US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2729

UNCLAS ANKARA 002729 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: BEXP, ECIN, ECON, ETRD, IS, PREL, TU 
SUBJECT: ANKARA FORUM PROMOTES BUSINESS COOPERATION AMONG 
TURKEY, ISRAEL AND PALESTINE 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  Turkey's Chamber of Commerce organized 
the first meeting of Israeli, Palestinian and Turkish 
business associations April 27 in Ankara, Turkey.  In a joint 
statement after the meeting, the three parties named the 
initiative "the Ankara Forum for Palestine-Israel-Turkey 
Economic Cooperation."  Although the organizers purposely 
excluded political issues from their discussions, they 
announced their hope that the forum would contribute to the 
peace process.  They will meet again June 8 in Jerusalem. 
End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) On April 27, Rifat Hisarciklioglu, president of the 
Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), 
Shraga Brosh, president of the Manufacturers Association of 
Israel, and Ahmad Al-Zogheir, chairman of the Palestinian 
Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture headed their 
respective business delegations to discuss ways the three 
parties could promote economic cooperation through 
business-to-business cooperation and reduce the obstacles to 
economic development in Palestine.  The forum was the 
brainchild of Hisarciklioglu, who received support from 
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Foreign Minister Gul. 
(Comment:  The forum and other Middle East-related 
initiatives by the Turkish Chamber suggest it is one of the 
few non-governmental organizations in Turkey showing an 
interest in Middle East issues.  End Comment.)  According to 
TOBB International Affairs Advisor Mustafa Bayburtlu, the 
idea remain stalled as long as Arafat remained in charge of 
the Palestinian Authority. 
 
3.  (U) During the meeting, the three sides referred to a 
November 2004 World Bank report, "Intifada: Closures and 
Palestinian Economic Crisis:  An Assessment," to identify 
obstacles to economic development in Palestine and discuss 
possible remedies.  According to Bayburtlu, one idea 
discussed at the forum was to jointly revitalize former 
Israeli industrial parks in Gaza.  After the meeting, 
Hisarcikioglu announced that future meetings would focus on 
cooperation in tourism, industry, infrastructure and 
agriculture.  Tourism seems to be one of the easier sectors 
in which to develop tri-partite cooperation:  the Israelis 
and Palestinians were interested in Turkish tours coming to 
both Israel and the Palestinian territories.  Bayburtlu said 
the forum would meet again June 8 in Jerusalem. 
EDELMAN