Cablegate: Turkey Wants to Participate in Csi

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

111452Z Mar 05

UNCLAS ANKARA 001333

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EB/TRA/OTP AND EUR/SE
ROME FOR ICE ROBERT STIRITI
PARIS FOR TSA
DHS FOR CBP/CSI - TODD HORTON
DEPT PASS TRANSPORTATION DEPT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EWWT PTER ETRD PREL ETTC TU
SUBJECT: Turkey Wants to Participate in CSI

NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.

1. This message contains an action request in para 6.

2. On March 10, Basat Ozturk, MFA Head of the Maritime
Affairs Department, conveyed the GOT's official,
positive response on including the port of Izmir in the
Container Security Initiative (CSI). He said that the
Turkish Customs Undersecretariat was coordinating a
review of the legal and administrative issues involved
in hosting U.S. personnel in Izmir, including how to
reconcile CSI with the fact that Turkish law prohibits
the presence of foreign officials in customs zones.
Ozturk opined that U.S. customs officers would have to
work out of adjacent buildings rather than in the
customs zone itself.

3. Ozturk said that it would be necessary to conclude a
bilateral CSI agreement, subject to the approval of the
GOT Council of Ministers and possibly even requiring
Parliamentary ratification. The model Declaration of
Principles provided by the U.S. side would not be
sufficient. Based on Turkish Customs' recent visits to
an operating CSI port in France and similarities in the
French/Turkish "legal regimes" and "state structures",
Ozturk stated that the GOT would like to use our CSI
arrangement with France as a point of departure for the
CSI program in Turkey, and requested that we share a
copy of the U.S.-French CSI agreement with the GOT. He
maintained that doing so would save both sides time and
effort in implementing the program in Turkey.

4. In response to Econoff's question about whether to
invite U.S. CBP/ICE personnel to Turkey to discuss the
modalities of implementing CSI, Ozturk disclosed that
the Turkish side was still reviewing the issues and that
they were not yet ready for talks with our side.

5. MFA noted that the GOT is giving high priority to
procuring screening and security equipment for Izmir to
facilitate work in the CSI. Ozturk pointed out that
Turkish Railways will relinquish control of the port
later this year when it is privatized.

6. Action Request for DHS and EB: Please advise
whether the bilateral U.S.-France CSI Agreement can be
shared with Turkish authorities.
Edelman

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