US embassy cable - 03ANKARA6574

S E C R E T ANKARA 006574 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: EXEMPTION 1.6 X5 AND X6 
TAGS: MOPS, EFIN, MARR, PREL, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: MFA PREPARED TO GO SLOW ON TROOPS AND LOAN PACKAGE 
 
REF: A. JOINT STAFF WASHDC DTG 171348Z OCT 03 
     B. STATE 295374 
 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Eric S. Edelman.  Reasons: 1.5 
(a), (b) and (d). 
 
 
1.  (S)  Following Cyprus Special Coordinator Weston's 
meeting with MFA Under Secretary Ugur Ziyal on October 20, 
the Ambassador went one-on-one with Ziyal to discuss both the 
potential Turkish troop deployment to Iraq and the 
conditionality in the $8.5 billion financial assistance 
package.  Regarding the troop contribution, the Ambassador 
informed Ziyal that the Joint Staff had sent reftel message 
to pass the message from Centcom on al Anbar vs. Salahadin 
and said that it was being passed to TGS as well.  Ziyal was 
pleased to have gotten the info.  He also took on board the 
message that things would move at a measured pace.  He said 
that the PM was backpedalling because of the delay and this 
could become a self-fulfilling situation in which the Turks 
would not be able to provide troops down the road even if we 
decided we wanted them.  He was also still worried about the 
void being filled by mischievous forces and was particularly 
worried about managing the press should we get to the point 
where the US preferred not to have a deployment.  The 
Ambassador mentioned that press reports that Turkey was 
considering a force of upwards of 40-50,000 troops were not 
helpful.  Ziyal responded that such reports were ridiculous. 
Turkey could not afford to sustain such a force and there was 
"nothing in the budget for it."  He said he would put out the 
word in the press to that effect. 
 
 
2.  (C)  The Ambassador also delivered the ref B points on 
the financial agreement.  Ziyal said he understood.  He said 
that President Sezer has a problem and won't sign the 
agreement.  He thought the best thing to do was to let it sit 
and not talk about it in public for the time being.  The 
Ambassador said that was fine from his point of view, but 
that members fo the Turkish government kept talking about it. 
 Ziyal agreed and said he would talk to Finance Minister 
Babacan and get him to quiet down. 
EDELMAN