US embassy cable - 04ANKARA6621

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006621 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO DHS AND FEMA 
DEPARTMENT FOR USAID ADMINISTRATOR AND OFDA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2014 
TAGS: EAID, OVIP, PGOV, PREL, TU 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER:  U.S. VISIT OF TURKISH DEPUTY PRIME 
MINISTER MEHMET ALI SAHIN, DECEMBER 1 - 3 
 
 
Classified By: DCM Robert Deutsch for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin is leading a 
six-person Turkish delegation to visit the U.S. December 1-3 
at the invitation of the Department of Homeland Security 
(DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  We 
understand he will also meet U/S Grossman at State and USAID 
Administrator Natsios.  (Delegation list in para 6.)  Sahin 
has been tasked by Prime Minister Erdogan to restructure 
Turkey's capability to respond and manage disasters and 
emergencies like the 1999 earthquakes.  Sahin, who is 
considered politically and personally close to Erdogan, is 
also responsible for Turkey's policy on charitable, civic, 
educational and other foundations, including those 
established for non-Moslem religious groups designated by the 
Lausanne Treaty.  We should use the opportunity of his visit 
to press him on the problems of Greek Orthodox properties and 
to discuss the government's views on U.S.-Turkey relations 
and the upcoming EU decision on Turkey's accession. 
Following Erdogan's lead, Sahin has also been one of the 
Turkish officials who have jumped on the anti-U.S. media 
bandwagon on Fallujah operations in Iraq.  We need to tell 
him that such statements reverberate negatively in the U.S. 
and could damage the relationship. 
 
2.  (SBU) Sahin began his political career in the Islamist 
Milli Gorus (National View) movement.  He was twice elected 
to Parliament in 1995 and 1999 from Islamist parties, and was 
a founding member of the AK Party.  In 2002, he was elected 
again to Parliament on the AKP ticket.  His background 
indicates that early in his career he shared strong Islamist 
views.  However, his attitudes appear to have moderated 
considerably in recent years.  For example, he has been one 
of the more helpful and understanding Turkish politicians 
regarding U.S. goals in Iraq. 
 
3.  (U) As Deputy Prime Minister in the AK Party government, 
Sahin handles a diverse portfolio of issues, including: 
relations with parliament; the state personnel office, 
including oversight of collective bargaining with public 
sector employees; the Youth and Sports Directorate General; 
the Football Federation; and foundations.  Prime Minister 
Erdogan recently tasked him with restructuring Turkey's 
emergency capabilities. 
 
4.  (U) The Director General of Turkey's Emergency Management 
Agency (TEMA) Hassan Ipek will accompany Sahin and has worked 
closely with FEMA to organize the visit.  Ipek hopes that 
Sahin's visit will convince him to recommend that Turkey 
restructure its system on the U.S. FEMA model.  TEMA is a 
General Directorate in the Prime Ministry and was founded in 
1999, immediately after the 1999 earthquakes near Istanbul 
that left 18,000 dead and nearly 400,000 buildings damaged 
revealed the serious shortcomings in Turkey's disaster 
management capabilities.  TEMA maintains the country's 
24-hour crisis management center and coordinates all foreign 
disaster assistance.  Through the Prime Minister, TEMA 
coordinates disaster response through regional crisis 
management centers and other Turkish ministries.  However, 
Ipek has identified several weaknesses that he hopes to 
correct:  TEMA has no separate budget and no direct control 
over the disaster response capabilities of other government 
agencies.  And relations between TEMA and the military's role 
in disasters is not clearly defined. 
 
5.  (C) Although Sahin's visit is focused on meetings with 
DHS and FEMA officials and visits to FEMA facilities, he is 
close to Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan.  This is an 
opportunity, particularly at State, to raise other important 
issues with him. 
 
-- Anti-U.S. statements regarding Fallujah:  In a November 25 
statement before Parliament Sahin said that Fallujah 
operations "give the impression of a massacre."  This 
followed similar statements by Prime Minister Erdogan and 
other senior officials and a bout of anti-U.S. hysteria in 
the press.  We should tell Sahin flat-out these are 
outrageous distortions and that such incorrect and misleading 
statements risk eroding support for Turkey in the U.S. and 
significantly injure bilateral relations.  We should urge 
Sahin to publicly correct his statement. 
 
-- Religious properties:  The issue of non-Muslim religious 
properties falls directly under his Foundations portfolio. 
We should emphasize the importance of reaching a solution to 
allow the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and other 
non-Muslim groups to regain properties expropriated by the 
State over the years.  A Turkish court recently reached a 
decision effectively expropriating an historic Greek Orthodox 
orphanage; tax authorities recently notified a Greek Orthodox 
hospital in Istanbul that it owes back taxes despite being a 
non-profit institution.  The longstanding closure of the 
Greek Orthodox Halki seminary remains unresolved.  The Greek 
Orthodox community has dwindled to fewer than 3,000 people, 
and the future of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, which has 
been in Istanbul since Byzantine times, is in jeopardy.  We 
should let Sahin know that these issues get noticed in the 
U.S. and Europe, and resolving them would ease doubts about 
Turkey,s commitment to religious freedom and positively 
impact Turkey's image for religious tolerance, improve 
relations with the U.S. and bolster Turkey,s EU bid. 
 
-- EU Integration:  In the run up to December 17, we should 
also urge Sahin to make sure the GOT is careful with its 
rhetoric and does not paint itself into a corner.  Turkey 
should keep focused on the strategic objective.  As long as 
it gets a clear date to begin negotiations for a successful 
objective of full membership without singularization of 
Turkey, it should view the result positively.  However, Sahin 
should be encouraged to take steps now to continue 
demonstrating Turkey's political will to implement EU values 
and standards. 
 
6.  (U) Turkish Delegation: 
 
Mehmet Ali Sahin, Deputy Prime Minister 
Hassan Ipek, Director General, TEMA 
Murat Kul, Aide to Sahin 
Aydin Demir, Aide to Sahin 
Dr. Derin Ural, Director Center of Excellence for Disaster 
Management 
Dr. Faruk Karadogan, President, Istanbul Technical University 
EDELMAN