TURKEY: RAISING THE PROFILE OF TIES WITH SYRIA

CONFIDENTIAL C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001760 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, NEA/I AND NEA/ELA E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2011 TAGS: PREL, PGOV, TU, IZ, SY SUBJECT: TURKEY: RAISING THE PROFILE OF TIES WITH SYRIA REF: DAMASCUS 851 Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady, for reasons 1.4(b,d) 1. (C) Continuing his government's pattern of frequent high-profile senior-level visits abroad, Prime Minister Erdogan will lead a delegation of as many as eight ministers to Damascus between December 21 and 25 for the inaugural Turkey-Syria High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting. According to MFA Syria Department Head Burak Rende, the groundwork for the council was laid by FM Davutoglu and Syrian FM Muallem October 13 during their joint cross-border visit to Aleppo and Gaziantep. Rende said the Turkish and Syrian MFAs are still negotiating texts for the "around 40" MoUs and agreements proposed for signing by the two ministerial teams. He added the Turkish MFA is trying to curb the Syrian's enthusiasm for "putting everything into writing." The final list of MoUs and agreements, the composition of the Turkish delegation and the exact date for the council meeting have yet to be fixed. 2. (C) Rende outlined a modest goal for the council meeting: establish the forum, get people acquainted with it, and, perhaps later, extend its ambit to contentious issues like riparian rights. He noted several issues of particular interest to the GoT had been addressed in earlier bilateral agreements including counter-terrorism cooperation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) (1998 Adana Agreement), military cooperation (2002) and cooperation against cross-border crime (2003). Rende confirmed the GoT's satisfaction with the results of its increased engagement with Syria. He claimed last October's decision by the two foreign ministers to eliminate visa requirements for Turks and Syrians traveling to each other's country had generated a 100 percent increase in tourist crossings for that month in comparison to October of 2008. 3. (C) Rende confirmed FM Davutoglu will travel to Damascus December 15 to represent Turkey at the Turkish-Arab Forum, Turkey's meeting series with the Arab League. Rende intimated, without elaborating, that Turkey is preparing for the forum an initiative seeking to encourage Iraq-Syria reconciliation (REFTEL). In response to our inquiry, however, MFA Iraq Affairs flatly denied the existence of such an initiative. 4. (C) COMMENT: The MFA may have abandoned its initiative after the December 8 Baghdad bombings, fearing it would not be well received by Iraqi officals suspicious of Syrian complicity in the devastating series of attacks since August 19 focusing on Iraqi government offices. Silliman "Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"