US embassy cable - 04ANKARA1234

UNCLAS ANKARA 001234 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EB AND EUR/SE 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR FOR LERRION 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/DDEFALCO 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, TU 
SUBJECT:  Foreign Trade Official on WTO Negotiations, 
Palestine FTA and the QIZ 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
 
Ref: (A) Jerusalem 492 (B) State 6662 (B) Ankara 655 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  In a February 27 meeting with 
Econoff, Foreign Trade Deputy Director General Husnu 
Dilemre and Department Head Hasan Yalcin expressed 
support for USTR Zoellick's efforts to establish 
positive momentum in the WTO negotiations, provided some 
details on the Turkey - Palestine FTA, and expressed 
interest in going forward with a Qualifying Industrial 
Zone including textiles and apparel.  End Summary. 
 
 
2. (SBU) WTO Negotiations:  Foreign Trade Deputy 
Director General for Agreements Husnu Dilemre and 
Department Head Hasan Yalcin told us that they viewed 
USTR Zoellick's efforts to revive the the WTO 
negotiations very positively.  If progress is sufficient 
to warrant a high-level meeting in 2004, Dilemre 
suggested that Turkey might be willing to host a mini- 
ministerial.  However, he said this was a personal view 
that would have to be cleared within the GOT, if and 
when WTO members arrived at a consensus on the 
desirability of holding such a meeting. 
 
 
3. (SBU) Palestine FTA:  In response to a question from 
Econoff on Turkey's free trade agreement with Palestine 
(refs A, C), Dilemre replied that the GOT negotiated 
this FTA within the framework of its European Union 
customs union.  Since the EU has an FTA with Palestine, 
Turkey is obliged to negotiate a parallel agreement. 
Dilemre remarked that the Palestinians were hoping for 
significant technical assistance under the FTA, but 
Turkey's budget situation rules out an expensive 
program.  He said that assistance is likely to be 
limited to sharing information, such as on customs 
procedures and documents. 
 
 
4. (SBU) Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ):  Dilemre, a 
member of the delegation traveling with Prime Minister 
Erdogan's to the United States in January, expressed 
disappointment with the USG's refusal to contemplate any 
textile/apparel content in a Turkey QIZ.  He said that 
Turkey was prepared to consider various arrangements to 
address our sensitivities on textiles, but which would 
also preserve some flexibility for the future, such as a 
temporary ban (lasting, for example, until 2010) on 
according duty-free status to QIZ textiles exports. 
Dilemre maintained that the QIZ is critical for Turkey, 
because it is the only type of U.S. - Turkey trade 
agreement which would be consistent with the rules of 
the WTO and the customs union.  Econoff responded that 
USG agencies were not prepared to go to Congress with 
any piece of QIZ legislation including trade preferences 
for textiles or apparel. 
Edelman