US embassy cable - 04ANKARA5897

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005897 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EB/TRA/OTP, S/CT AND EUR/SE 
PARIS FOR TSA 
BRUSSELS FOR TSA/FAA 
DHS FOR TSA 
DEPT PASS TRANSPORTATION DEPT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2009 
TAGS: EAIR, PTER, PREL, TU, CY 
SUBJECT: MFA RAISES PNR, NORTHERN CYPRUS FLIGHTS, TSA 
SECURITY DIRECTIVE FOR ISTANBUL AIRPORT (SBU) 
 
REF: ANKARA 5765 
 
Classified By: (U) Classified by Economic Counselor Thomas Goldberger f 
or reasons 1.4 b,d. 
 
1. (U) This is an action cable.  See para 6. 
 
2. (SBU) In an October 12 meeting with Econoff, Ahmet Bigali, 
the new MFA Director for Aviation Affairs, and Baris 
Kalkavan, also of the Aviation Affairs Department, raised 
passenger name records (PNR), direct U.S. flights to Ercan 
Airport and TSA's Emergency Amendment/Security Directive 
(EA/SD) for Istanbul Ataturk Airport. 
 
3. (SBU) PNR:  Econoff provided Kalkavan, who had earlier 
inquired about the U.S.-EU PNR arrangement, with a copy of 
the DHS Undertakings to the EU on protection of PNR data. 
Kalkavan stated that U.S. authorities had recently asked 
Turkish Airlines (THY) for PNR data, and that MFA was looking 
into the issue of whether sharing this information was 
consistent with Turkish privacy legislation.  He stated that 
THY had previously been sharing Advanced Passenger 
Information System (APIS) information with U.S. authorities, 
but did not provide further details on this arrangement. 
Econoff responded that data provided by THY would be afforded 
privacy protections in force under U.S. law. 
 
4. (SBU) EA/SD:  Bigali reiterated request (reftel) that TSA 
reconsider the emergency amendment in force for Istanbul 
Ataturk Airport. 
 
5. (C) Cyprus:  Bigali raised the issue of direct U.S. 
flights to northern Cyprus, emphasizing that Turkish public 
opinion expected the U.S. to take steps to ease the isolation 
of the Turkish Cypriots.  Kalkavan thanked the U.S. for 
removing the reference to Ercan as an "illegal" airport from 
the FAA's website.  He asked whether the U.S. planned to use 
northern Cyprus as a rest/recuperation stop for U.S. troops 
in Iraq.  In a subsequent telephone call, Kalkavan informed 
Econoff that the British Government was planning to do an 
aviation security assessment for northern Cyprus soon, and 
inquired about the timing of TSA's assessment of Ercan 
airport. 
 
6. (SBU) Action Request:  Embassy requests talking points for 
use with MFA on U.S. PNR requirements for Turkey. 
EDELMAN