US embassy cable - 05ANKARA3171

UNCLAS ANKARA 003171 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
USDOE FOR CHUCK WASHINGTON 
USDOC FOR 4212/ITA/MAC/OEURA/CPD/DDEFALCO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET, MARR, MASS, TU, GG, AZ 
SUBJECT: TURKEY CONTINUES TO PURSUE BTC SECURITY WITH 
NEIGHBORS 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 2803 
 
     B. ANKARA 2008 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Despite the recent "First Oil" celebration 
in Baku, BTC intergovernmental security coordination 
arrangements are still not complete.  Georgia remains the 
biggest area of concern.  Turkey has expressed willingness to 
facilitate training assistance, but says it has not received 
any formal requests from its neighbors.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) Following May 31 discussions between Senator 
Hagel's delegation and Minister of Energy Hilmi Guler 
(septel) which highlighted BTC security coordination issues, 
Energy Officer followed up with the GOT MFA to assess the 
status of intergovernmental coordination.  (During the 
Delegation's meeting, Minister Guler said he would welcome 
comments and recommendations on security from the U.S.)  In a 
June 3 conversation with Energy Officer, an MFA Officer 
responsible for energy affairs made the following points: 
 
-Georgia has been slow in responding to requests to move 
forward on implementation of intergovernmental security 
arrangements as provided for under the BTC agreement 
(reftels).  Following informal consultations between the 
three BTC countries (a Georgian delegation was received most 
recently by MFA Deputy Under Secretary for Political Affairs 
Uzumcu), the Government of Georgia finally ratified the BTC 
Security Protocol in late May. 
 
-The next step consists of convening a meeting in Turkey of 
the three country Joint Committee on Security.  Azerbaijan 
and Turkey have designated their teams, but Georgia has still 
failed to do so.   For Turkey, there will be a team composed 
of representatives from the TGS, Gendarmerie, MFA, and 
Ministry of Energy.  While the Gendarmerie has the lead for 
BTC security within Turkey, MFA has the lead for 
intergovernmental security coordination.  Turkey is eager and 
ready to move forward on security coordination and is hopeful 
that Georgia will designate a team for a summer meeting. 
 
-Georgia has expressed some interest in security training 
assistance from Turkey in the past, but has not pursued a 
formal request, so the officer was not aware of any formal 
training assistance from Turkish security forces.  She 
believed that the BTC Company had organized training for 
Georgian security forces. 
 
-Until the Joint Committee on Security convenes, detailed 
mechanisms for general and border coordination, 
communication, crisis response, and intelligence sharing have 
not yet been established.  Turkey has readied domestic 
mechanisms, including oil spill response, which is one area 
where there has been some coordination between civilian 
entities in the countries. 
 
-BTC Company has focused on human rights issues.  TGS and the 
Gendarmarie have stated that they do not need any incremental 
human rights training from outside groups. 
 
-The officer is not aware of any military planning or 
exercises between the countries.  (Note: Caucusus Working 
Group Turkish Co-Chair MG Cengiz Arslan told PolMilCouns on 
June 2 that he believed there would be an exercise among the 
three countries.  He undertook to provide a paper on the 
military aspects of pipeline security to the Joint Staff on 
June 8 on the margins of TGS Deputy Chief General Basbug's 
meeting with VCJCS General Pace.) 
 
MOORE