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Viewing cable 09ISTANBUL57, ISTANBUL PREPARES TO GREET THE WORLD AT THE FIFTH

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09ISTANBUL57 2009-02-03 13:06 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Istanbul
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHIT #0057/01 0341306
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031306Z FEB 09
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8748
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0007
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 8101
RUEHIA/USIA WASHDC 0247
RUEADWD/DA WASH DC
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 0024
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
UNCLAS ISTANBUL 000057 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ENRG KPAO PGOV TU
SUBJECT: ISTANBUL PREPARES TO GREET THE WORLD AT THE FIFTH 
WORLD WATER FORUM 
 
REF: A. 08 ANKARA 1403 
     B. 08 ISTANBUL 1049 
     C. 07 ANKARA 1996 
     D. ISTANBUL 26 
 
1. (SBU) Summary and Comment:  Over 20,000 people, including 
many heads of state, are expected to attend the 5th World 
Water Forum (WWF) in Istanbul on March 16-22.  The WWF is the 
premier international water meeting, held once every three 
years, and a prime venue to showcase U.S. commitment and 
leadership on water and sanitation issues.  Organizers of the 
WWF are hoping the "Istanbul Consensus", a document from 
participating mayors declaring solutions to their water 
problems, will be a highlight of the forum. The Government of 
Turkey (GOT) is likely to be challenged on shared water 
resources with its neighbors as well as internal water 
management issues. The WWF is also an opportunity for the 
GOT. Availability of clean water is an important issue in 
Turkey.  Many cities rationed water in the drought of 2007, 
and the WWF is an opportunity for the ruling Justice and 
Development Party (AKP) to show the domestic audience that it 
is serious about water issues - a useful message one week 
before nationwide municipal elections on March 29. 
Administrative issues could mar the forum as construction of 
the massive meeting site is still ongoing, forcing organizers 
to push back the expected completion date to February 14. A 
shortage of accommodations may be another problem. End 
Summary and Comment. 
 
The 5th World Water Forum 
 
2. (SBU) Istanbul is the site of the 5th World Water Forum 
(WWF) to be held on March 16-22. Over 20,000 people are 
expected to come to Istanbul for the premier water and 
sanitation event that is held once every three years. 
Invitations for the 5th WWF have gone out to academics, 
researchers, mayors, legislators, along with 30 
heads-of-state, including President Obama.  The U.S. 
delegation is expected to consist of around 40 officials from 
at least seven agencies. The World Water Council, the 
permanent administrative structure behind the WWF, along with 
the GOT and the municipality of Istanbul, formed the 5th WWF 
Secretariat to administer the event. 
 
The Three Sections of the World Water Forum 
 
3. (SBU) The 5th WWF will have three parts: 1) Senior 
Officials/ Ministerial Process 2) Thematic Sessions, and 3) 
Exhibition/Fair. Senior Officials are expected to engage in 
"high-level" panel discussions to exchange lessons learned 
and best practices. One innovation of the 5th WWF, according 
to Ahmet Saatci, Deputy Secretary General of the 5th WWF, 
will be to establish an "Istanbul Consensus", a non-binding 
document endorsed by participating mayors that will declare 
solutions for many water problems. Saatci told us he wants 
the Istanbul Consensus to achieve meaningful commitments from 
policymakers to highlight the difference between past WWFs. 
The Ministerial Process will include a Ministerial Statement. 
(Note. The WWF is not an officially recognized 
intergovernmental process; therefore the Ministerial 
statement is not binding. However, debates at this level have 
highlighted issues in past WWFs. The issue of water as a 
human right was first discussed at the Ministerial meeting at 
the 4th WWF in Mexico City. While this issue was not adopted 
by the Ministers, a few months later, 116 countries in the 
Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement officially 
acknowledged the right to water in a May 2006 meeting.  End 
Note.) 
 
4. (SBU) Over 100 technical thematic sessions will feature a 
wide range of water and sanitation-related topics; however, 
according to Saatci, this will be a reduction from the Mexico 
City WWF, which featured over 300 technical sessions. Saatci 
told us he wanted to move away from the traditional format 
that consisted primarily of technical experts presenting 
papers. Instead he wants greater interaction between the 
participants, focusing more on question and answer sessions 
and less on formal presentations. 
 
5. (U) The exhibition area will provide a venue for 
 
governments, non-governmental organizations, and private 
companies to present their services, products, and 
activities. There will be an USA Pavilion in the Exhibition 
Area. 
 
6. (U) Lastly, the WWF will include dedicated spaces to 
develop and expand partnerships and learning centers for 
training and capacity building. 
 
Past World Water Forums 
 
7. (U) Previous WWF venues include Marrakech (1997), The 
Hague (2000), Kyoto (2003), and Mexico City (2006). Over 
15,000 technical experts, policymakers and official delegates 
from 140 counties attended the WWF in Mexico City. Included 
in this total were 120 mayors, and 150 legislators. In 
addition, 78 Ministers attended the Ministerial Conference. 
The official U.S. delegation to the 4th WWF included 24 
officials from 8 different agencies and was led by the 
Department of State Under Secretary for Global Affairs.  More 
than 60 U.S. government technical experts also participated 
in the Mexico City meeting. 
 
All Eyes on Istanbul 
 
8. (SBU) The 5th WWF is one meeting in a series of 
international events that will soon be held in Istanbul, 
including the annual IMF/World Bank meeting in October. 
Istanbul is one of three cities designated as a Cultural 
Capital of Europe in 2010.  According to Leonard Wolner, U.S. 
Liaison to the 5th WWF from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
the GOT wants to use the conference to show Turkey is a 
significant player in the region on water issues. To attract 
greater international buy-in to the forum, according to 
Wolner, Turkey is willing to discuss transboundary water 
issues at the Ministerial conference, which will open the 
debate for Syria and Iraq to criticize Turkey's diversion of 
waters for domestic purposes. Wolner told us this is a 
significant concession from the host country, since Turkey 
could use its position to set the agenda and avoid a 
potentially embarrassing public debate. Comment: Turkey has 
and will likely continue to oppose any official or unofficial 
endorsement of the UN Convention on the Protection and Use of 
Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. The U.S. 
is also not a party to the convention. End Comment 
 
9. (SBU) The GOT is also facing considerable domestic 
criticism of its handling of water issues in the 
predominately 
Kurdish southeastern region. As part of a multi-pronged 
approach to the Kurdish issue, Prime Minister Erdogan has 
pledged renewed support for  the 30 year-old Southeast 
Anatolian Project (GAP): a development scheme to generate 
hydropower and expand irrigation in the Tigris and Euphrates 
basins. Erdogan has pledged to spend 20 billion TL to 
complete the project by 2012. According to GOT plans, the GAP 
will irrigate 1.8 million hectares and generate 27 million 
kwh of electricity annually. While domestic critics 
acknowledge the need for government investment in the 
southeast, some  have accused Erdogan of playing pork-barrel 
politics in the region, without implementing the political 
and cultural reforms needed to ameliorate the Kurdish issue 
(ref A). 
 
10. (SBU) A successful meeting is also important for domestic 
consumption since Turkey will be conducting local elections 
on March 29; exactly one week after the close of the 5th WWF. 
Istanbul AKP Mayor Topbas has showcased the 5th WWF as part 
of his administration's attention to water issues. Istanbul 
is able to satisfy its two million cubic meters of water a 
day demand, partly by diverting water 150 km from the Melen 
River; a significant government achievement (ref B). Note: 
Istanbul was able to avoid water shortages that other Turkish 
cities, including Ankara, faced in the summer of 2007 (ref 
C). End Note. 
 
Unfinished Venue Questions Istanbul's Preparedness 
 
11. (SBU) Ongoing construction at the primary meeting site 
raises doubts that the 5th WWF will go on without a hitch. 
 
Wolner told us that the Golden Horn Congress and Exhibition 
Center, a massive 157,000 square meter facility, which has 
been undergoing stop-and-go construction for the last ten 
years, is still weeks away from being completed. The 
organizers of the Forum removed the primary contractor last 
fall, which contributed to the delays. Construction has 
resumed, Wolner told us, but a trial run of the completed 
site scheduled for January has been postponed to February 
14-15. 
 
12. (U) Besides finishing the Golden Horn Congress and 
Exhibition Center, Wolner told us the city is also moving the 
Old Galata Bridge to connect the two primary WWF sites, which 
are on opposite banks of the Golden Horn.  The city will also 
provide ferry service from landings on the Bosphorus to the 
WWF sites two miles up the Golden Horn. According to 
Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroglu, the budget 
for the 5th WWF is set at 17.5 million Euros and preparations 
have been ongoing for two years. 
 
WWF will stretch Istanbul Hotel Capacity 
 
13. (SBU) Eroglu and Saatci both anticipate at least 20,000 
participants at the Forum, which could cause accommodation 
shortages in the city (ref D). Istanbul currently has around 
18,000 rooms at four and five star hotels and Saatci told us 
that he is facing an uphill battle with hotel managers who 
intend to raise room rates for the event. Saatci told us he 
threatened to bring cruise ships into the Bosphorus to 
provide additional accommodations to keep prices down. 
Comment: It is unlikely that cruise ships would be used to 
augment accommodations at this late date. End Comment. Note: 
Post has reserved a block of rooms at the Hyatt Regency for 
the U.S. delegation.  Post stands ready to work with 
Washington to help manage the delegation, as needed. End Note. 
 
Comment 
 
14. (SBU)   Water problems in Turkey are likely to increase 
as rapid urbanization places pressures on municipalities, 
including Istanbul.  The 5th WWF provides local and national 
elected officials an opportunity to discuss real solutions to 
this growing problem. The ruling party is likely to take 
advantage of the date of the Forum to show the public that it 
is engaged on this topic. Moreover, Prime Minister Erdogan 
highlighted the importance of water issues last month by 
telling the press a separate Water Sources Ministry will be 
created in April. 
Wiener