US embassy cable - 04ANKARA5781

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005781 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU 
SUBJECT: GOT: EU REPORT PAVES WAY FOR TALKS 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 261 
 
     B. ANKARA 5671 
     C. ANKARA 5141 
 
Classified By: Classified by Acting DCM James Moore; reasons 1.4 b and 
d. 
 
1. (C) Summary: GOT and EU contacts say they believe the 
October 6 EU Progress Report on Turkey paves the way for the 
opening of accession talks in 2005.  At the same time, GOT 
officials maintain that elements of the report, including a 
statement that the outcome of the talks cannot be guaranteed, 
are unfair because they have not been applied to other 
candidates.  They say they will try to persuade EU leaders to 
avoid using similar language at the EU Summit in December. 
PM Erdogan, FM Gul, and other top GOT leaders have followed 
USG advice to focus on the positive aspects of the report in 
public.  Some Turkish pundits and opposition party leaders 
have been more critical of the report.  GOT and EU officials 
say they will work to adopt several new reforms before 
December.  The GOT leadership will have the difficult task of 
both pleasing the EU and assuring domestic EU skeptics in the 
run-up to the Summit.  The U.S. role will be to help ensure 
the GOT remains focused on the big picture, i.e. opening 
talks in 2005.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
Report Paves Way for Talks... 
----------------------------- 
 
2. (C) Asligul Ugdul, director of political affairs at the 
GOT's Secretariat General for EU Affairs, told us she 
believes the report, on the whole, paves the way for Turkey 
to begin accession negotiations in 2005, provided the GOT 
continues to follow through on reforms.  Ugdul said she 
accepts many of the caveats contained in the report.  For 
example, the section recommending the EU suspend negotiations 
in case of a "serious and persistent breach" of democratic 
principles mirrors language used for Croatia.  And the 
statement that the EU will need to monitor the implementation 
of the reform legislation over time is fair, given the GOT's 
pledge to follow through on the new laws.  Ugdul said she 
believes these clauses reflect the "lessons learned" by the 
EU following earlier expansions.  She said she was encouraged 
by Swedish FM Frievalds' comments during her recent visit. 
Frievalds, Ugdul said, advised GOT interlocutors not to dwell 
on the caveats, which in the end will prove meaningless. 
Every country to date that has begun accession talks has 
progressed toward full membership.  Sema Kilicer, political 
officer at the EU Representation to Turkey, agreed, and said 
she has advised her GOT contacts to focus on the positive. 
Kilicer said the caveats in the report reflect the heated 
debate among EU commissioners, a minority of whom oppose 
Turkey's candidacy.  She said the debates, and related 
changes to the text, continued up to the last minute. 
 
----------------------- 
...But GOT Has Concerns 
----------------------- 
 
3. (U) However, Ugdul said the GOT is concerned about several 
elements of the report: 
 
-- The Commission states that accession talks will be "an 
open-ended process whose outcome cannot be guaranteed 
beforehand" (Note: The GOT tried to have this sentence 
removed during drafting. End Note); 
 
-- The Commission proposes the establishment of a screening 
process that would precede the opening and closure of each 
chapter of the accession talks.  Ugdul said the EU and GOT 
have already held eight working groups on the chapters of the 
EU acquis; any further discussions on the chapters should 
take place simultaneously with the start of accession talks; 
and 
 
-- The Commission indicates that the EU might place permanent 
restrictions on the free movement of Turkish workers. 
 
4. (U) Ugdul averred that the EU would be subjecting Turkey 
to different standards than those applied to other candidates 
if it were to implement these elements of the report.  She 
said the GOT will lobby EU leaders to ensure they do not 
include similar language in the EU Council report in December 
(Note: See septel for similar comments by FM Gul to UK FS 
Straw. End Note). 
 
----------------------------- 
GOT Leaders Focus on Positive 
----------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Ugdul and Kilicer both said they were pleased that PM 
Erdogan, FM Gul, and other top GOT leaders have focused their 
public statements on the positive elements of the report, in 
contrast to their initial, unconstructive criticism of the 
EU's December 2002 decision to postpone a judgment on 
Turkey's candidacy until 2004. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Opposition, Some Pundits Grow Critical 
-------------------------------------- 
 
6. (U) Some other voices, however, have become more 
circumspect, or even hostile, after reading the report in 
detail.  Onur Oymen, an MP from the opposition Republican 
People's Party (CHP), told us the report is "below our 
expectations."  Oymen said he is concerned that the report 
does not emphasize the importance of Turkey's secular State. 
He maintained that PM Erdogan and others in the ruling AK 
Party could interpret the EU's language on religious freedom 
as opposition to traditional Turkish secularism.  He is also 
concerned that the EU may call for extensive further reforms 
on Kurdish issues, such as the inclusion of Kurdish language 
education in public schools.  President Sezer said he 
expected the EU Council in December to remove "negative 
elements" of the report, and emphasized the need to protect 
national interests during negotiations.  Devlet Bahceli, 
chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said during 
an October 7 press conference that the EU's intention is to 
"justify terrorism" and "insult the Turkish State."  Ahmet 
Tasgetiren, writing in the October 8 edition of the Islamist 
daily "Yeni Safak," opined that the Commission is laying the 
groundwork for a "Plan B" alternative to full EU membership, 
and argued that Turkey should also develop a Plan B.  Mehmet 
Ocaktan, also of Yeni Safak, accused the Commission of 
"discrimination" for referring to Kurds as minorities.  Orhan 
Birgit, writing in the nationalist daily "Cumhuriyet," made 
similar remarks, arguing that the Commission's references to 
both Kurds and Alevis as minorities reflects its "ignorance" 
(Note: In Turkey, the term "minority" has a legal meaning 
tied to the 1923 Lausanne Treaty.  The Turkish State 
interprets the Treaty as conferring minority status 
exclusively to three non-Muslim religious groups: Greek 
Orthodox Christians, Armenian Orthodox Christians, and Jews. 
End Note). 
 
---------------------- 
Next Steps for GOT, EU 
---------------------- 
 
7. (C) Ugdul and Kilicer told us the GOT and EU Commission 
will work on further reforms before December to bolster 
Turkey's position at the EU Summit.  They said they will 
focus on the following priorities: 
 
-- Adoption of a new Criminal Procedure Code (reftel A), 
which determines how the judiciary functions in criminal 
matters.  Parliament is expected to adopt the new Code by the 
end of the month; 
 
-- Adoption of a new Execution of Punishments Law (reftel A), 
also on the legislative agenda for this month; 
 
-- Establishment of a corps of Judicial Police, to improve 
oversight of police investigations; 
 
-- Adoption of a new Associations Law.  President Sezer 
vetoed the law in August; Parliament is expected to override 
the veto this month; 
 
-- Removal of language from the "reasoning" of the new Penal 
Code indicating that comments in favor of withdrawing troops 
from Cyprus, or supporting allegations that the Ottoman 
Empire committed a "genocide" against Armenians, could 
constitute a crime (reftel B).  The reasoning is an 
attachment to the law designed as a guide for judges and 
prosecutors.  Ugdul said she was unaware of the controversial 
language until it was covered in the Greek Cypriot and 
Armenian American press.  She said she will raise the issue 
in the next meeting of the Reform Monitoring Group, headed by 
FM Gul, and recommend that the language be removed; and 
 
-- Adoption of a new Foundations Law.  Contacts say the new 
draft law is under Cabinet review.  We have not seen the 
text, but its author claims it would enhance the ability of 
non-Muslim foundations to acquire legal ownership of 
properties (reftel C). 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
8. (C) Overall, Turkish officials have publicly and privately 
followed Secretary Powell's advice: Don't whine, don't gloat, 
be positive in public, point out in private the few things 
you want changed.  Nevertheless, we can expect a certain 
amount of complaining about EU conditions and caveats; the 
GOT has to manage domestic public opinion.  The GOT faces a 
tough challenge over the next three months as it tries to 
assure elements of the Turkish public skeptical about EU 
intentions, while at the same time convincing the EU Turkey 
will be a good candidate.  The USG role will be to help 
ensure that the Turks keep their eyes on the prize.  We have 
told our GOT interlocutors that the EU's insistence on 
implementation should not present a stumbling block -- after 
all, GOT leaders have said all along they intend to implement 
the reforms for the good of Turkey. 
 
 
 
 
EDELMAN