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| Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
| 09ANKARA44 | 2009-01-12 14:37 | 2011-08-30 01:44 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Ankara |
VZCZCXRO4752
PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHAK #0044/01 0121437
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 121437Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8430
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J-3/J-5// PRIORITY
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000044
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/CARC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2018
SUBJECT: TURKEY’S CIRCASSIANS DEMAND FREEDOM TO TRAVEL TO
ABKHAZIA
REF: A. 08 ANKARA 2181
¶B. 08 SECSTATE 134559
¶C. 08 ANKARA 1635
Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O’Grady, reasons 1.4 (b,d)
¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Representatives of an estimated six million
Circassians living in Turkey are demanding the right to
travel to Abkhazia directly, potentially complicating Turkish
efforts to maintain restrictions on direct travel and adopt
further measures to isolate Abkhaz de facto authorities (refs
A and B). Representatives of the Circassian community are
warning the government that Circassian citizens will make
their views known at the ballot box in upcoming municipal
elections if the “embargo” is not lifted. Circassian
representatives maintain that Turkey is losing influence and
prestige in Abkhazia as a result of the travel restrictions,
driving the region further into the arms of Russia. A
resumption of the ferry connection between Sukhumi and
Trabzon and/or a flight between Sukhumi and Istanbul would
have a big impact, according to our contacts, encouraging
further Abkhazia’s western orientation. END SUMMARY.
¶2. (C) We met recently with Federation of Caucasian
Associations (KAF-FED) General Coordinator Cumhur Bal.
KAF-FED is an umbrella federation representing about 80
Circassian associations in Turkey. Turkey, he estimates, has
a Circassian population of about six million (see ref C).
Apart from advocating measures to protect Circassian cultural
and linguistic rights, such as Circassian-language
programming on the state-owned TRT network, the Circassian
community’s highest priority, he told us, is lifting the
“embargo” on direct travel to Abkhazia. Ensuring that Abkhaz
leaders, namely “President” Bagapsh, are not prohibited from
traveling to Turkey is another key priority.
¶3. (C) According to Bal, representatives of the Circassian
community are warning the government that Circassian citizens
will make their views known at the ballot box in upcoming
municipal elections if the “embargo” on direct travel to
Abkhazia is not lifted. The government, Bal said, is denying
its citizens basic freedom of movement. Presently, Turkish
citizens must apply for a transit visa from Russia to travel
to Abkhazia. (Previously they had been entering Russia on a
tourist visa and then traveling on to Abkhazia.) He
questioned why Turkey, which was not party to the CIS,
implemented the CIS sanctions in 1995, terminating the
Trabzon-Sukhumi ferry and effectively proscribing direct
travel to Abkhazia, while Russia, which had been legally
bound to impose those sanctions, issued visas for Turks to
travel there. The embargo is demeaning, said Bal, and
diminishes Turkey’s prestige and influence in Abkhazia. A
resumption of the ferry connection between Sukhumi and
Trabzon and/or a flight between Istanbul and Sukhumi, would
have a big impact, encouraging further Abkhazia’s western
orientation, he maintained.
¶4. (C) Bal said he knows that GOT recognition of Abkhaz
independence is unrealistic at this stage, but insisted that
Turkey’s Circassians remain committed to it in the long-run.
Abkhazia, he argued, meets the criteria of statehood: a
defined community, historical boundaries, functioning
institutions, and a representative government. He recounted
dramatically the tragic, historical narrative underpinning
Abkhazia’s independence claim, emphasizing Abkhazia’s
battle-won sovereignty, and blaming President Saakashvili and
his two predecessors for “killing” the possibility of union
with Georgia. But he did not rule out completely a future
modus vivendi with Georgia. He posited that any Abkhaz
decision to partner with Georgia would have to be arrived at
from a position of sovereignty and that, for this to happen,
Georgia would need to become a trustworthy country. This, he
insisted, was impossible under Saakashvili.
¶5. (C) Asked how Circassians in Turkey reconcile the argument
that Turkey should increase its outreach to Abkhazia in order
to diminish Russian hegemony there, while at the same time
applauding Russia’s stance in the region, Bal said he is
under no illusions about Russian intentions, knowing that
Russia will “want to play the game” with Abkhazia. But the
Abkhaz people, he said, have been left without options.
Abkhazia’s independence is viable, he maintained, unlike
South Ossetia’s. He said he fully expects South Ossetia to
ANKARA 00000044 002 OF 002
join the Russian Federation and does not oppose this
strongly. The division of North and South Ossetia was a
Stalinist measure that should be undone, similar to the
decision to attach the Abkhaz nation to Georgia.
COMMENT
——-
¶6. (C) After decades of rigid state policies (now beginning
to crack) aimed at promoting Turkish national identity,
language and culture, Circassian identity in Turkey remains
limited, despite the community’s large numbers. There is
little evidence that Turkey’s six million Circassians,
including the 500,000 estimated to be of Abkhaz origin,
constitute a defined voting block formidable enough to alter
fundamentally GOT policy on as sensitive an issue as support
for Georgia’s territorial integrity and stability in the
Caucasus. Indeed, above any aspirations for greater cultural
and linguistic rights, Circassians are known for their
patriotism, and, as a broadly secular and affluent community,
are not aligned with the ruling Islamist-oriented Justice and
Development Party (AKP). However, Circassians are
increasingly making their voices heard, limiting, we believe,
Turkey’s capacity to implement additional measures, such as
travel bans (refs A and B), aimed at isolating Abkhazia’s de
facto leaders.
Visit Ankara’s Classified Web Site at
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey
Jeffrey
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/01/09ANKARA44.html
