TURKISH PR ILKIN RAISES IRAQ, CYPRUS WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000507

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ UNSC
SUBJECT: TURKISH PR ILKIN RAISES IRAQ, CYPRUS WITH
AMBASSADOR RICE

Classified By: AMBASSADOR SUSAN RICE, FOR REASONS 1.4 B/D


1. (C) Summary and Action Request. Turkish PR Ilkin met with
Ambassador Rice on May 13 to discuss Turkey,s Presidency of
the Security Council in June. Ilkin said his Foreign
Minister would like to chair the quarterly debate on
Iraq/UNAMI, tentatively scheduled for June 18. Ambassador
Rice said the U.S. does not have any objections in theory to
holding the debate at Ministerial level, but said it would be
important for the Iraqis to be consulted and approve. Ilkin
also raised Cyprus and said that Turkey would need to vote
against the UNFICYP rollover mandate, but hoped the U.S.
would work with other members to ensure that the resolution
was nonetheless digestible for Turkey. Action request at
para 5. End summary.


2. (C) Ilkin said Turkey,s new Foreign Minister had recently
raised the possibility of elevating the June 18
Security Council debate on Iraq/UNAMI to a Ministerial level.
He said his FM had raised this possibility over the
weekend with the FMs of the UK, France, Russia and the
Secretary-General. None objected. Ilkin asked for US views
and whether Secretary Clinton might attend. Ambassador Rice
said the U.S. had no objections in principle to the meeting,
but would want to make sure that Iraq was fully consulted and
approved of this arrangement. She added that USUN would
transmit this information to the Department, and that she
would likely be in the chair for the U.S. Ilkin accepted her
advice and said Turkey would raise this issue through their
Embassy in Baghdad and also with the Iraqi Mission in New
York. On May 14, Turkish Political Coordinator Levent
Gumrukcu told Poloff that Ilkin had raised this issue with
Iraqi PR Bayati. Bayati reportedly told Ilkin that he
personally approved of this idea, but would wait to respond
formally
until hearing from Baghdad. Bayati added that FM Zebari
would likely attend the debate. Gumrukcu also told Poloff
that Turkey would likely seek to adopt a Presidential
Statement (PRST) following the debate. He said he would
share elements with the U.S. as soon as possible.


3. (C) In relation to the Cyprus mandate (UNFICYP) that
expires on June 15, Ambassador Ilkin confirmed that Turkey
preferred to handle the mandate renewal during Russia's May
Security Council presidency so that the adoption would not
occur during Turkey's June presidency. He explained that
Turkey would need to vote against the rollover resolution,
and would deliver an explanation of vote (EOV),but he
nevertheless hoped that the resolution text would be
"digestible" for Turkey. Ilkin said he did not want the tone
of the EOV to harm the atmosphere of the ongoing
negotiations, but he would need to wait and see what text was
included in the resolution. He expressed disappointment with
the UK's handling of the Presidential Statement issued by the
Council after the April 30 briefing by Special Advisor
Downer, which he thought accommodated Greek Cypriot positions
at the expense of Turkish Cypriot positions. He asked for
U.S. support to keep the resolution text balanced.


4. (C) Ilkin was concerned about recent events in Cyprus that
had diminished Turkish leverage in the ongoing
reunification negotiations, including the recent European
Court of Justice decision in the "Orams" case, which
required that European Courts enforce judgments made by Greek
Cypriot courts relating to property in the Turkish
controlled part of the island. Ilkin was also concerned
about Turkish Cypriot leader Talat's big loss in recent
"parliamentary" elections, which weaken his negotiating hand.
Ilkin thought that there needed to be more urgency
on the part of both sides to reach a settlement, but that the
Greek Cypriots were dragging their heels while counting
on their position as EU members to strengthen their hand.


5. (C) USUN requests Department,s guidance on 1) the
Turkish proposal for a Ministerial level meeting, 2)
Secretary Clinton,s availability to attend.
Rice