VZCZCXYZ0012
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #0666/01 1271258
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 071258Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9606
INFO RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS IMMEDIATE 0019
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000666 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USEUCOM FOR POLAD AMB CANAVAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2019 
TAGS: PARM PREL MARR TU
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAISES AEGEAN ISSUES WITH DCHOD AND MFA 
UNDERSECRETARY, TURKEY PRESSES FOR AEGEAN "CODE OF CONDUCT" 
 
Classified By: Amb James F. Jeffrey for reasons 1.4 (b, d) 
 
Demarches Registered 
-------------------- 
 
¶1.  (C) The Ambassador raised Aegean issues during a May 5 
meeting with General Hasan Igsiz, Deputy Chief of Turkey's 
General Staff.  He pointed to the successful conduct of 
Exercise Egemen, an international exercise held in the Aegean 
in March 2009 which could serve as a strong first step toward 
safe operations in the Aegean.  Turkey and Greece were able 
to avoid confrontation by sharing information and, to the 
extent possible, addressing each other's concerns.  The 
Ambassador expressed hope that this could serve as a model 
for future exercises.  Igsiz agreed that Egemen was a 
success, but said that much of this success was due to the 
engagement of Turkey's partners in the exercise, the 
Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and the US. 
 
¶2.  (C) The Ambassador said that many of Turkey's arguments 
regarding the status of airspace and territorial waters in 
the Aegean had merit.  But questioning the sovereignty of the 
two inhabited islands of Agathonisi and Farmakonisi did not 
serve Turkey well.  Overflights by Turkish military aircraft 
of these two islands worked against Turkey's purposes, the 
Ambassador argued, giving support to Greek arguments that all 
of Turkey's objections to Greece's claims in the Aegean 
should be dismissed.  The Ambassador repeatedly pressed Igsiz 
to stop these overflights and to continue to engage with 
Greece on issues in the Aegean.  Igsiz took the points on 
board, but neither confirmed that such overflights had been 
taking place nor agreed to put a stop to such flights. 
 
¶3.  (C) Ambassador raised the same issue with MFA 
Undersecretary Ertugrul Apakan on May 7.  Apakan appeared a 
bit embarrassed by our raising the two islands' overflights 
and said he was looking into that specific allegation.  He 
generally complained about Greece's failure to consult with 
Turkey using agreed mechanisms and also expressed anger at a 
Greek court's finding the Turkish pilot guilty in a trial in 
abesntia for the 2006 collision of Turkish and Greek aircraft 
resulting in the death of a Greek pilot.  The Turks are 
absolutely sure -- and may well be correct -- that radar 
tracks and other indicators show that the Greek aircraft 
struck the Turkish F-16 from behind.  The trial thus was 
nothing more than a kangaroo court. 
 
Call For Aegean Code of Conduct 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) We spoke on May 4 with MFA Deputy Director General 
for Maritime and Aviation Affairs Basat Ozturk.  Ozturk was 
expecting us to contact him as the Greek FM had phoned 
now-former Minister Babacan and the Greek Ambassador had 
called on MFA Deputy Undersecretary U/S Haider Berk on May 1. 
 Ozturk said that the Greek DefMin had called Secretary 
Gates.  According to Ozturk, all had complained about 
low-level flights over islands in the Aegean.  Berk and 
Ozturk had no information about such flights, but pledged to 
investigate.  Ozturk said he would share the results of their 
investigation with us as soon as they are available. 
 
¶5.  (C) Ozturk then gave us a readout of both conversations, 
which he said took the traditional shape.  While the Greeks 
complained about overflights, the Turks complained about 
interceptions.  Practically every time a Turkish fighter 
flies over the Aegean, regardless of its track, it is 
intercepted by a Greek fighter.  When the Turkish aircraft is 
intercepted, it breaks into combat maneuvering, and can at 
that point no longer be held responsible for whether it 
overflies mutually-agreed Greek territory.  The accusation of 
low-level flights is different, Ozturk acknowledged, and 
pledged that the GOT would look into it.  According to 
Ozturk, both Babacan and Berk repeated Turkey's call to agree 
to an "Aegean Code of Conduct" to regulate military flights. 
They've made this call before, but this time, Ozturk said, 
they insisted that agreeing to a code would not prejudice any 
existing political positions.  Ozturk insisted that 
interceptions are far more dangerous than overflights, since 
interceptions have the pot 
ential to turn into dogfights which can, in turn, have 
unintended - sometimes tragic - consequences. 
 
¶6.  (C) Both Babacan and Berk urged that Greece should focus 
on the positive agenda, rather than consistently harping on 
the Aegean.  Berk and Ozturk will attend on May 7 the latest 
iteration of the bilateral Turkey - Greece Steering Committee 
Meeting in Athens.  Ozturk said that the Steering Committee 
covers a wide range of issues, but there is always a PolDir 
 
meeting on the margins to talk about the Aegean, and Berk 
expects such a meeting this time as well. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7.  (C) The MFA's concern about the island overflights, and 
General Igsiz's appreciation for all-around cooperation 
including in the end by the Greeks on "Egemen," are a glimmer 
of hope in this long-running sad story.  We will have more 
ideas on a way forward in septel. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
Jeffrey