VZCZCXRO0523
OO RUEHIK
DE RUCNDT #0947 2992018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 262018Z OCT 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA IMMEDIATE 1672
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7415
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000947 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV UNSC TU
SUBJECT: TURKISH PERMREP APAKAN PAYS INTRODUCTORY CALL ON 
AMBASSADOR RICE 
 
 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. During an October 15 courtesy meeting, 
Turkish Permrep Ertugul Apakan invited Ambassador Rice to 
visit Turkey. He said a workshop/retreat on peacekeeping and 
peacebuilding, which Turkey was considering hosting during 
the summer of 2010, might be a good opportunity.  Apakan 
thought Turkey and the U.S. shared similar views on a wide 
range of issues, but acknowledged a divergence on Gaza. 
Ambassador Rice said that Turkey could be helpful on Somalia 
by urging Qatar, which was funding insurgents through 
Eritrea, to play a more helpful role.  Apakan said a U.S. 
envoy for the Cyprus talks would be required in the near 
future in order to bring the reunification talks to a 
conclusion.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Newly arrived Turkish Permrep Ertugul Apakan held a 
brief courtesy meeting with Ambassador Rice on the margins of 
a General Assembly meeting on October 15.  Apakan invited 
Rice to visit Turkey, noting that Rice intended to travel to 
the Middle East in the near future.  He said another 
opportunity for Rice to visit might be a workshop/retreat on 
peacekeeping and peacebuilding during the summer of 2010, 
similar to a conference hosted by Austria in Alspach, which 
Turkey was considering hosting.  Ambassador Rice thanked 
Apakan for the offer, and said that while she would not be 
able to stop in Turkey during her upcoming trip to the Middle 
East, she would consider other opportunities.  Apakan said he 
thought Turkey and the U.S. shared similar views on a wide 
range of issues, including on Iraq, Afghanistan, the 
Caucasus, Kosovo and Bosnia.  He acknowledged that there was 
a divergence of views on Gaza and how to handle the Goldstone 
report. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Apakan said that Turkey wanted to be helpful in 
Somalia and agreed with the U.S. approach of continuing 
broad-based support for the Transitional Federal Government. 
Ambassador Rice expressed concerns about Qatar's role in 
funding insurgents through Eritrea who were operating in 
Somalia, and suggested that Turkey could be helpful by 
weighing in with Qatar. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Apakan said he thought a U.S. envoy would be needed 
in the near future to bring the Cyprus talks to a conclusion. 
 He noted that a U.S. envoy had been necessary to work with 
the UN in 2004, and said achieving broad international 
support for a settlement would require strong U.S. 
involvement. 
Rice