Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ANKARA781
2009-06-03 09:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

TURKEY: PM ERDOGAN WARNS CODEL CASEY ON AGR

Tags:  PREL PTER IS SY TU AM AZ 
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9808
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU 1605
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 0556
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0480
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RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN 1363
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000781 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE AND H

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2019
TAGS: PREL PTER IS SY TU AM AZ
SUBJECT: TURKEY: PM ERDOGAN WARNS CODEL CASEY ON AGR

Classified By: CDA Doug Silliman, for reasons 1.4(b,d)

-------
Summary
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000781

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE AND H

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2019
TAGS: PREL PTER IS SY TU AM AZ
SUBJECT: TURKEY: PM ERDOGAN WARNS CODEL CASEY ON AGR

Classified By: CDA Doug Silliman, for reasons 1.4(b,d)

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) Senators Robert Casey (D-PA),Ted Kaufman (D-DE),and
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ),and Representative Timothy Walz
(D-MN) and Charge met May 29 with PM Erdogan, TGS D/CHOD
General Igsiz, and a senior MFA delegation led by U/S Apakan.
On Armenia, PM Erdogan urged Congress to leave the events of
1915 to the historians, warning that the passage of an
Armenian Genocide Resolution would have a detrimental impact
on Turkey-Armenian talks as well as Nagorno-Karabakh
developments. Once Azerbaijan and Armenia resolve their
differences, he continued, Turkey and Armenia can sort out
their problems. On the Middle East, he argued that the U.S.
must view Hamas as a "political reality" that must be dealt
with. General Igsiz highlighted the high level of
cooperation between the Turkish and U.S. militaries and
solicited additional assistance from Congress for the fight
against the PKK. On Afghanistan, Igsiz said the TGS is
considering additional contributions, and noted that Turkey
is trying to increase political cooperation between
Afghanistan and Pakistan through its trilateral summit
process. U/S Apakan reemphasized the importance of all
aspects of the bilateral relationship. He explained GOT
engagement with Hamas is part of Turkey's overall policy of
pragmatic engagement to reach a peace settlement and should
not be interpreted as tacit support. End Summary.

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Prime Minister
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2. (C) During a 90 minute meeting, PM Erdogan provided an
overview of current domestic and foreign policy issues. On
Armenia, he urged that the events of 1915 be left to
"historians and archeologists" and warned that a
Congressional Armenian Genocide Resolution would have a "very
negative effect on Turkey-Armenia talks" and would also have
a detrimental impact on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.
Erdogan noted that the latest efforts on N-K have been quite
positive, in contrast to 18 years of the Minsk Group process
which have had no results. On the Middle East, he said that

the U.S. needs to adopt a very different approach, coming to
terms with Hamas as a "political reality."


3. (C) Senator Casey took issue with Erdogan's portrayal of
Israeli actions during the December 2008 Gaza Crisis is
"disproportionate," insisting that Hamas should be seen as a
terrorist organization and, as such, should not be engaged by
the USG. Senator Lautenberg also challenged Erdogan's view
of the Middle East, underscoring that Israeli textbooks would
never condone the killing of Arab children or adults -- but
that in the Arab world the reverse is routinely seen.


4. (C) Erdogan replied that he does not consider Hamas a
terrorist organization but, instead, as a organization
attempting to defend its people. He acknowledged that Hamas
had fired rockets into Israel, but underscored -- quoting
Shimon Perez -- that the resulting casualties had numbered
"no more than two or three." In Gaza, however, 1500
Palestinians had been killed by Israeli attacks. Erdogan
noted that Hamas has accepted the 1967 borders, a fact which
American audiences seem to have missed. He complained that
Gaza today is an "open air prison -- something we can never
say yes, to."


5. (C) Turning to the Caucasus, Erdogan said he was well
aware that an AGR sponsor was "in this very room" (a
reference to Rep. Walz) and questioned whether such sponsors
simply joined up with their colleagues without listening "to
all the stakeholders." He noted that Azerbaijan and Armenia
should sort out their problems. If they succeed, he said,
then Turkey and Armenia can work out their issues. (COMMENT:
Erdogan again did not frame these as parallel processes, but
instead as sequential actions.
END COMMENT)


6. (C) Walz told Erdogan that he had "clearly heard" the
message regarding the AGR, and that he had taken it
seriously. He assured Erdogan that he would "never take a
decision not based on the facts."

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--------------
Turkish General Staff
--------------


7. (C) In a meeting shortened by the lengthy encounter with
the PM, Deputy Chief of Defense Gen Hasan Igsiz praised the
high level of coordination between the U.S. and Turkish
militaries, including CHOD Gen Basbug's visit to DC, two
visits by CJCS Adm Mullen to Turkey, and good coordination
with MNF-I in Iraq. He thanked the CODEL for good U.S.
cooperation against the PKK saying that Turkey feels that "it
is not only our problem any more." He said that 2009
provides an opportunity to eliminate the PKK and asked the
CODEL to press for "northern Iraqi local authorities" (the
Kurdistan Regional Government --
KRG) and KRG President Masoud Barzani to take concrete
action. He asked the CODEL for support in providing to
Turkey AH-1W attack helicopters and an armed predator so the
Turkish military has the tools it needs to fight the PKK. On
Afghanistan, Igsiz said the TGS is considering additional
contributions, and noted that Turkey is trying to increase
political cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan
through its trilateral summit process.

--------------
Foreign Ministry
--------------


8. (C) U/S Ertugrul Apakan hosted a lunch at the MFA also
attended by Deputy U/S Haydar Berk, Special Envoy for Iraq
Murat Ozcelik, and Deputy Director for Middle East and newly
appointed Ambassador to Syria Omer Onhon. Apakan reaffirmed
the strong bilateral relationship between the two countries,
adding that the GOT is looking to further develop and
diversify its ties with the U.S. Apakan highlighted the
recent positive developments Turkey's normalization efforts
with Armenia. He said that the GOT expects to have full
relations with Armenia within 1-2 years and, at the same
time, to see progress on resolving issues between Armenia and
Azerbaijan in parallel to the Armenian-Turkish talks. Apakan
warned that a genocide resolution from the U.S. would hurt
the progress made on all fronts, stall talks, and severely
strain the relationship between all the involved countries.
Rep. Walz reassured the MFA officials that a genocide
resolution in the House was not a statement on how the U.S.
views the U.S.-Turkey relationship, adding that the U.S. bond
with Turkey is unwavering.


9. (C) On the Middle East, Senator Lautenberg encouraged
Turkey not to legitimize Hamas, and to push Syria to make
greater efforts to halt the flow of foreign fighters in Iraq
across its borders. Apakan said that although GOT officials
speak with Hamas as part of Turkey,s overall policy of
engagement, it should not be interpreted as tacit
endorsement. Rather, Turkey supports Palestinian unity and
PA leader Abbas as the sole leader of all Palestinians. At
the same time, Turkey also places importance on Israeli
security and integrity. He underscored that while the GOT
does not approve of the Israeli handling of the Gaza crisis,
the MFA had issued a statement condemning each occasion of
Hamas violence. On Syria, Onhon said Turkey supports the
Syrian-Israeli talks and aims to be an honest broker between
the two sides. He added that the MFA feels a change in
Syrian President Assad's attitude, but SARG usually adopts a
"wait and see" foreign policy in order to gauge the other
side's sincerity before acting. Nevertheless, once Syria
decides to do something, it delivers. Onhon concluded that
Damascus claimed it no longer meddles in Lebanon because "it
costs too much and Syria is no longer able to afford it."

--------------
Comment
--------------


10. (C) The differences between the statements of PM Erdogan
and MFA U/S Apakan on Turkey-Armenian reconciliation and the
Middle East were striking. Erdogan, ever the politician,
repeated populist (and not entirely factually correct)
perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Caucasus,
while Apakan reiterated the view of the MFA, which must keep
all of these difficult peace processes moving forward.


11. (SBU) CODEL Casey did not have an opportunity to clear

ANKARA 00000781 003 OF 003


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