US embassy cable - 04ANKARA6558

UNCLAS ANKARA 006558 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN, SENV, BEXP, RS, TU 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR EDELMAN DISCUSSES EU ENVIRONMENTAL 
REQUIREMENTS AND FIRE-FIGHTING HELICOPTERS WITH TURKISH 
ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTRY MINISTER PEPE 
 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified. 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary.  Ambassador Edelman met November 18 with 
Turkish Minister of Environment and Forestry Osman Pepe to 
discuss Turkey's environmental challenges and to advocate 
that the Ministry purchase Sikorsky helicopters to fill its 
need for firefighting helicopters.  Minister Pepe noted the 
high financial cost of implementing EU environmental 
standards.  On the helicopters, Pepe's response and other 
Embassy conversations suggest that Sikorsky's Russian 
competition is offering a concessional deal involving 
official debt reduction that the U.S. company would not be 
able to match.  End Summary. 
 
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Challenge of Adopting EU Standards 
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2.  (SBU)  On environmental issues, the Ambassador opened the 
discussion by noting that a positive decision by the EU on 
December 17 would open up tremendous opportunities for Turkey 
-- as well as some challenges.  For example, there are 
estimates that the cost of meeting the EU environmental 
standards in Turkey could be as high as $60 billion.  Pepe 
agreed that this poses a significant challenge for Turkey. 
He said there are several estimates of the cost, and it will 
require more detailed studies of EU requirements and the 
kinds of projects Turkey must implement to come to a better 
estimate.  Nevertheless, he expected the total cost to be 
closer to $30-35 billion.  The EU is providing funds to help 
Turkey evaluate the requirements and begin to assign 
priorities, he noted.  The Ministry understands that it will 
take ten years to meet the EU standards and is evaluating 
different options to finish the projects needed.  Pepe said 
that a large part of the responsibility for meeting 
environmental standards would fall to the municipalities, who 
must find better ways to finance improvements in water and 
solid waste treatment.  Pepe added that the Ministry would 
host a "donors meeting" December 8 to present to interested 
embassies Turkey's plans for some "high-cost" environmental 
projects.  The Ambassador pointed out that the U.S. is 
working with the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources on 
projects with important environmental benefits, including 
renewable energy, clean coal, clean fuels and the Hydrogen 
Economy. 
 
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Firefighting Helicopters 
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3.  (SBU)  The Ambassador told Pepe that Sikorsky had put 
together an attractive offer to meet the Ministry's need for 
firefighting helicopters.  The Ambassador emphasized several 
important advantages of the Black Hawk over what we 
understood was its Russian competition:  it can carry 
firefighters at the same time as it carries water; some of 
the helicopters will be available by summer 2005; and because 
the Turkish military flies Blackhawks, there is a large pool 
of trained pilots, mechanics and maintenance facilities in 
Turkey.  Pepe thanked the Ambassador for the information.  He 
said the Ministry considers the purchase of firefighting 
helicopters an important need.  In recent years, the Ministry 
has been forced to borrow military helicopters or rent from 
Russia and Ukraine.  Pepe asked if Sikorsky could offer some 
"offsets" if awarded the deal. 
 
4.  (SBU)  Comment:  Post discussed the request for offsets 
with the local Sikorsky representative, who told us that 
Sikosky would not be able to offer offsets for a deal of this 
size.  Other Ministry officials told us previously that MOEF 
is considering a Russian offer to purchase Russian 
helicopters in exchange for cancellation of Russian debt to 
Turkey's Ex-Im Bank.  This may indicate that MOEF does not 
have funding to pay cash for the U.S. helicopters and might 
be reluctant to ask the Turkish Treasury to authorize a loan 
for the purchase. 
EDELMAN