US embassy cable - 05ANKARA5122

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005122 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USTR FOR LISA ERRION 
USDOC FOR CHERRY RUSNAK 
USDA FOR FAS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2010 
TAGS: ETRD, EAGR, EINV, BEXP, TU 
SUBJECT: TRADE MINISTER TUZMEN WASHINGTON MEETINGS 
 
 
Classified By: Econ/C Tom Goldberger.  Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C)  Summary.  Turkish State Minister Tuzmen does not 
appear to have a specific agenda for his September 8-9 
meetings at USTR, Commerce and DHS.  In addition to our 
agriculture and IPR issues, it would be helpful to remind the 
tin-eared Minister of the importance of communication and 
dialogue on issues of importance to both countries, 
otherwise, we will have no choice but to take steps -- such 
as WTO dispute resolution -- we would rather avoid.  It will 
also be useful to remind the Minister that it is premature to 
talk of market access preferences for Turkish companies when 
U.S. firms feel they are not playing on a level field in 
Turkey.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U)  Kursat Tuzmen, Turkey's State Minister responsible 
for foreign trade and customs issues, has meetings with 
Secretary Gutierrez and Ambassador Portman September 8-9 and 
 
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has requested a meeting with Customs Commissioner Bonner. 
According to the Minister's staff, Tuzmen does not have a 
specific agenda for his meetings.  In an August 25 courtesy 
call by Charge, Tuzmen said he would use the USTR and 
Commerce meetings to preview his plan to focus 2006 Turkey's 
trade and investment promotion agenda on developing new 
markets in the Western Hemisphere, including the United 
States.  At Customs, Tuzmen is likely to raise our request to 
include Turkey in the Container Security Initiative as well 
as Nonproliferation Cooperation activities including the 
exchange of information and training, and the modernization 
of the Turkey's equipment and methods. 
 
3.  (SBU)  It would be useful for USTR and Commerce to use 
their meetings with Tuzmen to raise our ongoing concerns with 
market access for agricultural products (particularly the 
rice licensing scheme) and Turkey's inadequate protection of 
confidential test data submitted by pharmaceutical companies 
 
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in support of applications to the Ministry of Health for 
marketing authorizations.  Tuzmen was defensive on both 
issues in the meeting with the Charge, claiming that 
responsibility lay with the Ministry of Agriculture and the 
Ministry of Health respectively.  (The Charge specifically 
reminded him that Turkey's current rice regime was not 
consistent with its WTO commitments.) 
 
4.  (C)  It would also be helpful to reinforce with the 
Minister the importance of maintaining a dialogue.  The U.S. 
Government has attempted without success at many stages to 
engage the Turkish government in a substantive dialogue on 
both issues, which are of great importance to U.S. industry. 
After four years without a meeting, it is good that we will 
have a TIFA Council meeting later this year in Ankara (the 
Turks have proposed dates between November 28 and December 
2), but we both must be prepared to engage on the substance 
of difficult issues with domestic sensitivities.  (Although 
his formal TIFA Council counterpart will be Under Secretary 
Tuncer Kayalar, it could be useful for AUSTR Donnelly to seek 
a separate introductory meeting with Tuzmen in Washington.) 
 
5.  (C)  Tuzmen considers himself a skillful "bargainer" and 
has a zero-sum attitude regarding trade relationships.  His 
vision of trade and investment promotion centers on special 
incentives and market preferences for Turkish companies.  (He 
will likely raise the Turkish travertine industry's petition 
for a competitive needs waiver under the GSP program and may 
have other ideas up his sleeve.)  Tuzmen needs to hear again 
(and probably again) from his interlocutors that the 
principle impediment to increased U.S. trade and investment 
with Turkey is Turkey's opaque legal and regulatory system. 
Businesspeople do not feel they will get a quick or fair 
hearing in Turkey's legal system in the event of a 
contractual dispute and believe that the regulatory system is 
designed to favor local companies.  Turkey has recently 
cleaned up some long-standing disputes, such as that of 
Cargill.  In other cases, disputes have been resolved when 
the U.S. company, e.g. Newmont Mining, sold its interests to 
local investors.  But these are one-off solutions; what is 
required is systemic institutional change to modernize and 
streamline the judicial bureaucracy, update commercial laws, 
and train judges in modern judicial practice. 
 
Biographical Information 
------------------------ 
 
6.  (U)  Following is the Minister's official bio:  Kursad 
Tuzmen was born in 1958 in Ankara.  He graduated from the 
Middle East Technical University in 1981, with a degree in 
business administration.  He received his MBA from Illinois 
University in 1991.  Tuzmen served in managerial positions in 
the private sector (1981-84), and as an expert in the State 
Planning Organization (1984-1991), before he started working 
in the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat (FTU).  He specialized 
in free trade zones and worked as a Head of Department, a 
Deputy Director General and Director General in FTU,s Free 
Zones Department (1991-1997).   He served as the Deputy 
Undersecretary (1997-1999) and the Undersecretary of Foreign 
Trade (1999-2002).  He was appointed as the Minister of State 
in 2002, and as the Minister of Environment in 2003.  Tuzmen 
became the Minister of State in charge of trade and customs 
in May 2003.  Tuzmen is a national swimmer, professional 
diver and a member of the National Olympics Committee.  He is 
married and has two children. 
MCELDOWNEY