US embassy cable - 03ANKARA1634

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001634 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, TU, IZ, Iraq 
SUBJECT: TURKEY/IRAQ: OPPOSITION CHP'S GRATUITOUS 
RESISTANCE CONTINUES 
 
REF: ANKARA 1350 
 
 
(U) Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons: 1.5 
(b)(d). 
 
 
1. (C) Summary: Contacts from main opposition CHP say that 
although another UN resolution could influence some 
backbenchers, CHP is likely to continue to vote en bloc 
against U.S. troop deployment.  Taking their cue from 
President Sezer, CHPers at all levels assert that any UNSC 
resolutionless operation would lack "international 
legitimacy", which they claim is required under the Turkish 
constitution.  They also criticize the AK government's 
alleged failure to share detailed information with CHP on 
Turkey's role in post-Saddam Iraq.  Bottom line: CHP is 
engaging in sterile opposition.  End Summary. 
 
 
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CHP still looking for more "international legitimacy" 
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2. (C) In a March 7 meeting with Congressmen Wexler and 
Whitfield, CHP Chairman Deniz Baykal interpreted constitution 
art. 92 as requiring "international legitimacy" for any 
Parliamentary authorization to deploy U.S. troops to Turkey. 
"If you take the constitution seriously, then you could not 
support war in Iraq," he said.  In any case, Baykal 
explained, bringing democracy to Iraq is a "utopian idea." 
Without a another UNSC resolution or a NATO-backed decision, 
CHP will remain opposed.  Even then, CHP may not change its 
position, but a second resolution "will help." 
 
 
3. (C) March 11 ANAP Central Board member and former minister 
Vehbi Dincerler explained to us that he had contacted former 
ambassador and senior CHP deputy Sukru Elekdag to discuss 
art. 92.  Dincerler, who was in Parliament during the Gulf 
War, argued to Elekdag that international legitimacy applies 
only to declarations of war.  According to Dincerler, Elekdag 
simply shrugged, saying "as a lawyer, you would know better 
than myself."  Dincerler is an engineer. 
 
 
4. (C) CHP M.P. and Human Rights Committee member Engin Altay 
told poloff March 10 that TGS chief Ozkok's March 8 public 
statement endorsing passage of a deployment resolution could 
play a role in changing the minds of individual CHP deputies. 
 Nevertheless, he explained, Baykal's position against the 
deployment of U.S. troops is clear and is not likely to 
change. 
 
 
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AK isn't sharing 
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5. (C) In recent conversations, CHP deputies complained to 
poloff that the AK Government is not sharing enough detailed 
information on either the political statement, military MOU, 
and economic package negotiated with the U.S. or Turkey's 
role in a post-Saddam Iraq.  Baykal told Congressmen Wexler 
and Whitfield that his party has "no idea about the big 
picture" in Iraq.  CHP M.P. and Foreign Affairs Committee 
member Emin Koc claimed that in the March 1 closed session, 
the GOT failed to answer even the most basic questions from 
CHP on the state of negotiations with the U.S.  Koc suggested 
that AK's reluctance to share more information reflected 
Erdogan's and Gul's overconfidence in their ability to 
deliver AK's Parliamentary group.  In a March 4 conversation, 
senior CHP M.P. and long-time pollster Bulent Tanla, who has 
helped to lead the anti-deployment efforts together with 
Islamist columnist Fehmi Koru and others, asserted that AK's 
failure to communicate better with CHP directly led to CHP's 
decision to vote en bloc against the Parliamentary motion. 
 
 
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Vague apologies for Sav 
----------------------- 
 
 
6. (C) Reftel reported CHP General Secretary Onder Sav's 
March 1 remarks in the open session of Parliament -- carried 
on live television -- in which he called U.S. ships off the 
Turkish coast "ships of the enemy."  Since then CHP M.P.s -- 
including Altay, Koc, and Tanla -- have offered reluctant 
apologies for Sav's statement, while professing their 
friendship with the U.S.  Notably, Baykal offered no such 
apology in his meeting with Congressmen Wexler and Whitfield. 
 
 
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Comment: Bleating rings hollow 
------------------------------ 
7. (C) CHP's continued harping on "international legitimacy" 
and complaints about alleged poor communication from AK 
overshadow what appears to be the party's ultimate goal in 
opposing a war in Iraq: humiliating the AK government.  Altay 
self-servingly claimed that if CHP were in power, it would 
support the USG without hesitation.  However, as the party in 
the minority, he averred, "we have to vote against the 
government's policies."  Altay hinted that the U.S. should be 
happy to have AK in power during this sensitive time, because 
AK is able to keep a lid on religious groups.  If CHP were in 
power, he said, these groups would be leading huge protests 
against the war and government.  Bottom line: CHP continues 
to play a cynical, negative-value-added game. 
PEARSON