US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1214

UNCLAS ANKARA 001214 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, IZ, PGOV, PREL, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY RESUMES LOADING OF JP-8 BOUND FOR 
IRAQ/MNF-I, SOMO STILL WAITING 
 
REF: ANKARA 1105 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified. 
 
1.  (SBU) Turkish Customs confirmed to Ankara Economic 
Section that on Friday, March 4, Turkey ordered that fuel 
trucks providing JP-8 for MNF-I resume loading in Turkey, 
partially rescinding the GOT's March 1 decision (reftel) that 
all fuel trucks making deliveries to Iraq for SOMO and MNF-I 
would not be allowed to load their trucks until the large 
backlog of trucks waiting to cross the border into Iraq was 
reduced.  The decision to resume truck loading followed 
Ambassador Edelman's meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Ali 
Tuygan, in which he raised U.S. concerns that fuel trucks for 
MNF-I and SOMO were being singled out and that the stoppage 
could affect MNF-I operations in Iraq. 
 
2.  (SBU) Officials from Petrol Ofisi, the Turkish contractor 
for the MNF-I fuel deliveries, confirmed that they have been 
loading trucks with JP-8 since Saturday.  However, they noted 
that Turkish Customs officials are not allowing them to 
reload trucks delivering diesel and Mogas; this includes all 
SOMO trucks.  We stressed to Customs Acting Under Secretary 
Guler that preventing the loading of supplies for MNF-I was 
not a solution and that it was imperative to avoid disrupting 
supplies for MNF-I.  Customs said this was understood. 
 
3.  (SBU) We will continue to press for a full resumption of 
loadings, but the shift of the backlog of trucks from the 
Iraqi to the Turkish side of the border seems to have changed 
the dynamics of Turkish concerns. 
 
Baghdad Minimize Considered. 
EDELMAN