US embassy cable - 04ANKARA1230

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001230 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2029 
TAGS: MARR, PGOV, PREL, TU, XF 
SUBJECT: TGS QUESTIONS ON GME 
 
REF: STATE 35891 
 
 
(U) Classified by Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Deutsch. 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
 
1.  (C)  In response to questions from the Turkish General 
Staff regarding the Greater Middle East Initiative, on 
February 27 deputy PolMil counselor met with TGS/J5 staff 
officers and, drawing on reftel, briefed them on the GME 
concept.  They had already seen the Istanbul Cooperation 
Initiative paper circulated in Brussels.  The TGS officers 
posed a number of questions during the discussion: 
 
 
-- Which countries are included in the GME?  Why is Syria not 
included in list of countries in reftel, while Iran is (both 
are state sponsors of terrorism)?  Is Syria included or not? 
If not, why not? 
 
 
-- Are the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus 
included?  If not, why not? 
 
 
-- What if any relationship is there between GME and the 
Global Force Posture Review?  (TGS suspects that they are 
related:  perhaps the reason that the US has so many forces 
in the region -- and wants to move more of them to the east 
as part of the posture review -- is to be able to have the 
capability to use mil force to further the objectives of the 
GME.) 
 
 
-- What if any expectations does the US have for Turkey as 
far as the GME is concerned?  What does the US mean when it 
says that it wants countries like US to support the GME? 
What type of support is the US looking for from a country 
such as Turkey? 
 
 
-- By including Turkey as one of the countries in the GME, 
does this mean that the US sees Turkey's future more in the 
Middle east than in Europe?  (Deputy PolMilCouns argued that 
Turkey could be both squarely in Europe and still play a 
leading role in the Middle East, but it was clear that the 
military officers saw it as "one or the other.") 
 
 
-- TGS would welcome more information/details on the security 
dimension of the GME. 
 
 
-- What, if any, criteria is there for countries to be part 
of the GME initiative?  What does "self-selecting" mean? 
 
 
-- Beyond policy pronouncements, is there programmatic 
content to the GME? 
 
 
-- Will the GME continue to be a high priority if President 
Bush loses in November?  (Deputy PolMilCouns argued that the 
initiative has bi-partisan support, as witnessed during PM 
Erdogan's meetings on Capitol Hill while in Washington in 
January.) 
 
 
2.  (C)  Comment:  Under Secretary Grossman will visit Ankara 
this week to discuss GME with the GOT, and we expect he will 
face similar questions.  We would welcome guidance to respond 
to these questions before his arrival on March 4 if possible. 
EDELMAN