Cablegate: Syria's Iraq Meeting: Part of a Process
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS ANKARA 006779
SIPDIS
STATE ALSO FOR EUR/SE AND NEA/NGA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KU SY IZ TU IR EG JO SA
SUBJECT: SYRIA'S IRAQ MEETING: PART OF A PROCESS
REF: KUWAIT 4988
(U) Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch. Reasons: 1.5 (b) and
(d).
1. (C) MFA MidEast DDG Safak Gokturk told polmilcouns
October 30 that the meeting of foreign ministers from Iraq's
neighbors plus Egypt in Damascus this weekend will be the
fourth of its kind since January when the GOT convoked
ministers in Istanbul, which they dubbed the "Regional
Initiative." Subsequent meetings were held in Riyadh in
April and Tehran after the OIC ministerial last spring.
2. (C) Regarding Iraq's participation, Gokturk noted that
the meeting was for regional governments to compare notes on
Iraq. Unlike the case of the UN, Arab League and OIC where
Iraq has long been a member, Iraq had not been invited to any
previous Regional Initiative meeting so Ankara did not think
it unusual that the IGC had not been invited this time.
Nonetheless, several Arab states, including Syria, had
approached Turkey about whether to invite an Iraqi
representative to the Damascus meeting. The GOT's response
was that it would not object to including Iraq. Polmilcouns
argued the benefits of including Iraq for the development of
the IGC and Iraq's good relations with its neighbors; Gokturk
reiterated that Ankara posed no objection to including Iraq.
3. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
EDELMAN