TURKEY: REQUEST FOR AIR ASSETS FOR PAKISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000784 SIPDIS FOR SCA/P TREY LYONS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2019 TAGS: PREL SMIG PARM PK TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: REQUEST FOR AIR ASSETS FOR PAKISTAN DELIVERED REF: STATE 55654 Classified By: Acting Pol-Mil Counselor Christopher Rich, reason 1.4 (b ,d) ¶1. (C) Post believes that Turkey has approximately 13 operational Mi-17 utility helicopters in its inventory. All of these aircraft are currently deployed at Turkish Jandarma bases in Ankara and in southeast Turkey. ¶2. (C) On June 3, we delivered reftel request for Turkey to consider lease, sale, or donation of some Mi-17s to the Government of Pakistan on an urgent basis in support of Pakistan's humanitarian and counterinsurgency requirements in the FATA and NWFP. MFA Americas Head of Department Serhat Aksen told us that his office was coordinating our request with the MFA South Asia Department, and that our request would have to be vetted by the military leadership at Turkish General Staff. Aksen pledged to report back to us, but could not suggest a timeline for any decision. ¶3. (C) Comment: We believe all of these aircraft are currently in use in support of on-going military operations against the Kurdish terrorist organization PKK in southeast Turkey. We assess that it is unlikely that some or any could be spared for sale/lease to Pakistan at the current time, but will follow up closely with MFA on the prospects. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey SILLIMAN