US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1333

UNCLAS ANKARA 001333 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EB/TRA/OTP AND EUR/SE 
ROME FOR ICE ROBERT STIRITI 
PARIS FOR TSA 
DHS FOR CBP/CSI - TODD HORTON 
DEPT PASS TRANSPORTATION DEPT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EWWT, PTER, ETRD, PREL, ETTC, TU 
SUBJECT:  Turkey Wants to Participate in CSI 
 
 
NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
1. This message contains an action request in para 6. 
 
2. On March 10, Basat Ozturk, MFA Head of the Maritime 
Affairs Department, conveyed the GOT's official, 
positive response on including the port of Izmir in the 
Container Security Initiative (CSI).  He said that the 
Turkish Customs Undersecretariat was coordinating a 
review of the legal and administrative issues involved 
in hosting U.S. personnel in Izmir, including how to 
reconcile CSI with the fact that Turkish law prohibits 
the presence of foreign officials in customs zones. 
Ozturk opined that U.S. customs officers would have to 
work out of adjacent buildings rather than in the 
customs zone itself. 
 
3.  Ozturk said that it would be necessary to conclude a 
bilateral CSI agreement, subject to the approval of the 
GOT Council of Ministers and possibly even requiring 
Parliamentary ratification.  The model Declaration of 
Principles provided by the U.S. side would not be 
sufficient.  Based on Turkish Customs' recent visits to 
an operating CSI port in France and similarities in the 
French/Turkish "legal regimes" and "state structures", 
Ozturk stated that the GOT would like to use our CSI 
arrangement with France as a point of departure for the 
CSI program in Turkey, and requested that we share a 
copy of the U.S.-French CSI agreement with the GOT.  He 
maintained that doing so would save both sides time and 
effort in implementing the program in Turkey. 
 
4.  In response to Econoff's question about whether to 
invite U.S. CBP/ICE personnel to Turkey to discuss the 
modalities of implementing CSI, Ozturk disclosed that 
the Turkish side was still reviewing the issues and that 
they were not yet ready for talks with our side. 
 
5.  MFA noted that the GOT is giving high priority to 
procuring screening and security equipment for Izmir to 
facilitate work in the CSI.  Ozturk pointed out that 
Turkish Railways will relinquish control of the port 
later this year when it is privatized. 
 
6.  Action Request for DHS and EB:  Please advise 
whether the bilateral U.S.-France CSI Agreement can be 
shared with Turkish authorities. 
Edelman