US embassy cable - 04ANKARA4886

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 004886 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT 
PARIS FOR TSA 
BRUSSELS FOR TSA/FAA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2014 
TAGS: EAIR, PREL, CY, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKISH MFA CONTINUES TO PUSH FOR DIRECT U.S. - 
NORTH CYPRUS AIR LINKS 
 
REF: A. STATE 181043 
 
     B. HALL/SIROTIC 8/25 EMAIL 
 
Classified By: 
(U) Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch, E.O. 12958, reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d). 
 
1. (U) This cable contains an action request in para 6. 
 
2. (SBU) Emboffs met with MFA Deputy Director General for 
Maritime and Aviation Affairs Vakur Gokdenizler on August 
26 to share current USG thinking on establishing air 
services between North Cyprus and the United States (ref 
A).  We provided an overview of USG civil aviation 
requirements concerning safety, security and economic 
authority and the ways in which our Open Skies agreement 
with Turkey could be useful in allowing airlines, such as 
Kibris Turkish Airlines, to establish service.  Emboffs 
also related that Embassy Nicosia had recently contacted 
North Cyprus authorities to relay this background and 
obtain aviation points of contact. 
 
3. (SBU) Gokdenizler acknowledged that there would be some 
small symbolic value to linking existing U.S.-Turkey and 
Turkey-North Cyprus flights, but said that this falls far 
short 
of Turkish expectations for direct U.S. ) North Cyprus air 
connections.  &The whole thing is symbolic,8 he said, and 
the symbol the GOT seeks is a direct U.S.-Ercan flight.  He 
opined that state-owned Turkish Airlines (THY) would be a 
better candidate for direct service than 
the smaller Kibris Turkish Airlines, and implied that, once 
the U.S. side was ready to approve such an arrangement, the 
GOT could direct THY to begin such flights on relatively 
short notice.  He did not address the question of whether 
such flights would be commercially viable.  Even a flight 
once every week or ten days will provide the symbol the GOT 
seeks, he said.  Gokdenizler 
reiterated GOT interest in a THY codeshare on North Cyprus 
flights with a U.S. airline, and raised Ercan Airport,s 
lack of an airport code and its listing in FAA,s website as 
an &illegal8 destination. 
 
4. (C) Gokdenizler questioned the U.S. political will to move 
ahead with direct flights.  We told him the U.S. is 
determined to end the isolation of the north, to include 
opening the way for direct flights.  We emphasized the 
complexities of this process.  Gokdenizler was unconvinced, 
telling us &if there is the political will, this is easy.8 
 
5. (U) Gokdenizler also posed several questions: 
 
-- Would it be possible to establish a direct flight from a 
U.S. airport to Ercan without a Transportation Security 
Administration (TSA) assessment of Ercan Airport?  The 
flight would return to the U.S. from a Turkish airport, 
rather than directly from Ercan. 
 
-- If THY were to pursue ref A possibility of repackaging 
(assigning a single flight number, for example) existing 
flights between the U.S. and Turkey and between Turkey and 
North Cyprus (no direct U.S.-Ercan connection), would it 
need to apply to the U.S. Department of Transportation for 
economic authority? 
 
-- Is codesharing between THY and U.S. airlines on service 
to North Cyprus possible? 
 
6. (SBU) Action Request:  Embassy requests Department 
response to MFA,s questions in para 5.  If U.S. authorities 
would require written communication from the GOT or THY to 
pursue these ideas, please provide proposed language which 
we can share with the GOT. 
EDELMAN