US embassy cable - 03ANKARA946

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000946 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE AND NEA/NGA 
DEPT PASS USAID FOR BHA/OFDA - WGARVELINK/RLIBBY AND FFP 
EUCOM FOR JE, JR, J5, SOJ7 AND POLAD 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
CENTCOM FOR J3, J5 AND POLAD 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/04/2013 
TAGS: EAID, IZ, MOPS, PREF, PREL, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKISH MFA ON ACCESS FOR NGOS PROVIDING 
ASSISTANCE FOR TURKEY/IRAQ, CRISIS COORDINATION 
 
 
Classified by Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Deutsch for 
reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
 
1. (C) Mission Disaster Relief Officer (MDRO) and Ron Libby, 
USAID/OFDA, met with Feza Ozturk, MFA Head of Department for 
International Political Organizations, to follow up on 
assistance and coordination issues discussed during the 
Humanitarian Planning Team,s meeting with MFA on January 28 
(septel).  Ozturk said that the GOT would insist on tight 
coordination of NGO activities in Turkey and in contiguous 
territory in northern Iraq where the Turks are prepared to 
establish camps for displaced persons, but said it was 
prepared to show greater flexibility and openness toward 
humanitarian organizations which wanted to ship relief 
articles into Iraq beyond the border zone.  Ozturk provided 
additional background on humanitarian relief corridors.  He 
also expressed a willingness to establish a civil-military 
coordinating framework on humanitarian assistance. 
 
 
NGO Access 
---------- 
 
 
2. (C) In discussing access for NGOs and other humanitarian 
organizations, Ozturk made a sharp distinction between 
external assistance for refugee/internally displaced person 
(IDP) camps on Turkish territory and contiguous territory in 
northern Iraq on the one hand, and aid for the rest of Iraq 
during and after a possible conflict.  With regard to the 
former, Turkey would insist that NGOs sign memoranda of 
understanding defining their responsibilities and that relief 
efforts be centrally coordinated, as described to the HPT 
delegation.  He said that the GOT would work out the mandate 
to operate camps in the border zone in northern Iraq with the 
Iraqi Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red 
Cross.  He added that it was not clear now how the legal 
basis for a Turkish mandate in the zone would be worked out 
with these other parties, as it was not a given that Turkey 
would enter the area as a coalition partner.  He contended 
that Turkish military authorities would have the ultimate 
authority to determine which NGOs would be given access to 
camps in the zone.  Ozturk said the GOT was ready to take 
full responsibility for camp administration, including for 
the welfare of IDPs under its authority.  He told us that, in 
any event, the GOT expected few IDPs.  On centralizing 
assistance through the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC), Ozturk 
said that NGOs with aid destined for Turkey should donate 
their supplies to TRC to avoid taxation of assistance. 
 
 
3. (C) On humanitarian assistance to Iraq beyond the border 
zone, Ozturk said the GOT would be far more flexible.  He 
said that Turkey was prepared to allow assistance (not 
well-defined, but he offered military supplies and office 
equipment as examples of what would not be permitted) to be 
sent across its border to Iraq, if Turkey determines that 
there is a need for this assistance.  Such deliveries would 
need to be approved on a case-by-case basis, but humanitarian 
organizations could request pre-approval from MFA.  Ozturk 
suggested that the approval process for the first 
organization requesting access could take &weeks8 but that 
once the bureaucratic procedure was established and the need 
for help was clear, the GOT would process requests quickly. 
Ozturk said aid transiting Turkey would not be taxed provided 
that it was kept in bonded warehouses for no more than 90 
days (extendable) in Turkey.  MDRO and Libby pointed out 
that, if NGOs were authorized in advance to pre-position 
goods in Turkey for distribution in Iraq, they would procure 
many if not most of the goods in Turkey rather than 
elsewhere.  Libby told Ozturk that the International Rescue 
Committee (IRC) is considering pre-positioning supplies and 
may apply for pre-authorized access.  Ozturk asked for a list 
of NGOs that the USG is working with, which we agreed to 
provide.  We also suggested that MFA contact UNHCR which is 
working with a large number of NGOs as well. 
 
 
4. (C) MDRO raised the U.S. request to pre-position 
humanitarian daily rations (HDRs), noting that the Turkish 
General Staff had asked for more details on these supplies 
and that we would respond soon.  Ozturk stated that it would 
be better to store HDRs in Gaziantep, Turkey,s logistics 
hub, rather than in Adana, which is reserved for military use. 
 
 
Crisis Coordination 
------------------- 
 
 
5. (C) Ozturk confirmed that, in addition to centers in 
Ankara, the GOT would set up coordination centers in 
Diyarbakir, Silopi, Van and Gaziantep.  Silopi is to be the 
principal assistance hub.  Van and Gaziantep centers would be 
set up if needed to receive aid from abroad.  Ozturk said 
that the GOT planned to conduct an exercise in setting up a 
refugee/IDP camp in Silopi on February 5. 
 
 
6. (C) Econoff encouraged Ozturk to consider activating a 
crisis center before we are overtaken by events in Iraq, and 
also asked what the GOT,s thinking is on establishing a 
civilian-military coordination center to deconflict 
assistance from military operations and otherwise deal with 
humanitarian organizations seeking to assist needy 
populations.  Ozturk replied that MFA was receptive to 
setting up a civil-military coordinating mechanism with us 
and looked forward to a U.S. proposal, but cautioned that the 
GOT would not be ready to do this until the week of February 
17.  Note:  GOT offices are closed the week of February 10 
for the Sacrifice Holiday.  End Note. 
 
 
Aid Corridors 
------------- 
 
 
7. (C) Ozturk told us that the GOT has designated Gaziantep 
and Van as the principal airports for receipt of humanitarian 
assistance, but neither airport has an instrument landing 
system (ILS).  For this reason, Erzurum, which does have ILS, 
is designated as a backup airport. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
 
8. (C) While Ozturk,s relative openness to allowing aid to 
transit Turkey for Iraq is encouraging, it is not clear to 
what extent his views will be endorsed by his superiors in 
MFA or by the TGS and other interested ministries.  His 
remark that it might take weeks to approve an application for 
transit of relief shipments in the absence of a crisis 
suggests there will be significant bureaucratic hurdles to 
surmount within the GOT.  Embassy recommends testing the 
system by encouraging IRC or other NGOs to apply for 
permission to pre-position goods in Turkey for shipment to 
Iraq in the event of a humanitarian crisis. 
 
 
9. (C) On setting up a aid coordination center or framework, 
Embassy believes the best approach initially would be for 
MDRO, a small number of U.S. military representatives and 
their GOT/TGS counterparts to begin regular bilateral 
meetings on assistance in Ankara.  Until and unless the GOT 
approves one or more applications for NGOs to provide 
assistance across the Turkish-Iraqi border or activates its 
crisis centers outside Ankara, establishing a formal center 
in Diyarbakir or Silopi to coordinate such assistance and 
deconflict would be of less value at this stage. 
PEARSON