Cablegate: Turkey: December 4-5 Kabul Conference

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

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

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