Barbara J Miles  03/05/2008 08:48:23 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Barbara J Miles

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UNCLAS    SENSITIVE     ISTANBUL 00105

SIPDIS
CX:
    ACTION: ECON
    INFO:   PA RAO FAS MGT PMA FCS POL DCM AMB CONS

DISSEMINATION: ECON /1
CHARGE: PROG

VZCZCAYO599
PP RUEHAK
DE RUEHIT #0105/01 0631522
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031522Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7914
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 7493
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS PRIORITY 0850
RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU PRIORITY 0026
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY 0050
RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST PRIORITY 0153
RUEHCH/AMEMBASSY CHISINAU PRIORITY 0055
RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KYIV PRIORITY 0015
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 0385
RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA PRIORITY 0314
RUEHSI/AMEMBASSY TBILISI PRIORITY 0150
RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA PRIORITY 0078
RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN PRIORITY 0090
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITEHOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000105 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/PGI AND EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECIN PREL TU
SUBJECT: FEBRUARY 26-28 BSEC SENIOR OFFICIALS MEETING 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Overt expressions of political discord 
were notably absent from the February 26-28 meeting of the 
Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation's (BSEC) 
Committee of Senior Officials, despite on-going international 
tension surrounding Kosovo's February 17 unilateral 
declaration of independence.  The Senior Officials meeting 
was held in coordination with a meeting of the BSEC 
Parliamentary Assembly that included the first-ever official 
meeting between the Turkish and Greek speakers of parliament. 
 The BSEC senior officials reviewed the status of the Project 
Development Fund, agreed to a formulation for Fast Track 
cooperation and also discussed BSEC-EU cooperation, stability 
and security in the Black Sea region.  Detailed discussions 
of BSEC's role in emergency response as well as strengthening 
cooperation with the Black Sea Commission on environmental 
protection were referred to the relevant working groups.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) All twelve BSEC member states as well as UNDP, 
several observers (the U.S., Croatia, France, Poland, the 
European Commission) and newly approved sectoral dialog 
partner Hungary were represented at the February 26-28 
meeting of the BSEC Committee of Senior Officials.  Unlike 
previous meetings where delegations exchanged sharp comments 
related to political disputes in the region, comments 
regarding Kosovo's February 17 unilateral declaration of 
independence were notably absent.  The Russian delegation 
complained sharply about the timeliness of paper 
distribution, a complaint echoed by the Greek delegation. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The committee of senior officials meeting included a 
joint session with the BSEC parliamentary assembly (PABSEC), 
currently headed by Greek Parliamentary Speaker Dimitris 
Sioufas.  Sioufas and Turkish Speaker of Parliament Koksal 
Toptan met February 26 in the first meeting ever between the 
Greek and Turkish speakers.  Sioufas reportedly invited 
Toptan to attend the June 9-11 PABSEC assembly in Athens. 
The Toptan-Sioufas meeting follows the January 23 visit of 
Greek PM Costas Karamanlis to Turkey and received limited, 
positive coverage in the Turkish press. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The senior officials agreed to forward to the 
Council of Ministers implementation modalities for "Fast 
Track" cooperation.  If approved this would permit sub-groups 
consisting of at least six BSEC member states to cooperate on 
projects that do not encompass all 12 BSEC members.  The 
senior officials also discussed in detail the Project 
Development Fund (PDF) Three-Year review Assessment Report 
but were unable to agree to require mandatory contributions 
from members to the PDF, a failure secretariat staff warned 
would threaten the sustainability of the PDF.  The PDF is 
essentially a small grants making organization currently 
funded at approximately $55,000 via voluntary contributions 
contribution from eight member states.  The PDF offers small 
grants for scientific/research projects, which staff have 
attempted to link to income generating goals with limited 
success.  There is a consensus that "project orientation" is 
desirable, but no agreement on how to achieve this goal. 
 
¶5. (SBU) BSEC Secretary General Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos 
recommended that BSEC work to engage the EU on three levels: 
via the chairman in office, through the permanent secretariat 
and at the working group level.  The European Commission is 
now a BSEC observer and has agreed to participate in Senior 
Officials meetings as well as some, but not all working 
groups.  BSEC would like to see action on visas for truck 
drivers and business travelers from the EU on an 
institutional level, but the EU regards this as a bilateral 
issue. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The senior officials discussed BSEC's role in 
strengthening security and stability in the Black Sea region 
and concluded that progress had been made in recent years on 
a number of "soft security" issues including trafficking in 
persons, environmental protection and emergency response. 
The International Center for Black Sea Studies was tasked 
with preparing a review of progress in these areas for 
presentation to the next meeting of the Committee of Senior 
Officials.  The Secretariat hopes to use this paper to 
publicize BSEC achievements in this area.  A representative 
from the Black Sea Commission (BSC), the intergovernmental 
body established to implement the Bucharest Convention on the 
Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, encouraged 
closer coordination with the BSC on issues related to the 
protection and rehabilitation of the marine environment. 
Detailed discussion of this topic was referred to the March 
18-20 meeting of the Working Group on Environmental 
Protection (Istanbul).  Consulate Istanbul intends to observe 
this meeting. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Secretary General Chrysanthopoulos noted the 
difficulties in implementing the Agreement on Collaboration 
in Emergency Assistance and Emergency Response in reaction to 
the summer 2007 wildfires in Greece and the November 2007 oil 
spill in the Kerch Strait.  In both cases actions were 
bilateral, not multilateral, he argued and efforts should be 
made to raise member awareness.  At the request of the 
Russian delegation all discussion of this topic was referred 
to the April 3 meeting of the Working Group on Emergency 
Response (Odessa). 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment.  BSEC remains focused on process at least 
as much as content as evidenced by the two-hours plus of 
discussion on modalities related to the PDF despite a clearly 
evident lack of consensus on how to maintain funding at a 
sustainable level (para 4).  The Secretary General believes 
Russian hesitation to discuss emergency response as well as 
complaints regarding the timeliness of document distribution 
are a reaction to BSEC "moving faster than they are 
comfortable."  The Russian delegation is typically large 
(three-four participants from Moscow plus local consulate 
staff) and well-briefed.  The BSEC Secretariat appears to be 
struggling with some organizational aspects of meeting 
preparation, particularly the distribution in advance of 
hundreds of pages of proposed/annotated agendas, draft texts 
and other paperwork, but the Russian complaints seemed 
disproportionate.  End Comment. 
OUDKIRK