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RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU//TCH//

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000619 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/27/2019 
TAGS: OSCE PGOV TU
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS MHP LEADER BAHCELI 
 
ANKARA 00000619  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James Jeffrey, for reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  Three points stood out during Ambassador's 
April 24 discussion with Nationalist Action Party (MHP) 
Chairman Devlet Bahceli.  First, Bahceli is clearly still 
concerned about the image the US holds of the MHP, going out 
of his way to portray the party as mainstream and moderate. 
Second, the MHP is cautiously optimistic about relations with 
the US, wanting a more concrete understanding of what the 
Turkish-US "strategic partnership" entails.  Finally, and 
surprisingly, Bahceli opened up on the issue of the Armenian 
diaspora, practically challenging President Obama to 
recognize the genocide.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Ambassador paid a courtesy call visit to MHP Chairman 
Devlet Bahceli at the party headquarters building on April 
¶24.  This was Ambassador's first tete-a-tete with Bahceli, 
though they had met twice previously, once in the context of 
President Obama's visit to Ankara.  In attendance were Party 
Secretary General Cihan Pacaci and Istanbul MP Ambassador 
Deniz Bolukbasi. 
 
¶3. (C) Ambassador congratulated Bahceli on his party's 
success in the March nation-wide local elections.  He 
expressed US support for Turkey's democratic system and 
reinforced President Obama's message of support for Turkish 
EU membership.  Ambassador praised MHP's support for both of 
these goals, both as junior partner in the reform-minded 
coalition government of 1999-2002, and as an active and 
constructive opposition party in Parliament. 
 
¶4. (C) Bahceli emphasized the MHP's role as a constructive, 
nonconfrontational player in the political system.  And 
lamented that the media has not been kind to it.  He thanked 
the Ambassador for his praise and noted that many of the 
economic reforms that the MHP had undertaken while in 
government have acted as bulwarks against the current global 
financial crisis.  He was careful to point out that though 
the MHP is a nationalist party, it is not racist; the 
nationalism it espouses is one of bringing the people of 
Turkey together, not of driving them apart.  In evaluating 
MHP's success in local elections, he noted that the MHP 
deliberately pulled its punches in the largely Kurdish 
Southeast, for fear of sparking conflict:  "We will never let 
tension prevail, even if it causes us to lose elections."  He 
argued that a hostile media and "certain think tanks" have 
given the US administration an incorrect understanding of the 
MHP, which is detrimental to Turkish-US relations. 
 
¶5. (C) Bahceli went to great lengths to praise the history of 
Turkish-US friendship, noting that despite a number of 
"sensitive points" the relationship is strong and important. 
He touched upon some of the uncertainty that MHP (and a large 
sector of Turkish society) feels about the relationship in 
calling for a stronger definition of what it is that 
constitutes the "strategic partnership" Turkey and the US 
enjoy.  He asserted that both sides need to be honest and 
open with each other in order to optimize their interests in 
a balanced manner.  In this way mutual confidence will build 
and carry the countries past their sensitivities. 
 
¶6. (C) This wider discussion served as an entree for Bahceli 
to address the issue of US political debate concerning the 
Armenian genocide issue.  In strong, emotional, but not angry 
terms, Bahceli said that the US and Turkey were on a 
mutually-detrimental cycle, in which the months leading up to 
the April 24 Day of Remembrance fuel debate over whether it 
will be this year that the US president will utter the word 
"genocide."  According to him, this foments an atmosphere of 
anti-Americanism, particularly among the youngest generation 
of voters who have experienced this political tension every 
year of their lives.  "Whatever the US is going to say, let 
it be said now," pleaded Bahceli, rather than let the issue 
continue to be a festering sore in Turkish-American relations. 
 
¶7. (C) Comment:  Bahceli's message underscores fundamental 
assumptions by the Turkish polity as a whole.  Bahceli has 
made it his career goal to transform the MHP from the 
thuggish band of nationalist brutes it was in the 1970s into 
a disciplined, respectable member of the political system. 
He has largely succeeded in this goal, but this conversation 
and others we have had at lower levels of the party once 
 
ANKARA 00000619  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
again emphasize that the MHP is still sensitive about its 
public image.  Bahceli's comments on Turkish-US relations 
come from a perspective that, despite his praise, "strategic 
partnership" does not live up to its name from the Turkish 
perspective.  Many Turks perceive a double standard by which 
strategic partnerships with Britain, Israel, Japan, and 
Australia are codified and work flawlessly but their own is 
intentionally defined in vague terms and fraught with 
difficulty.  His challenge to the US to finally put the 
Armenian genocide issue to rest reflects a wide perception 
that genocide is being used as a political tool:  a large 
swathe of Turkish society believes that the US intends 
eventually to declare the events of 1915 to constitute 
genocide, but maintains the fiction of debate as leverage in 
negotiations with the Turkish government.  Bahceli's 
challenge is also undeniably self-serving; the MHP stands to 
benefit most at the polls from the emotional reaction that a 
US recognition of an Armenian genocide would bring.  He would 
lead the charge to trash relations with the US were we to use 
the term "genocide."  He has been trying to make political 
hay, claiming the President's use of "Meds Yeghern" equates 
to "genocide" ever since the President's Armenian Remembrance 
Day message.  End comment. 
 
¶8. (C) Leadership note:  Devlet Bahceli is an incredibly 
soft-spoken man in private conversation, so much so that he 
often is speaking in a whisper.  He is also not a natural 
politician, often coming across as awkward, unfocused, or 
confused.  On heartfelt issues, such as the Armenian genocide 
issue in this meeting, he can be impressive, however.  At 
such times, he conjures up his voice -- literally speaking 
from his core -- and speaks eloquently, fluidly, and with 
deep emotion.  End note. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
Jeffrey