US embassy cable - 05ANKARA6957

UNCLAS ANKARA 006957 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, PREL, ECON, KPWR, PGOV, AF, TU 
SUBJECT:  TURKEY: DECEMBER 4-5 KABUL CONFERENCE 
 
REF:  STATE 211164 
 
PLEASE SEE INFORMATION REQUEST IN PARA 4. 
 
1.  (SBU)  MFA Deputy DG (DAS) for Bilateral Economic 
Issues Ayse Sinirlioglu says Turkey has not yet decided 
how it will be represented at the Kabul Conference, but 
that the delegation will likely be led by senior MFA 
Afghanistan Coordinator Ambassador Koray Targay. 
Sinirlioglu, who will also attend, was very supportive of 
a results-oriented conference and hoped that participants 
would go beyond brainstorming to identify a small number 
of the most promising projects that would promote 
regional integration.  She is working to get interagency 
clearance on a list of Turkish proposals, and suggested 
that regional transportation facilitation initiatives 
might be the most promising.  She said she did not 
believe a new regional organization should be created and 
noted that the regional "Economic Cooperation 
Organization" (ECO) has developed a number of interesting 
project ideas, as has the UN SPECA program. 
 
2.  (SBU)  The hardest part, Sinirlioglu said, would be 
identifying financing for regional projects.  She thought 
that the participation of the Asian Development Bank and 
other organizations, as well as G-8 donors (she 
especially hoped Japan would participate) would be 
critical.  She said there were mixed views on whether it 
would be useful to use the upcoming "London Conference" 
as a pledging event, and hoped to discuss this with the 
UK and U.S. delegations while in Kabul. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Sinirlioglu said that she hoped details of how 
Turkey would spend the $100 million in bilateral aid 
promised by PM Erodogan after his April visit to 
Afghanistan would be announced soon.  She was confident 
that this would be included in the 2006 national budget 
currently being reviewed by Parliament.  The London 
Conference could be an opportunity to announce the 
Turkish package. 
 
------------------- 
Information Request 
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4.  (SBU)  Sinirlioglu hoped to meet the U.S. delegation 
in Kabul.  She asked for names of the U.S. reps, and also 
for any information the U.S. had about participation by 
other G-8 countries, especially Japan, and the Asian 
Development Bank.  Post would appreciate it if Department 
could pass any such information to Econ Couns Tom 
Goldberger: GoldbergerTH(at)state.gov. 
 
MCELDOWNEY