TURKEY: IRANIAN ELECTION RESULTS- EXPECTED AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000838 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2019 TAGS: IR PGOV TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: IRANIAN ELECTION RESULTS- EXPECTED AND ACCEPTED Classified By: Ambassador James F. Jeffrey, reasons 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On June 16 MFA South Asia/Iran DDG Hizlan told us that while Ankara agrees there are some valid questions regarding aspects of the recent Iran elections and the vote tabulations, Turkey considers these to be internal Iranian issues. He said Turkey as a policy does not interfere in the domestic issues of other countries, and will not question the election results. Hizlan said the TUrkish MFA believed from the start that PResident Ahmedinejad has the edge, and that the media had given a biased view of the level of support for opposition candidates, and that it continues to give an urban centric portrayal of Iranian reaction to the results. He confirmed that President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan already have called Ahmedinejad to congratulate him, and both are sending written messages as well. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On June 16 we met with MFA South Asia/Iran DDG Babur Hizlan, who offered the offical MFA perspective on June 12 Iranian elections. Hizlan said that he visited Iran as electoral campaigns geared up and had spoken to people on the street, asking who they would vote for. While the answer was often "not Ahmedinejad," at the same time many of the people could not provide a name for an alternative candidate. (NOTE: He made this point to show that despite some dissatisfaction with Ahmedinejad, Mousavi himself did not appear to have a strong following. END NOTE). Hizlan said that they expected Ahmedinejad to have an advantage. We asked if Hizlan found it unusual that Ahmedinejad had received 8 million more votes during this election, than the previous one. Hizlan replied, simply that this time Ahmedinejad had more money "to distribute." Hizlan said that Ahmedinejad's major support base is in the outskirts of cities and rural areas, locations that the media did not and is not fairly presenting in its portrayal of the election. He said that the media is focusing its reporting on major cities and especially Northern Tehran, where people have nothing in common with Ahmedinejad and are protesting, but this does not show an accurate picture of the entire country's voting preferences and reaction. ¶3. (C) Hizlan said that they agree with the US and EU that certain factors of the election, such as all the votes being counted in such a remarkably short time, are questionable, and the violence during the ongoing protests is a concern. However, he said Turkey is simply not in a position to judge what actually happened and considers this is an internal matter for Iran. Turkey will not interfere nor call for another look at the votes. (NOTE: He said he actually doubted a recout would occur. END NOTE) Instead, Ankara will accept the official results and work with the government that is there. He said that neither the election nor the controversy surrounding it will impact Turkey's position on Iran, and that Turkish policy towards Iran will remain unchanged. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey JEFFREY