U/S BURNS FEBRUARY 18 MEETING WITH TGS DEPUTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000305

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2020
TAGS: PREL PARM PGOV TU
SUBJECT: U/S BURNS FEBRUARY 18 MEETING WITH TGS DEPUTY
CHIEF GEN GUNER

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Jeffrey for reason 1.4 (b, d)

Summary
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1. (C) In a February 18 meeting with Undersecretary Burns,
Turkey's Deputy Chief of Staff GEN Guner described U.S.
Turkey relations as dynamic and positive. Guner expressed
satisfaction with U.S. - Turkey cooperation against the
terrorist PKK, giving great credit to the recent visit to
Ankara of USF-I Commanding General Odierno. On Syria, Guner
said that while military engagement was increasing, relations
would not improve at the expense of Turkey's relationship
with Israel. Burns urged Turkey not to be subtle with the
Syrians; Syria should focus on its long-term relations with
Iraq and take steps to stop the flow of foreign fighters to
Iraq. Guner proudly recounted new steps Turkey was taking to
support change in Afghanistan, particularly on training
Afghan security forces. Burns expressed appreciation, but
asked Turkey to do more. On Missile Defense, Guner said that
once either NATO or Turkey's civilian leaders gave the U.S.
Phased Adaptive Approach its political blessing, Turkey's
military would be ready to engage. End Summary.

Bilateral Relationship
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2. (C) On February 18, Under Secretary of State for
Political Affairs William Burns met with the Deputy Chief of
Turkey's General Staff (TGS) Aslan Guner. With Burns were
Ambassador Jeffrey, EUR DAS Tina Kaidanow and NSC Director
Bridget Brink. MG Tahir Bekiroglu, Chief of Strategic
Planning in the TGS J5, accompanied Guner. Guner was engaged
and well briefed, and described for Burns the intense level
of U.S. - Turkey engagement since PM Erdogan's visit to
Washington in December. Burns made the point that the steady
stream of senior visitors was a demonstration of the strength
of our bilateral ties; the U.S. sought to continue to invest
in this relationship.

Syria
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3. (C) Burns, who had arrived in Ankara from Damascus, told
Guner that he had traveled to Syria to see if there was a
basis for greater engagement. Describing his meeting with
Syria's President, he said that Syria needed to consider its
long-term relationship with Iraq and take steps to protect
that relationship, particularly to stop the flow of foreign
fighters through Syria to Iraq. Syria must also stop the
flow of modern weapons to Hizbollah in southern Lebanon.
Guner told Burns that he had met with his Syrian counterpart;
it was Turkey's view that Syria wanted to develop, but the
mindset of its leaders was slow to change. Turkey had agreed
to exchange visits with Syrian military leaders and to
conduct company-level exercises near the common border.
Guner said Turkey shared the U.S. concern regarding Syria's
proliferation and that he had made this point sharply to his
Syrian counterpart. Guner said that he made a point of
telling the Syrians that the improvement in bilateral ties
would not come at the expense of relations with Israel;
Turkey would continue a high level of military engagement
with Israel.


4. (C) Burns stressed the importance of strong Turkey -
Israel relations for the broader region. Guner said that a
senior-level military trip to Israel had been delayed, but
that TGS Chief GEN Basbug had met with his Israeli
counterpart on the margins of a NATO CHOD meeting in
Brussels. Guner said that Israel had been invited to attend
a counterterrorism symposium which Turkey would host in
March.

Afghanistan
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5. (C) Guner recounted Turkey's latest contributions to
coalition efforts in Afghanistan, particularly in training
Afghan security forces. Guner said that Turkey would train
battalion-sized units at its training center in Afghanistan
and would, within the next weeks, step up the size of the
units training in Turkey. The General Staff supported the
government's decision to train Afghan police and would soon
take responsibility to support Afghanistan's War College.
Guner said that, so far, the Government had provided full
financial support for each of the TGS initiatives. Burns
thanked Turkey for its contributions and urged Turkey to do
more so that the Alliance could take advantage of Afghan
receptiveness to Turkey's outreach.

Pakistan (and a little on India)
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6. (C) Guner recounted impressions that TGS Chief GEN Basbug
had gotten while in Pakistan. It seemed to Turkey that there
was a new level of popular support for military action
against the Taliban; Burns agreed. Guner said that
Pakistan's leaders had told Basbug that it was hesitant to
commit still more forces to the fight against the Taliban for
fear that it would weaken the garrison at the Line of
Control; Pakistan sought a "guarantee" brokered by the U.S.
that India would not take advantage. U/S Burns said that the
U.S. would continue to encourage - quietly - dialogue between
India and Pakistan.

Missile Defense
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7. (C) On Missile Defense, Guner said that Turkey's military
had no outstanding questions; its plans were complete and
were ready to move ahead once the political signal to do so
had been received from either NATO or from Turkey's civilian
leaders. From a purely military standpoint, Guner said, TGS
agreement to host missile defense assets made sense: if you
are willing to offer Turkey a new capability, Turkey's
military would welcome it.

Greece - Turkey
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8. (C) Recalling the issues of overflights in the Aegean,
the Ambassador asked if there had been any recent
developments in Turkey - Greece relations. Guner said that
the two sides continued to develop confidence-building
measures, but the radar coverage issue remained problematic.
The problem of connectivity could not be solved at NATO's
working level, so it had been elevated to the North Atlantic
Council at NATO Headquarters. Returning to the issue of CBMs
with Greece, Guner was optimistic about the prospect of joint
training of disaster relief units.
Jeffrey

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