US embassy cable - 04ANKARA879

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000879 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
STATE FOR P, E, NEA/NGA, AND EUR/SE 
TREASURY FOR OASIA - MILLS AND LEICHTER 
CPA BAGHDAD PLEASE PASS CJTF-7 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, EINV, PREL, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: TURKISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PLEASED WITH BAGHDAD 
VISIT 
 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  Turkish Union of Chambers (TOBB) advisor 
Guven Sak told us February 13 that TOBB was very pleased with 
its February 9 visit to Baghdad, and was considering possible 
follow-up visits to Kirkuk and perhaps other cities.  Sak 
expressed appreciation for CPA's and CJTF-7's efforts to 
support the visit, including by providing security for the 
delegation.  TOBB is particularly interested in helping 
efforts to develop the Iraqi private sector and in resolving 
several "small" problems that currently hinder trade:  extra 
fees charged on the Iraqi side of Habur Gate; the lack of 
security on the roads for Turkish truckers; the lack of 
secure parking areas near major cities; and the lack of 
secure warehouse for depositing and storing goods.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
2.  (SBU) Professor Guven Sak, advisor to the Turkish Union 
of Chambers of Commerce and Exchanges (TOBB), gave us a 
read-out February 11 on TOBB's February 9 visit to Baghdad. 
He said TOBB's leadership was very pleased with the visit, 
and expressed particular appreciation for CPA's and CJTF-7's 
efforts to support the visit, particularly via provision of 
"great" security.  Sak said the delegation came away with the 
impression thatthe USG has subtly shifted its view of 
Turkey's role in Iraq, and now supports a greater Turkish 
role in Iraq's economic reconstruction.  We responded that 
the USG has always welcomed a positive, constructive Turkish 
role in Iraqi reconstruction. 
 
 
3.  (SBU) Sak said the delegation had raised numerous issues 
with Ambassador Bremer and others in Baghdad.  A high 
priority for TOBB is to help develop the Iraqi private 
sector.  To that end, the delegation had asked CPA for help 
in finding a local business executive to head the Iraqi side 
of the Turkey-Iraq Business Council. As an immediate 
follow-up, a delegation of Turkish suppliers plans to travel 
to Baghdad in March to meet with the Iraqi Contractors' 
Federation (Sak was not sure if that was the group's official 
name).  TOBB also understood that CPA had agreed to organize 
a meeting in April (also in Baghdad) between Turkish 
suppliers and the primary contract winners. 
 
 
4.  (SBU) Sak said the delegation had pushed for the USG to 
award at least one primary contract to a Turkish company, 
arguing that this would allay continuing Turkish concerns 
about whether they were being given a fair shot at contracts. 
 We responded that this was "old think."  TOBB needed to get 
away from the notion that contracts should be awarded for 
political reasons.  The USG had taken numerous steps in 
recent months to ensure Turkish companies had every 
opportunity to compete for contracts, and Turkish industry 
should be confident that it can compete on merit. 
 
 
5.  (SBU)  The TOBB delegation, per Sak, pressed for 
resolution of four "small" problems that Turks believe are 
hindering the developing of Turkish-Iraqi trade: 
 
 
-- illegal fees being charged Turkish trucks once they pass 
through Habur Gate.  Sak said officials on the Iraqi side of 
the border even had a printed list of the fees to be charged 
for various types of cargo.  He acknowledging that the 
existence of these fees was partly Turkey's fault, as the 
Turks had negotiated such a system with the KDP in the "old 
days." Still, the systematic collection of such fees along 
the Turkish-Iraqi border -- but not on Iraq's other borders 
-- constituted a discriminatory trade practice. 
 
 
-- the continuing lack of security for Turkish truckers as 
they drive through northern Iraq to deliver and pick up 
goods.  Sak suggested that providing Iraqi license plates to 
the trucks, if only for the Iraq portion of their journeys, 
would help a great deal. 
 
 
-- the lack of secure parking areas outside large cities. 
Without a safe place to stay overnight at their destinations, 
Turkish truckers were very hesitant to carry goods more than 
a short distance into Iraq. 
 
 
-- the lack of secure warehouses.  Sak argued that, for trade 
to develop in central and southern Iraq, it is essential that 
the Iraqis/CPA build a network of secure warehouses where 
goods can be deposited and stored. 
 
 
6.  (SBU) Sak said the Commander of Coalition Forces in 
Kirkuk had invited Turkish businesses to visit Kirkuk to look 
at business opportunities.  TOBB is now considering whether 
and when to visit Kirkuk, as well as other cities to which 
they had been invited (Erbil, Basra).  We stressed the USG's 
interest in efforts to promote Iraqi reconstruction in 
general and Turkish-Iraqi economic relations specifically, 
but noted that some of the TOBB delegation's actions in 
Baghdad -- not sticking to the schedule, adding delegation 
members at the last minute, insisting on numerous smoking 
breaks -- had not been helpful.  Schedule changes and demands 
that might be manageable in Istanbul or New York were not 
easily managed in Baghdad, and visiting delegations needed to 
keep that in mind.  Sak acknowledged the point. 
EDELMAN