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### Viewing cable 09ANKARA619, AMBASSADOR MEETS MHP LEADER BAHCELI

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09ANKARA619 | 2009-04-29 14:57 | 2011-04-20 21:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Ankara

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    VZCZCXRO2814
    PP RUEHWEB
    DE RUEHAK #0619/01 1191457
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 291457Z APR 09 ZDK CITING RUEHZC #4431 1191815
    FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9530
    INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
    RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN 1356
    RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 5680
    RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
    RUEHAK/USDAO ANKARA TU
    RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
    RUETIAA/NSACSS FORT GEORGE G MEADE MD
    RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
    RUEHAK/TSR ANKARA TU
    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

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