exercise with both sides. This idea was endorsed by the Presidents at the December summit. The Turks believe the Afghans to be warm to the idea; if the Pakistanis are as well, then it will be put on the table for the leaders to agree at the summit-level. The Turks believe such an exercise would be symbolically meaningful. ¶4. (S) COMMENT AND ACTION REQUEST: While the Turks did not present full delegation lists, there will be considerable overlap in the participants at the U.S.-hosted February trilateral in Washington and the upcoming summit in Ankara. Girgin noted that he had heard there were some rough patches encountered between Afghan and Pakistani intelligence officials at the trilateral meeting in Washington. The Turks would welcome a detailed read-out of the Washington trilateral and any input or advice we can provide ahead of the April 1 summit. As already reported in ref telcon, MFA Deputy U/S for South Asia and Middle East Feridun Sinirlioglu (Turkey's focal point on Afghanistan and Pakistan) has sought a telephone call with Ambassador Holbrooke to discuss these issues. In bringing together Afghan and Pakistani leaders, Turkey has sought to consult and coordinate with us. We want to encourage this so that our efforts do not end up at cross purposes and request Department's guidance and input in responding to the GOT request. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey Jeffrey