VZCZCXRO2777
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHAK #1819/01 3561236
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221236Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1537
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001819 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AF PGOV PK PREL TU
SUBJECT: SRAP CONSULTATIONS IN ANKARA, DECEMBER 2-3 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 1727 
     ¶B. ANKARA 1702 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  On December 2-3 an interagency U.S. 
delegation led by Deputy Special Representative for 
Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman met with Turkish MFA 
officials and representatives from Turkish ministries and 
agencies that have a current or potential role in Afghanistan 
and Pakistan.  The delegations discussed areas of potential 
U.S.-Turkey collaboration in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 
several broad categories, including health, governance, 
agriculture, economic development, education and 
counter-narcotics,  and together developed a "summary note" 
outlining specific areas in each category where the U.S. and 
Turkey could take quick joint action.  The Turkish delegation 
also presented information on its PRT in Wardak and planned 
PRT in Jawzjan as well as on its current and planned programs 
in the field of religious training.  Both sides agreed to 
follow up with meetings between the respective embassies in 
Kabul and Islamabad within the next month.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Health 
------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ministry of Health gave a presentation on its 
projects in Afghanistan, which include polio screenings and 
donations of vaccines, and training Afghan healthcare workers 
in Turkey.  The Ministry of Health is interested in 
organizing more health courses and medical screening 
campaigns, and increasing efforts toward curbing infant 
mortality.  TIKA (Turkish International Cooperation and 
Development Agency, the equivalent of USAID) has also done 
work in Afghanistan's health sector, including construction 
of 15 clinics and hospitals, four of which it managed in 
¶2009.  TIKA has also donated medical equipment and trained 
Afghan healthcare workers.  In Pakistan, TIKA was the 
administrator of Turkish emergency aid to IDPs in the 
Northwest Province.  The delegations discussed TIKA's plan 
for a basic health care certificate program targeted at young 
girls in Afghan villages and focusing on midwife training and 
basic nursing.  The U.S. delegation suggested such a program 
should be harmonized with the curriculum of and feed into a 
professional nursing degree program at Kabul University and 
provided information on U.S. plans to develop 
university-level nurses training.  At the conclusion of 
talks, the Turkish and U.S. delegations determined that one 
of the most immediate deliverables would be to jointly equip 
a hospital in Afghanistan and/or Pakistan.  Both sides also 
agreed to consider additional support to Kabul Medical 
University, joint vaccination campaigns and/or polio 
eradication efforts, midwife training, and jointly producing 
a documentary on midwife techniques, and joint work on 
increasing maternal and child healthcare. 
 
Good Governance 
--------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) TIKA president Musa Kulaklikaya told the U.S. 
delegation the Afghan Civil Service Commission (ACSC) was 
committed to reform, and had asked for Turkish examples of 
civil service training, and had sent representatives to visit 
related Turkish institutions.  TIKA has organized "train the 
trainers" courses for Afghan civil servants in Turkey, and 
TIKA intends next year to build a training center for civil 
servants in Kabul.  The planned center will have a capacity 
of 80 students at time and will focus on training trainers 
for civil servants at all levels in all sectors.  The U.S. 
side emphasized the importance of civil service training, 
especially at the sub-national level, and both sides agreed 
that a short-term project for joint cooperation in this 
sector could be assisting in training the trainers at the 
Kabul ACSC training institute as well as through the 
rehabilitation of provincial training centers, including one 
in Jawzjan  The Turkish delegation also agreed to a U.S. 
suggestion that both sides support informal local governance 
structures in Northern Afghanistan (on the basis of the 
Afghanistan Social Outreach Program (ASOP) model.) 
 
Agriculture 
----------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The U.S. delegation highlighted agriculture as a top 
area of priority for the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and 
referred to President Obama's December 1 speech.  Both sides 
agreed that the collaboration between Turkish PRT in Wardak 
and USAID in cold storage was a success they wanted to 
replicate in other areas of Afghanistan and/or in Pakistan. 
The U.S. suggested adding an element of increasing local 
capacity in food processing and building on U.S. expertise in 
connecting farmers to markets.  Both sides also agreed to 
consider:  providing senior advisors to the Afghanistan 
 
ANKARA 00001819  002 OF 003 
 
 
Ministry of Agriculture, agriculture vocational training in 
Afghanistan, improving transportation infrastructure, 
establishing a farm and milk processing center in Wardak, and 
developing irrigation projects. 
 
Economic Growth 
--------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Turker Ari, head of the Turkish PRT in Wardak, 
raised the idea of developing an industrial park in 
Afghanistan, and possibilities for cooperation and 
encouragement of the new Afghan Chamber of Commerce in 
Wardak.  TEPAV (economic policy research foundation) managing 
director Guven Sak was less positive about the possibilities 
for an industrial park, however.  He said it was important 
first to develop Afghanistan's business and investment 
possibilities (and security) enough to encourage companies 
and investors to go there.  Sak said supporting and working 
with chambers of commerce in Afghanistan could bring positive 
benefits, but that he felt Afghanistan would benefit more by 
enacting the Turkish model of mandatory chamber of commerce 
membership.  The U.S. and Turkish delegations agreed that 
replicating the Wardak provincial chamber of commerce and 
linking provincial chambers of commerce would be a short term 
deliverable for cooperation in the economic sector.  The U.S. 
side highlighted that cooperation on improving agricultural 
capacity and energy cooperation in both Afghanistan and 
Pakistan would also have a positive effect on economic 
development.  Several Turkish parasatal companies presented 
on energy projects they would be willing to undertake in both 
countries if they could find sufficient private financing. 
The U.S. delegation explained that its energy assistance 
programs in both countries focused on the need to improve 
efficiency and the energy regulatory framework.  The U.S. 
side also briefly presented some models for private financing 
of energy projects. 
 
Education 
--------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ministry of Education (MOE) representative Yucel 
Yuksel said that the MOE runs one girls school in Akcha, 
where 19 Turkish teachers instruct along with Afghan 
teachers.  Yuksel said the MOE would like to do more projects 
like this, but faces a shortage of qualified local teachers. 
Both sides agreed on the need for more teacher training, as 
well as for assisting in developing curriculum and training 
materials for other Afghan and Pakistani schools.  The U.S. 
delegation raised the idea of establishing "centers of 
excellence" in Afghan and Pakistani universities specializing 
in particular disciplines and twinning them with U.S. (or 
potentially Turkish) universities.  The Turkish side was open 
to this idea and Yuksel mentioned that recently Konya and 
Mazar-a-Sharif agricultural schools signed a "sister school" 
agreement for cooperation.  The delegations decided 
development of a nursing curriculum and schools should be an 
early priority for cooperation.  They also agreed to consider 
future cooperation on creating master programs, establishing 
multi-program vocational high schools, providing advisors to 
the Ministry of Education, enhancing scholarship programs, 
and/or establishing partnering relations with Afghan 
universities.  While TIKA director Kulaklikaya said Turkey 
was ready to take a role in developing religious education in 
Afghanistan and had begun construction of a religious faculty 
in Kabul, the U.S. highlighted the need also to train 
religious school teachers in core academic subjects such as 
math, science, and language arts. 
 
Counter-narcotics 
----------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Turkish delegation was interested in 
collaborating with the U.S. in the short-term on a joint 
anti-narcotic/drug use public awareness campaign in 
Afghanistan (and also potentially with Pakistan.)  TADOC 
(Turkish International Academy Against Drugs and Organized 
Crime) deputy director Ilkay Akyay said TADOC had done 
alternative livelihood and anti-drug use campaigns with other 
countries, for example in Burma, but that Afghanistan would 
likely be more difficult as it is a "bigger prize" for those 
in the drug trade and they would fight back harder.  The 
delegations agreed that future projects could include 
establishing a drug rehabilitation center, training more 
counter-narcotics officers, Turkish sharing of more 
intelligence with ISAF, enhancing the capacity of the Afghan 
Counter-Narcotics Training Academy, and promotion of 
alternative livelihoods/licit crops. 
 
Religious Training and Instruction 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
ANKARA 00001819  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Two representatives from the Turkish Ministry of 
Religious Affairs (Diyanet), presented their current and 
potential activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The 
Diyanet officials said their goals abroad, particularly in 
Afghanistan and Pakistan, are to "save youth from extremism" 
and ensure a stable future for both countries based on an 
accurate understanding of Islam.  To accomplish this goal, 
the Diyanet brings Afghan students at various levels to 
Turkey for religious education.  Around 300 Afghan students 
have completed undergraduate and/or graduate study in 
theology in Turkey.  These students often then return to 
Afghanistan to work in public services, which is the goal of 
the Diyanet.  The Diyanet had planned to build a theology 
school for Afghan religious personnel in Mazar-a-Sharif, but 
canceled the project due to security concerns.  The Diyanet 
is still considering opening a theology school in Kabul, 
which they thought could attract more students because of its 
central location.  If this were successful, they said could 
then potentially build branches around Afghanistan.  They 
also offered other possibilities for their engagement in 
Afghanistan, including helping to organize an Afghan Diyanet, 
offering Turkey's system of religious schools (Imam Hatip 
schools) as a model for Afghan religious school reform (as 
they have already offered to Pakistan), and more religious 
faculty exchanges and seminars.  They also explained their 
desire to teach moderate, tolerant Sufi beliefs through 
publications of Rumi's works in local languages and 
encouraging their use in religious instruction and general 
education.  The U.S. side noted that the U.S. had a very 
limited role in religious instruction and general education 
reform in Afghanistan and Pakistan and any joint efforts in 
this area would be Turkish-led, but said the SRAP office 
could help connect Turkey with other countries, such as the 
UAE and Egypt, that might be interested in contributing to or 
funding work in the field of religious education. 
 
PRT Jawzjan 
----------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) MFA Department Head for South Asia Korkut Gungen 
said plans were still underway for a new Turkish PRT in 
Jawzjan, which would also undertake development activities in 
Sar-e-Pol.  It will be based on the same civilian-led model 
as the current Turkish PRT in Wardak, focusing on police 
training, health care, and humanitarian/development work. 
Gungen said discussions with Sweden and NATO were ongoing, 
and security was the main outstanding issue.  Turker Ari, 
head of PRT Wardak, noted that Turkey's "hearts and minds" 
campaign (of engagement with and support to local residents) 
itself brought security benefits.  He also requested strong 
and public U.S. support for Turkey's efforts to establish a 
PRT in Jawzjan.  Turkish Special Representative for 
Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Engin Soysal said that if 
agreements on security arrangements can be reached with 
Sweden, PRT Jawzjan would be operational by mid-2010. 
 
Regional Conferences 
-------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) As part of the way forward, the delegations 
discussed upcoming regional conferences on Afghanistan and 
Pakistan.  Turkish SRAP Ambassador Soysal said Turkey planned 
to host three conferences in 2010: the fourth 
Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan trilateral summit, as part of the 
"Ankara Process," would likely take place in early February 
and would focus on education; Turkey plans to host a regional 
summit of all of Afghanistan's neighbors, including China and 
key extra-regional partners such as the Gulf and Arab states, 
in the first half of 2010; and Turkey plans to host RECCA 
(Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan) in 
the second half of 2010.  Soysal noted that the trilateral 
summit could also include a foreign ministers meeting and 
education ministers meeting.  He noted that Pakistan might 
object to the topic of education and the education ministers 
meeting, as Pakistan does not want to be grouped with 
Afghanistan on education issues, but he said Turkey would 
continue to push for the education topic.  The U.S. 
delegation encouraged Turkey to consider inviting to the 
regional summit non-traditional partners, such as Egypt and 
Indonesia, which have indicated an interest in engaging on 
civilian assistance to Afghanistan.  Soysal said Turkey was 
also considering a parallel brainstorming conference of 
prominent regional think tanks and academics. 
 
¶11. (U) This message has been cleared by SRAP. 
SILLIMAN 
 
           "Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s 
gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"