US embassy cable - 03ANKARA5419

S E C R E T ANKARA 005419 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR P, EUR, EUR/SE, NEA AND NEA/NGA 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2013 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, MOPS, PTER, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: IRAQ: KIRKUK VIOLENCE HAVING IMPACT ON TURKISH 
PUBLIC OPINION, PUTTING GOT UNDER PRESSURE 
 
 (U) Classified by DCM Robert S. Deutsch.  Reasons:  1.5 (B 
and D). 
 
 
------------------- 
Summary and Comment 
------------------- 
 
 
1. (C) The August 23-24 violence in Kirkuk that left several 
Turkmen and Kurds dead/injured was front page news in Turkey 
over the weekend, and generated demonstrations in front of 
the Ankara PUK offices that reportedly left 23 police and 5 
demonstrators injured.  While the story has subsided here to 
an extent, it has had strong impact on Turkish public opinion 
and put GOT officials under pressure.  While the GOT is 
making an effort to turn Turkey's Iraq policy into one that 
looks at the country as a whole (and in this case did make a 
helpful statement to the effect that the US and Turkey were 
cooperating, and the situation was under control), the press 
and public continue to focus squarely and almost exclusively 
on the issues of the north, and in particular the tensions 
between Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) and the KDP and PUK Kurds. 
Clashes between these groups in northern Iraq will contribute 
to the difficulty the GOT will face in getting public and 
parliamentary support for a Turkish contribution to the Iraq 
stabilization force elsewehere in Iraq.  End summary and 
comment. 
 
 
2. (S) Based on what we have been able to learn from CJTF-7 
and CPA-North, on August 22 in Tuz Khurmatu, Shia Turkmen 
demonstrated in protest of the desecration of a Shia shrine, 
and shooting broke out between the Turkmen and Kurds, 
resulting in the deaths of two Kurds and three Turkmen. 
Coalition forces responded to the firefight, were fired upon 
themselves, and returned fire.  Two more Turkmen were killed, 
although it is not clear from various reports whether they 
were hit by US forces or others.  On August 23, a Turkmen 
demonstration was held at a police station in Kirkuk to 
protest the composition of the Kirkuk police force.  A 
protester tried to place an ITF flag on the building. 
Several shots were fired from inside and a grenade was thrown 
from outside.  The crowd was then dispersed by coalition 
forces and local police.  This crowd then linked up with 
another demonstration at the Kirkuk Government building to 
protest the shooting of Turkmen in Tuz Kurmatu.  When the two 
groups joined together, totalling over 800 people carrying 
Iraqi Turkmen Front and Shia Turkmen flags, the crowd became 
excited and local police apparently fired shots into the 
crowd, killing two Turkmen and wounding two others.  The 
police suspected of firing the shots have been arrested and 
are in jail.  Coalition forces and the Kirkuk City Council 
are looking into the incident and meeting with local 
community and political leaders to defuse the tensions. 
 
 
3. (S) According to a US military officer who was on the 
scene in Tuz Khurmatu, both sides had weapons and neither 
could say who started the shooting, but the coalition 
intervention ended it.  Religious and party leaders from both 
sides went on local TV to denounce the violence.  The 
situation on the ground seems to be on the mend.  However, 
the Turkish press over the weekend would lead to the opposite 
conclusion, with some reports suggesting that the tensions 
were intentionally stoked by KDP and PUK leaders to avert the 
deployment of Turkish troops into Iraq and specifically 
blaming the PUK for shooting Turkmen.  We note that while 
this incident did not get significant press play in the US or 
international press, it was the lead item here for several 
days.  We were is a dialogue with the MFA and various other 
GOT entities, although they were generally in an 
information-gathering mode.  But those contacts were 
reflected in the responses given by the PM and the FM to the 
press.  As we look toward GOT efforts to contribute to a 
stabilization force, we will need to be mindful of the 
extreme sensitivities of the Turkish body politic to even 
isolated incidents like this one in northern Iraq and 
continue to manage them with the Turks as inclusively as 
possible. 
 
 
4. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
EDELMAN