US embassy cable - 03ANKARA6048

UNCLAS ANKARA 006048 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EB/TRA, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELTN, ETRD, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT:  Turkish Official on Rail Link with Iraq, Syria 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  A Turkish railway official told us 
that rail has moved relatively little cargo, including 
humanitarian aid, to Iraq in recent months, but that 
there are plans to begin moving some fuel by rail.  Our 
interlocutor contended that steep Syrian transit fees 
were a serious obstacle to more intensive use of rail 
delivery of cargo.  Turkey has developed plans for a 
direct rail link, but the country's infrastructure 
priorities lie elsewhere and the cost of building 130 
new kilometers of track is prohibitive.  End Summary. 
 
 
2. (SBU) At a September 24 meeting with Econoff and Econ 
Specialist, Deputy Director General Erol Inal, of the 
Turkish Railroads Administration, told us that, compared 
with trucking through the Habur Gate, the railways had 
not played a major role in trade or the supply of 
humanitarian aid to Iraq in recent months.  Inal said 
humanitarian cargo had been limited to water, beverages, 
private donations of children's items and the like. 
However, the railway will begin to transport fuel oil 
and gasoline under a barter arrangement.  Turkey has 
asked the Iraqi side to supply the wagons for this 
trade.  Inal said that Germany may also contribute some 
wagons for this barter arrangement.  Inal stated that 
the railway had carried passengers as well as cargo to 
Mosul and Baghdad prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom, but 
that passenger service was suspended at the outbreak of 
the war and has not restarted due to security concerns. 
 
 
3. (SBU) Turkey has no direct rail link with Iraq.  The 
railway enters the northeast corner of Syria at 
Kamisli/Al Qamichli and passes to northern Iraq 82 
kilometers later on the way to Mosul.  Inal complained 
that the Syrian Government has disadvantaged the railway 
by charging excessive transit fees in an effort to 
promote use of its port at Latakia/Al Lathigiya.  He 
provided data showing that Syrian fees of about 9 Euro 
per ton for the 82-kilometer stretch of track were more 
than half the tariff charged to move cargo the 
considerably greater distance from Mersin and Iskenderun 
ports to the Turkish-Syrian border.  He said that recent 
Turkish-Syrian-USG trilateral discussions on these fees 
had not yielded results and he urged the USG to press 
the Syrians for relief. 
 
 
4. (SBU) Inal stated that Turkey has developed plans for 
a rail bypass of Syria, but this infrastructure project 
is not likely to be implemented anytime soon.  The 
project would require 130 kilometers of new track on 
Turkish territory and about 50 kilometers of new track 
in Iraq at an estimated total cost of USD 750 million - 
roughly equal to Turkish railways annual operating 
expenses.  Inal stated that, while this project was 
important to Turkey and presumably to the USG, other 
infrastructure projects in western Turkey have been 
given higher priority, in part because subsidized 
credits have been made available to fund them. 
 
 
5.  (SBU) Comment:  As our military learned in the lead- 
up to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Turkish railway 
network is in bad shape.  The state railways have 
consistently posted large operating losses, making the 
outlook for significant investments - particularly in 
the context of Turkey's larger budget woes - grim. 
Edelman