US embassy cable - 04ANKARA2758

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 002758 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT PASS TRANSPORTATION DEPT FOR SECRETARY MINETA AND 
AVIATION/INT AFFAIRS 
DEPT FOR EB/TRA/OTP AND EUR/SE 
ROME FOR CUSTOMS/ICE AND FAA 
PARIS FOR TSA 
DHS FOR COAST GUARD/MARITIME SECURITY 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EWWT, PTER, EAIR, PREL, OVIP, TU 
SUBJECT:  Secretary Mineta's May 23 to 25 Visit to 
Istanbul 
 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified.  Please Handle Accordingly. 
 
 
1. (SBU) Your visit to Turkey comes several weeks before 
the President's June visit to Ankara and Istanbul for 
bilateral meetings and the NATO Summit, at a time of 
improving political relations and close cooperation on 
our key international priorities.  Your meetings with 
Transport Minister Yildirim provide an excellent 
opportunity to enhance bilateral economic cooperation, 
as well as to raise the profile of our maritime and 
aviation safety and security concerns in the run-up to 
the June NATO Summit in Istanbul.  It also provides us 
with the chance to promote U.S. exports, notably 
Boeing's bid to sell aircraft to state-owned Turkish 
Airlines.  The Embassy and Consulate are also working 
with Turkish authorities to arrange a tour of the 
Bosphorus to acquaint you with transport, environment, 
energy and political issues surrounding use of that 
congested waterway. 
 
 
Notional Program 
---------------- 
 
 
2. (SBU) We are working with the GOT to arrange a 
program for May 24.  This will include an Ambassadorial 
briefing at the U.S. Consulate, followed by a bilateral 
meeting with Transport and Communications Minister 
Binali Yildirim.  The Minister will host a lunch and 
arrange a tour of the Bosphorus, including a briefing on 
straits issues.  We are also considering an event which 
would introduce you to representatives of the U.S. 
business community in Turkey.  The Ambassador and Consul 
General plan to participate in your program.  Our 
control officer will be in contact with your staff as we 
firm up these arrangements. 
 
 
Overview of Bilateral Relations 
------------------------------- 
 
 
3. (SBU) The June NATO Summit will highlight Turkey's 
role in the alliance, in European institutions and in 
our Greater Middle East initiative.  Bilateral political 
relations have improved in the year since the Turkish 
Parliament's March 1 vote on Iraq, with good cooperation 
on a host of issues.  On Iraq reconstruction, Turkey has 
become a major supplier of the Coalition Provisional 
Authority, bilateral trade is booming, and the Turkish 
contractors are poised to win a considerable share of 
reconstruction contracts.  Turkey shares our goal of 
democratization, market-based reform and integration 
with the world economy for the Middle East.  The GOT 
worked hard to reach a resolution to the Cyprus issue, 
and it has continued on the path of political reforms in 
the hope of gaining a date for the start of EU Accession 
negotiations this December. 
 
 
4. (U) The Turkish economy has recovered from the 
financial and economic crisis of 2000-2001.  However, 
Turkey's huge debt and structural weaknesses leave it 
vulnerable to external shocks and necessitate continued 
implementation of the IMF program and its accompanying 
fiscal restraint and structural reform. 
 
 
The Turkish Straits 
------------------- 
 
 
5. (SBU) Turkey is concerned that rising maritime 
traffic, especially of large oil tankers, presents a 
safety and environmental risk to this unique waterway, 
which bisects Istanbul and its population of 12 million. 
Oil transport has increased dramatically in recent 
years:  from 60 million tons in 1997 to 134 million tons 
in 2003, and companies are using larger tankers. Turkish 
officials emphasize that traffic in the Straits is safe 
and they continue to work on safety improvements 
consistent with Turkey's obligations under the Montreux 
Convention. However, they warn that they are nearing the 
maximum safe capacity.   For example, tankers over 200 
meters face special difficulty managing the sharp curves 
and currents in the narrowest sections of the Straits, 
forcing them to routinely deviate outside the normal 
shipping channel.  Turkey restricts these tankers to 
daytime transit and only in one direction at a time.  In 
2003, Turkey took delivery of the Vehicle Traffic System 
(VTS), constructed by Lockheed Martin, which allows 
Turkish authorities to better monitor traffic and 
respond more quickly to accidents in the Straits. 
However, the VTS will not necessarily mean an increase 
in traffic, and may actually reduce traffic, because the 
authorities will be better able to enforce vehicle 
spacing and other safety regulations. 
 
 
6. (SBU) The congestion, when coupled with bad weather, 
has resulted in expensive delays for oil companies and 
supply shortages for consuming country refineries.  At 
one point in early 2004, 42 ships were waiting to enter 
the straits, with an average delay of 20 days, costing 
ship operators hundreds of thousands of dollars.  These 
delays have led to a renewed interest in pipeline 
projects to bypass the Straits, which Turkey supports. 
The U.S. and Turkey have worked closely together to 
promote the development and construction of the Baku- 
Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (to be completed at the end of 
this year), which will bring oil from the Caspian to the 
Mediterranean, bypassing the straits. 
 
 
Maritime 
-------- 
 
 
7. (SBU) Turkish authorities are working toward ship and 
port compliance with the International Maritime 
Organization's (IMO) International Ship and Port 
Facility Security Code (ISPS) by July 1, but Maritime 
Undersecretariat officials advised us in April that some 
ports may not meet the deadline.  Vessels are being 
evaluated by 10 designated "recognized security 
organizations" (RSOs).  About 200 of 670 Turkish ships 
had by April completed a security plan and the remainder 
should comply by July 1.  However, the process for 
Turkish ports is moving more slowly.  In part, this is 
due to the fact that only five RSOs had been designated, 
although we were told that further RSOs would be 
selected.  Officials stated that a number of Turkey's 
privately-run port facilities were apparently resisting 
this security requirement, primarily due to the cost of 
completing an assessment.  They estimated that about 60 
percent of Turkey's 124 ports should be in compliance 
with ISPS by July 1, including the main ports servicing 
trade with the United States (Izmir, Istanbul, Mersin). 
However, the others are likely to miss the deadline. 
 
 
8. (SBU) The Minister may ask whether there is any 
possibility of extending the deadline.  You may want to 
reinforce the importance of timely compliance, and note 
that ships which have visited non-compliant ports may be 
turned away from U.S. ports. 
 
 
9. (SBU) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials 
have in the past identified the port of Izmir as a 
potential partner in the Container Security Initiative 
(CSI), though this has not been implemented and the 
timetable is uncertain.  DHS has worked with at least 
one company on supply chain security under the Customs 
Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). 
 
 
Aviation Security 
----------------- 
 
 
10. (SBU) The FAA and the Embassy have been working with 
the GOT to improve the Directorate General for Civil 
Aviation's (DGCA) air safety oversight capacity, but 
thus far, DGCA continues to have difficulty in retaining 
experienced staff, and for that reason has requested 
postponements in FAA training, most recently, to 
December 2004 or January 2005.  Legislation on this 
issue has been sent back to DGCA for redrafting, though 
DGCA Director General Topa Toker told us May 13 that the 
Minister is following this closely and would like to 
submit it to Parliament by June. 
11. (SBU) On aviation security, the most important 
problem appears to be a gap in controls over 
international passengers transiting from the first port 
of entry in Turkey (usually Istanbul) to a domestic 
flight.  Such passengers are not required to clear 
border and customs control at the first port of entry, 
creating the possibility that these controls could be 
evaded by terrorist or criminal elements.  In part due 
to Embassy lobbying on this issue and the approach of 
the NATO Summit, the GOT decided to implement controls 
at the first port of entry, but thus far, the change has 
not been carried out.  You may want to urge the Minister 
to close this security loophole as quickly as possible 
to enhance security overall and for the President's June 
visit in particular. 
 
 
12. (SBU) In response to the Transportation Security 
Administration's Emergency Amendments, Turkish 
authorities are considering deployment of armed air 
marshals on commercial flights.  A GOT delegation 
recently discussed this issue with the Federal Air 
Marshal Service, but, to date, there has not been a 
decision to proceed with this program. 
 
 
Boeing 
------ 
 
 
13. (SBU) Turkish Airlines has invited Boeing and Airbus 
to present proposals for the procurement of nearly USD 3 
billion worth of aircraft, and called on both airlines 
to deliver "best and final" offers in April.  The 
procurement will be decided at the highest political 
levels of the GOT, and both we and the Europeans have 
advocated on behalf of our companies at senior levels. 
European leaders such as Chirac and Schroeder have been 
especially active, and we have heard the French are 
intimating that the Turkish decision will affect the 
EU's decision in December  on whether to grant Turkey an 
EU accession negotiation start date.  You may want to 
stress our view that the sale should be made on 
commercial and technical, rather than political, 
grounds.  You may also want to stress to the Minister 
that Turkish ratification of the Capetown Convention 
will reduce the cost of U.S. Eximbank financing. 
 
 
Road Safety 
----------- 
 
 
14. (SBU) Turkish authorities have recently begun to 
recognize the need to address very high fatality and 
injury rates on the country's roads, with the Prime 
Minister's 2003 Domestic Security Strategy explicitly 
identifying this issue.  The GOT has declared 2004 to be 
"Traffic Year."  Penalties for traffic violations were 
recently increased.  The Embassy has engaged over 
several years in a program in cooperation with the 
Rotary and U.S. NGOs to promote road safety.  In April, 
the Ambassador hosted a reception on traffic safety 
which included NGOs and GOT officials.  While the 
Transport Ministry has a limited role in this area, 
Ministry sources advised that they may include 
representatives of other agencies with more direct 
responsibilities in this area. 
 
 
Northern Cyprus 
--------------- 
 
 
15. (SBU) In a meeting with Econoff on May 14, Deputy 
Transport Undersecretary Turker speculated that the 
Minister might ask whether the USG will change its 
policies on transport links with northern Cyprus or 
whether we would permit a U.S. aircraft to land in the 
new Ercan airport.  If raised, you may want to note that 
we are coordinating with our European partners with a 
view toward easing isolation of Turkish Cypriots.  We 
are conducting an interagency review of our policies in 
this area, but have not taken any final decisions at 
this time. 
Minister Yildirim 
----------------- 
 
 
16. (SBU) Binali Yildirim is reputed to enjoy good 
relations and access to Prime Minister Erdogan. Yildirim 
has considerable background in maritime issues, 
including a doctorate from the Faculty of Naval 
Architecture and Ocean Engineering at Istanbul Technical 
University.  Prior to becoming Minister, he ran the 
Istanbul Sea Buses Corporation and held managerial 
positions in the shipbuilding industry. 
Edelman