US embassy cable - 05ANKARA4553

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004553 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/SE, EB/CBA AND NEA 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECIN, ETRD, BEXP, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: HIGH-LEVEL U.S. PARTICIPATION FOR TURKISH-IRAQI 
BUSINESS FORUM IN JUNE, 2006 
 
 
This is an Action Request. See paragraph 7. 
 
1.(SBU) Summary: The Turkish-Iraqi Business Council has 
postponed its planned conference to promote business with 
Iraq until June, 2006.  The postponement is designed to 
allow a new government to be in place in Iraq, such that 
high-level members of the new government could come to the 
conference in Istanbul.  In a meeting with the Charge, the 
Chairman of the Council requested cabinet-level 
participation in the conference.  Post recommends strong USG 
support for the conference, given the Turkish private 
sector's potential as a supplier to--and investor in--Iraq. 
End Summary. 
 
Turkish-Iraqi Business Council Calls on Charge: 
------------------------------------------- 
 
2.(SBU) Ercument Aksoy, Chairman of the Turkish-Iraqi 
Business Council, and several of his colleagues on the 
council, came from Istanbul to meet with the Charge on July 
21.  The Turkish-Iraqi Council is one of a number of 
bilateral business promotion council's under the umbrella of 
DEIK, the Foreign Economic and Business Council. (Its 
counterpart for bilateral U.S. business relations is TAIK, 
the Turkish-U.S. Business Council.)  Aksoy, whose wife is 
Iraqi, and who has long done business with Iraq, said he is 
still active there, though most Turkish businesses had to 
put their activities on hold around March, 2004, when the 
security situation worsened.  Despite all the problems, 
Aksoy said Turkish exports to Iraq reached $1.8 billion in 
2004.  Aksoy said business people understand it will take 
time for Iraq to establish strong security forces, but 
meanwhile, he wished the ITG had more business-friendly 
policies. 
 
Conference Postponed Due to Political Calendar: 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
3.(SBU) The principal reason for Aksoy's visit was to seek 
U.S. support for the Turkish-Iraqi Business Forum which his 
Council is sponsoring. As Aksoy said in a letter requesting 
the meeting, the Forum, the first of its kind between the 
two countries, is intended to allow "the Iraqi private and 
public sector to share their priorities, vision and 
strategies for the reconstruction of Iraq. and to focus on 
the prospects and opportunities of Turkish-Iraqi economic 
relations and ways of promoting their development and 
expansion."  Aksoy said Prime Minister Erdogan is supportive 
and has agreed to attend the Forum. 
 
4.(SBU)The Council had hoped to have the conference in late 
September, 2005.  On the advice of the Iraqi Embassy, 
however, the conference was postponed until June 16-17, 2006 
both to better prepare, and to wait until the busy political 
calendar in Iraq was completed and a new government was well- 
established.  Aksoy and his colleagues said they might be 
able to move up the conference to earlier next spring, 
however.  To elicit the best possible response from the 
Turkish and regional business communities, the Council felt 
it was very important to have Iraqi ministers present who 
could explain their policies and answer questions. 
 
The Importance of U.S. Support: 
------------------------------ 
 
5.(SBU)  Aksoy stressed the importance of strong U.S. 
support.  He thought it would be highly desirable to have 
senior USG officials responsible for Iraq policy such as 
Ambassador Jones (this was prior to the announcement of 
Ambassador Jones' nomination as Ambassador to Israel) but 
wondered whether it might not be possible to get a cabinet- 
level official.  His preference, if she would consider it, 
would be Secretary Rice. 
 
Action Request: High-level U.S. Participation: 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6.(SBU) Comment: In the meeting, the Charge expressed 
Embassy support for the Forum. Of all of Iraq's neighbors, 
Turkey probably has the most potential as a supplier and 
investor, given its large, diverse manufacturing sector and 
a Turkish construction companies' strong track record, 
including in difficult environments in the Middle East and 
Central Asia.  Moreover, the Turkish business community is 
one of the few constituencies in Turkey which understands 
the Turkish stake in the stabilization of Iraq. End Comment. 
 
7. (SBU) Action Request: It's still very early, but post 
recommends strong USG participation in this conference. 
 
McEldowney