US embassy cable - 04ANKARA224

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000224 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY: OPPOSITION CHP CAUSING STIR OVER INCIRLIK 
TROOP ROTATIONS 
 
 
(U) Classified by Political Counselor John Kunstadter. 
Reason: 1.5 (b,d). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Opposition CHP is trying to make hay over the 
public disclosure of the arrangement to allow U.S. troops to 
rotate out of and to Iraq using Incirlik air base.  CHP M.P.s 
argue that the decision is against the constitution and 
complain that the AK Party Government still refuses to share 
information with them.  CHP's objections have spurred 
Parliament Speaker Arinc to act, which could drag the issue 
into a legal morass. End Summary. 
 
 
2. (U) Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is 
seizing on U.S. troop rotations at Incirlik air base to 
attack the ruling AK Party Government for allegedly violating 
the Turkish constitution, which according to art. 92 requires 
Parliament's approval for the presence of foreign troops on 
Turkish soil.  In a speech to the CHP Parliamentary Group 
Jan. 13, party chairman Baykal dismissed the GOT's 
explanation that the understanding with the USG was based on 
a June decree that envisioned Turkish assistance in Iraq. 
Decrying GOT "secrecy," Baykal said that AK Party has been 
trying to make "dangerous" decisions on Iraq and claimed that 
the decision to allow the U.S. to rotate troops at Incirlik 
lacks any constitutional or UN basis.  "The Government should 
ask for permission from Parliament," he averred, adding that 
CHP is waiting for an explanation from the GOT before 
pursuing other legal avenues. 
 
 
3. (U) Adding fuel to the fire, former Ambassador to the U.S. 
and current CHP M.P. Sukru Elekdag, a consistently harsh 
critic of the U.S., said publicly Jan. 13 that "Turkey should 
not become an inn for trespassers."  He further complained 
that Turkey is assisting the U.S. in ways that are 
"constitutionally controversial, while the USG does nothing 
about the PKK in Iraq." 
 
 
--------------- 
GOT Not Sharing 
--------------- 
 
 
4. (C) In recent private conversations, CHP M.P.s claimed 
that the real issue is not with troop rotations themselves 
but with the AK Government for not sharing information. 
Picking up on a CHP complaint we heard often in the run-up to 
the failed March 1, 2003 vote on U.S. troop deployment, 
Istanbul deputy Bulent Tanla, Baykal's chief advisor, told 
poloff that the GOT never consults with CHP on key issues, 
including on troop rotations.  As a result, Tanla said, CHP 
had no idea what AK had agreed to do.  "We have a right to 
know before the issue shows up in the press," he said.  Tanla 
added that CHP has not decided whether or how to challenge 
AK's decision legally.  "If the U.S. is using Incirlik for 
humanitarian missions, that's fine, but if it's something 
else, there may be a problem." 
 
 
5. (C) As if from talking points, CHP Vice Chairman Sinan 
Yerlikaya echoed his colleagues' complaints, even though he 
phoned poloff while campaigning in Turkey's remote Tunceli 
province.  Yerlikaya half-heartedly tried to convince poloff 
that CHP's stance has nothing to do with the party's policies 
vis-a-vis the U.S.  "The U.S. is still our friend and ally," 
but the GOT should share information with CHP, he said. 
Yerlikaya claimed that previous governments often met with 
opposition parties to avoid public flaps; AK does not do 
that, he said. 
 
 
6. (C) Istanbul businessman and senior CHP deputy Ersin 
Arioglu, who sits on the International Crisis Group's Board 
of Directors and calls himself a "party intellectual," 
lamented insincerely that the controversy could have been 
avoided if P.M. Erdogan had met with Baykal before the issue 
became public knowledge.  Arioglu claimed that AK M.P.s had 
recently refused to answer CHP questions on Incirlik in 
Parliament committee meetings.  When asked in which 
committees, Arioglu shrugged, saying "Defense, 
Constitutional, Foreign Affairs, one of those."  Arioglu 
asserted that this is entirely a legal issue vice a political 
one.  As evidence, he pointed out that Parliament Speaker and 
AK M.P. Bulent Arinc had even agreed to look into the 
legalities of the agreement. 
 
 
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Comment 
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7. (C) CHP M.P. Necdet Budak, a frequent critic of his 
party's leadership, told poloff Jan. 14 that the CHP campaign 
us likely to go nowhere.  "We won't win points with the 
public over this," he said.  Nevertheless, it is worth noting 
Arinc's potentially key role in this issue.  The prickly 
Arinc -- together with Baykal and President Sezer -- worked 
to sabotage the March 1, 2003 vote and on occasion has been 
eager to assert Parliament's authority vis-a-vis the State 
and Government.  However, we expect that AK -- given the 
upcoming visit of Erdogan to Washington -- is likely to keep 
Arinc under control for the near future. 
EDELMAN