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

241045Z Dec 04

UNCLAS ANKARA 007141 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/I AND EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET MOPS PREL IZ TU
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO TURKEY ON FUEL SUPPLIES TO IRAQ 
 
REF: A. STATE 273248 
 
     ¶B. ADANA 171 
     ¶C. ANKARA 7119 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Post passed on ref a message to foreign 
ministry officials on December 24.  Turkish MFA says it is 
seized with the issue and is doing what it can to encourage 
transporters, fuel contractors and truckers to resolve the 
strike.  MFA officials believe the single biggest problem is 
fees levied by authorities in Northern Iraq which add to 
Turkish truckers' costs.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Following up on CDA's conversation with Turkey's 
Special Representative on Iraq Koruturk yesterday (ref c), 
Acting Econ Couns passed on the message in ref a to 
Koruturk's office as well as to Deputy Undersecretary for 
Economic Affairs Ender Arat.  Both Koruturk and Arat are at 
the parliament all day today as the Foreign Ministry defends 
its budget.  A/EconCouns spoke separately with Director 
General for Economic Affairs Oguz Ozge and with Deputy DG 
Mehmet Gucuk who has been following this issue. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Both officials undertook to pass on the message to 
Arat and Koruturk.  Ozge claimed that, in addition to 
financial issues, there were "political considerations" that 
Koruturk is looking into.  When pressed to explain, Ozge 
suggested their may be a "Kongra Gel" (i.e. PKK) link to the 
intimidation experienced by those truckers trying to deliver 
product.  In the conversation with Gucuk, he said the GOT was 
trying to stop the intimidation but he did not allude to any 
Kongra-Gel connection. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Gucuk went into more detail on economic factors.  He 
said the MFA is seized with the issue, up through the 
Minister, who had met with the manager of one of the 
transport companies whose truckers are striking last week. 
This particular transporter is also a board member of the 
RODER transporters' union.  Gucuk said that the Minister 
urged the transporters to do what they could to resolve the 
strike but that the transport companies say they can no 
longer control individual truckers. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Gucuk also said that the Turkish authorities believe 
that the single biggest problem is the fees levied by 
"Northern Iraqi authorities."  He said that even if SOMO 
raised its payments, the "Northern Iraqis" would increase 
their fees accordingly, as this has happened in the past. 
According to Gucuk, the "Northern Iraqis" charge an average 
of $300 per truck on all petroleum products.  Gucuk also said 
that the $300 sometimes runs as high as $500. He said there 
are other charges on other products, such as $368 per 
truckload of electronics. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Finally, Gucuk said that both the Foreign Ministry 
and Foreign Trade Undersecretariat would continue to work on 
the issue, and would welcome discussions with SOMO and the 
IIG on how best to resolve this complex problem. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: Post passes on GOT officials' comments 
without being able to verify their assessment of the problem 
in Northern Iraq.  Post also urges the Department and Embassy 
Baghdad to factor in the information obtained by Consulate 
Adana in ref b, based on discussions with contractors and 
transporters on the ground.  On ref a's reference to Petrol 
Ofisi being government-owned, post notes that majority 
ownership (51%) of Petrol Ofisi was sold to private companies 
in 2000 and our understanding is that the company operates 
like a private business. Moreover, post's understanding is 
that Petrol Ofisi is the leading contractor on sustainment 
fuels, but is only the third or fourth largest Turkish 
supplier to SOMO. 
 
¶8. (U) Baghdad Minimize considered. 
O'BRIEN