US embassy cable - 05ANKARA3415

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 003415 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2015 
TAGS: AORC, PHUM, PREF, PREL, IS, SZ, TU, ICRC 
SUBJECT: MAGEN DAVID ADOM DEMARCHE IN RESPONSE TO SWISS 
CIRCULAR NOTE FOR THIRD ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL 
 
REF: STATE 104272 
 
Classified By: POLCOUNSELOR John Kunstadter for reasons: E.O. 12958 1.4 
 (b,d) 
 
1.  (U) We delivered reftel demarche to Turkish MFA Head of 
International Political Organizations Levent Sahinkaya, who 
already had in his possession copies of the Swiss Circular 
Note, the Draft Rules of Procedure and the Draft Third 
Additional Protocol. Sahinkaya confirmed: 
 
 -- the Turkish Ambassador in Geneva, representing Turkey as 
the OIC President, advised Ambassador Pfirter that the time 
was not appropriate to convene a conference; and 
 
 -- the Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Pinhas Avivi presented 
an identical demarche on June 8 to MFA Undersecretary Ali 
Tuygan (Sahinkaya did not tell us Ambassador Tuygan's 
response to Ambassador Avivi). 
 
2.  (U) Sahinkaya, however, clarified Turkey's position 
related to Magen David Adom, noting that Turkey is not 
against the Third Protocol and considers the use of a neutral 
emblem as "reasonable." 
 
3.  (C)  Defending Turkey's position as OIC President, 
Sahinkaya insisted that Turkey could not go against the 
prevailing wishes of the OIC, which he distinguished as 
different from the Arab countries.  Nevertheless, a visibly 
uncomfortable Sahinkaya said that the prevailing Arab opinion 
was against such a conference.  Sahinkaya was unable to 
reconcile Turkey's self-description as a secular country with 
its OIC-influenced decision to not support a Third Additional 
Protocol conference in October. 
EDELMAN