US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2332

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002332 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2015 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, AF, TU, NATO 
SUBJECT: ISAF: TURKS SAY CAVEATS ARE BASED ON NATO PLANNING 
 
REF: STATE 60862 
 
Classified By: Acting Counselor for Political-Military Affairs Maggie N 
ardi for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1. (C) The Turkish military has told us that many of the 
national caveats on its ISAF forces are based on the ISAF 
Operations Plan (OPLAN) and other NATO requirements.  Turkey 
will not remove its caveats, but would support changes in the 
OPLAN and AOR to meet Alliance needs.  End summary. 
 
2. (C) PolMilOff discussed reftel demarche April 5 with Alper 
Coskun, MFA Head of Department for NATO, who said he would 
look into Turkish caveats in ISAF.  PolMilCouns and PolMilOff 
followed up April 13 with Maj Gen Mehmet Eroz, TGS Deputy J3. 
 Eroz responded that many of Turkey's caveats are a direct 
reflection of the ISAF Operations Plan (OPLAN) and other NATO 
requirements.  Following are his views on each caveat in 
question. 
 
Infantry Company in Police District One 
--------------------------------------- 
 
3. (C) NATO requested an infantry company to serve in a 
particular area, namely Police District One, so that is where 
Turkey placed its company.  Eroz went on to say that "you 
can't just let a company go off by itself to do its own 
thing."  He said Turkey might be open to putting the company 
elsewhere, but only if lines of command were clear (and the 
request were to come from the Alliance). 
 
QRF Restricted to ISAF Central Area 
----------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) Eroz said that under the ISAF OPLAN Turkey's QRF was 
assigned to the central area.  He said this is less a caveat 
than fulfillment of a NATO requirement.  "You should ask NATO 
HQ to change the requirement for ISAF VIII," he suggested. 
 
Turkish Units Will Only Operate Under German Battalion 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
5. (C) Eroz said that Turkey did not require German command, 
but that the Germans happen to command the battalion under 
which Turkey's forces serve.  Turks are ready to serve under 
whichever NATO Ally is in command of the battalion in 
question, he said. 
 
National Approval to Operate Outside the ISAF AOR 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
6. (C) Eroz said that as ISAF's AOR changes (as approved by 
the Alliance), Turkey can change with it. 
 
Limitation of Use of Forces 
--------------------------- 
 
7. (C) Eroz asserted that most of the activities listed in 
this caveat (minefield clearing, counternarcotics, terrorism, 
even protection of Afghan civilians) are not covered by the 
ISAF OPLAN.  For example, Eroz claimed, counternarcotics only 
comes into the OPLAN under the heading of information and 
intelligence exchange.  Turkish forces are prepared to carry 
our what is required in the OPLAN, Eroz said, but are not 
authorized to do more unless the OPLAN changes. 
 
8. (C) Eroz said that Turkey is prepared to be flexible if 
NATO wants to change the ISAF OPLAN, and signaled that Turkey 
is prepared to support many such changes.  But since many of 
Turkey's caveats are essentially derived from the OPLAN, the 
GOT not prepared to unilaterally remove its caveats.  If ISAF 
and OEF are to merge, Eroz noted, the OPLAN will become 
increasingly comprehensive and complex.  We checked back in 
with MFA's Coskun on April 28; he confirmed that Eroz's 
position on ISAF caveats was in line with the GOT view. 
 
9. (U) Kabul minimize considered. 
EDELMAN