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