Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09NICOSIA45
2009-01-23 14:24:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nicosia
Cable title:  

CYPRUS: T/C "PM" PRAISES ERDOGAN, BASHES TURKISH

Tags:  PGOV PREL TR CY 
pdf how-to read a cable
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RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHNC #0045/01 0231424
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 231424Z JAN 09 ZFF4
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9523
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1319
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000045 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL TR CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: T/C "PM" PRAISES ERDOGAN, BASHES TURKISH
MFA

REF: A. NICOSIA 0017

B. 08 NICOSIA 558

C. 08 NICOSIA 650

D. 08 NICOSIA 929

E. 08 NICOSIA 981

Classified By: AMBASSADOR FRANK C. URBANCIC FOR REASONS 1.4 (b),(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000045

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL TR CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: T/C "PM" PRAISES ERDOGAN, BASHES TURKISH
MFA

REF: A. NICOSIA 0017

B. 08 NICOSIA 558

C. 08 NICOSIA 650

D. 08 NICOSIA 929

E. 08 NICOSIA 981

Classified By: AMBASSADOR FRANK C. URBANCIC FOR REASONS 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: "I can solve problems with Turkish Prime
Minister Erdogan," "governing" Republican Turkish Party (CTP)
leader and "TRNC PM" Ferdi Sabit Soyer told the Ambassador
during a January 20 meeting. Soyer voiced strong confidence
in the Turkish PM's pro-solution stance and full support for
Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. He complained,
however, that his "government" had not obtained the requisite
budget support from Ankara -- purportedly because of
misinformation by the Turkish Embassy here -- and still faced
a cash shortfall in the run-up to April "parliamentary"
elections. Soyer dubbed the UN-brokered negotiations
difficult, but said the Turkish Cypriots were ready to grant
the federal government more competencies provided the T/Cs
had a greater voice in it. On domestic issues, Soyer said
that the main opposition National Unity Party (UBP) would
suffer at the polls thanks to its hawkish leadership, but CTP
nevertheless faced a tough slog. The CTP leader promised
that the "law" on casinos, vital in improving the north's
standing with Financial Action Task Force (FATF),would pass
by the end of the month. Last, he noted that oversight for
the renovation of the Apostolos Andreas Monastery in the
Karpass region had been transferred from Talat's office to
the Evkaf Foundation. End Summary.

Erdogan: Continued Support for Talat


2. (C) In a January 20 meeting with the Ambassador,
Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader and "TRNC8 PM Ferdi
Sabit Soyer said that Turkish PM Erdogan T/C leader had
voiced full support for the negotiating efforts of Turkish
Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat during the January 16 meeting
between the two in Ankara. Soyer also said that the AKP
government was "hopeful" regarding the UN-brokered talks.
Furthermore, Erdogan and AKP are planning, according to
Soyer, to revitalize Turkey's EU accession bid after March
municipal elections (presumably in the event of an AKP
victory) to ease a settlement on the island. The Ambassador

replied that DAS Matt Bryza had received a similarly positive
message during his recent trip to Ankara.

Turkish Embassy: No Friend of CTP &Government8


3. (C) Soyer was less pleased, however, with the Turkish
Embassy in Nicosia. He hinted that it fed disinformation to
the AKP government regarding the perilous state of T/C
"public" finances in order to block extraordinary Turkish
budget support to his CTP-led "government," which in December
was forced to call early elections for April 2009 in the wake
of a serious economic slowdown and concomitant budget crunch.
Without directly naming the Turkish Embassy, he confided to
the Ambassador that the "classified reports they send" --
which he claimed to have seen while in Ankara -- are "lies."


4. (C) Erdogan, Soyer added, had voiced "surprise" to Talat
about the extent of the economic and budgetary crisis in the
north, but assured him that Ankara was not trying "destroy
CTP" in response to Talat's direct question. That said,
Soyer complained that his "government" still faced a TL 50
million (approximately USD 30 million) shortfall as April
elections approached. Turkey in December had only
transferred 50 million of TL 80 million due under a bilateral
aid protocol, thus causing the "government" to delay payment
of "public sector" wages until January. He claimed that
staff were "working on the problem with Erdogan," without
going into details. (Note: Other CTP contacts report that,
while Ankara has agreed to provide funds for "public sector"
salaries up through the election, it still has not agreed to
financial support for citrus growers or the moribund tourism
sector. End note).

Negotiations: T/Cs will trade stronger Federal government for
a greater role in it


5. (C) In a refrain heard earlier from T/C leader Talat,
Soyer said that the Turkish Cypriots would consider a
stronger role for the federal government at the expense of
the constituent states provided that they had a greater role
in it, ideally a four-to-three ratio of Greek to Turkish
Cypriots in high-level structures. Such an arrangement, he

NICOSIA 00000045 002 OF 002


argued, would diminish a widespread T/C fear that the federal
government will be dominated by G/Cs, as well as debunk a
deeply held G/C belief that the constituent states only
benefit Turkish Cypriots and are inherently separatist.
(Note: An UNFICYP member involved in the talks told us on
January 22 that he had not heard of such a ratio or offer
from the Turkish Cypriots. End Note). Soyer, while admitting
difficulties in the negotiations, said that the "atmosphere"
was still good.

Early Elections: Main opposition weakening, but no cakewalk
for CTP


6. (C) Soyer told the Ambassador that the main opposition,
right-wing National Unity Party (UBP),was "weakening" after
the November 2008 return as party leader of long-time UBP
boss and former "TRNC PM" Dervis Eroglu. In response the
Ambassador's query regarding the effect of a UBP victory on
the settlement process, Soyer said that the hard-line Eroglu
wanted to conduct talks on the unrealistic basis of
"state-to-state" negotiations, a position clearly at odds
with the AKP government's acceptance of the present
UN-parameters. Soyer alleged that Eroglu had vowed in his
recent campaigning to close the crossing points if elected.
Nevertheless, despite all of Eroglu's negatives, Soyer
admitted that CTP would have to work hard to come out on top
in the early elections.

Casino Law: To be passed by end of January


7. (C) Soyer assured the Ambassador that "parliament" would
pass a law regulating casinos by the end of the month. The
Ambassador reminded him that passage could help remove north
Cyprus from a FATF money-laundering watch list, as well as
reassure governments that had worked with the Turkish
Cypriots on anti-money laundering efforts, such as the UK and
the US, of T/Cs' seriousness. In an unrelated matter, Soyer
said that oversight for the planned renovation of the
Apostolos Andreas Monastery in Karpass -- which has not
commenced for reasons unclear to the Embassy despite the
purported buy-in of both sides to a restoration plan -- has
been transferred from Mr. Talat's office to the parastatal
Evkaf Foundation. (Note: The largest landowner in the north
and second largest in the south, Evkaf is a "parastatal" T/C
entity that regulates property, including many religious and
historical sites, in the public interest. End Note)


8. (C) Comment: Soyer covered little new ground in the
meeting. He echoed what many progressive T/Cs claim -- that
on the Cyprus question, the "good," pro-solution PM Erdogan
continues to grapple with the "hard-line" Turkish Foreign
Ministry and state apparatus. On Ankara's desires for urgent
"public sector" reform in north Cyprus, however, little
daylight shines between the positions of the two Turkish
camps.
Urbancic