US embassy cable - 03ANKARA7300

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007300 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2013 
TAGS: PREL, ETRD, ETTC, PTER, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL PRESIDENT TALABANI 
DESCRIBES UPBEAT MEETINGS WITH TURKISH OFFICIALS; SAYS GOT 
RECOGNIZED IGC, READY TO RECEIVE NEW IRAQI AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: ANKARA 7253 
 
 
Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch.  Reasons 1.5 b and d. 
Recommendations at Para 2. 
 
 
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Summary and Recommendations 
--------------------------- 
 
 
1. (C) Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) President Jalal Talabani 
and his delegation to Turkey met Ambassador, DCM and 
A/PolMilCouns Nov. 21, providing a readout of their Nov. 
19-20 meetings with Turkish officials and businessmen, 
including PM Erdogan, Acting FM/Trade Minister Tuzmen, MFA 
U/S Ziyal, TOBB Chairman Hisarciklioglu, and over 100 Turkish 
businessmen.  Talabani said the visit had opened a new page 
in Turkey's relationship with the new Iraq.  PM Erdogan was 
positive about future relations and said that all Iraqis were 
Turkey's brothers, according to Talabani.  Talabani also said 
the GOT recognized the IGC, and was ready to have a new Iraqi 
Ambassador in Ankara, whom FM Zebari said would be named as 
soon as possible.  On the PKK/KADEK, Talabani assured the 
Turks that the Iraqis were opposed to such foreign armed 
groups in Iraq and while the Iraqis themselves currently 
lacked the capability to eliminate them now, politically, the 
IGC would oppose them.  He said the Turks offered to train 
police in Turkey and Iraq, adding, with reference to police 
training in Jordan, that Iraq should not put all of its 
police eggs in one basket.  On Habur, Talabani suggested 
adding a bridge to the existing facilities at Habur to 
increase capacity, but the Turks rejected the idea, insisting 
on a second crossing point as the solution.  Talabani said he 
had no objection, and FM Zebari said Iraq would welcome more 
border crossings with Turkey.  Talabani said the Turks seemed 
unprepared for the amount of substance the Iraqi delegation 
came prepared to discuss, but were pleased by it and were now 
ready to engage the Iraqis on issues spanning the range of 
normal relations. 
 
 
2. (C) Given Talabani's positions on the PKK and Habur, we 
recommend Washington and CPA work to get: a statement from 
the IGC clearly stating that the PKK/KADEK/KHK is a terrorist 
organization that has no future in Iraq, and urging its 
members to take advantage of the Turkish Reintegration Law 
before it expires on Feb. 6, 2004; and a three-way discussion 
in Ankara among Iraqi, CPA and Turkish officials on 
increasing the capacity for cross-border traffic immediately, 
including, but not limited to discussion of getting Habur to 
operate on a 24/7 basis, increasing Habur's capacity, and 
opening additional border crossings between Turkey and Iraq. 
End summary and recommendations. 
 
 
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Turkey-Iraq Relations on Positive Track 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
3. (C) On November 21, ICG President Talabani, accompanied by 
IGC members Wael Abdullatif, Yonadam Kanna, Abdul Karim 
al-Muhammadawi, and Mowaffaq al-Ruba'ie, and Minister of 
Foreign affairs Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Industry and 
Minerals Mohammad Tawfiq Rahim and PUK Ankara rep Bahros 
Galali met Ambassador, DCM and A/PolMilCouns to recap the 
Iraqis' Nov. 19-20 meetings with Turks.  The Ambassador 
stressed the importance of developing the best possible 
Turkey-Iraq relationship.  Talabani said he believed this 
visit had put the two countries on the right track, opening a 
new page in the relationship in a variety of areas.  Talabani 
said he had explained to the Turks that Iraqi opposition to a 
Turkish troop deployment was not something aimed against 
Turkey, but part of an effort by Iraqis to take 
responsibility for their own security. 
 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Iraqis Eager to Staff-up Embassy Ankara 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
4. (C) Talabani said that PM Erdogan had been very positive 
and stressed that all Iraqis were Turkey's brothers. 
Talabani said he expected the trade agreement (Reftel) with 
Trade Minster Tuzmen to be signed later that day (Nov. 21), 
and described the delegations meeting with U/S Ziyal and the 
MFA staff as mostly positive.  In all these meetings, 
Talabani said he assured the Turks that the new Iraq would 
not be used by terrorists to attack Turkey.  He also assured 
them that Iraq's territorial integrity would be preserved. 
When PM Erdogan noted that the new Iraqi constitution must be 
for all Iraqis, Talabani replied that under Saddam, many 
Iraqis were oppressed, but now the Shia could express 
themselves openly and the Assyrians and Turkmen could 
publicly assert their identities.  The oppression was over. 
Talabani told Erdogan that while the constitution would 
reflect democratic respect for the majority, it would also 
capture a consensus on other main issues including the 
demands of Iraq's minorities.  Talabani said that the Turks 
confirmed that they recognized the IGC, and said they were 
prepared to receive an Iraqi Ambassador in Ankara.  Talabani, 
unaware that Turkey had an Ambassador in Baghdad, replied 
that Iraq was prepared to receive a Turkish Ambassador as 
well.  FM Zebari noted that Iraq needed to enhance its 
diplomatic activities in Turkey and that he would speed up 
the selection process to get a strong ambassador appointed to 
Ankara as soon as possible.  (Note: Zebari paid a visit to 
the Iraqi Embassy 11/20 and told us its small staff had been 
grateful for the contact with US Embassy and CPA officers in 
the run-up to A/S Dewey's Nov. 19 visit.) 
 
 
5. (C) Zebari said that the Iraqi delegation's message that 
they wanted to reach out beyond the recent friction with 
Turkey was well understood and appreciated by the Turks. 
Turkey, he said, would have significant influence in Iraq 
based on good relations, trade and good will, not based on a 
military presence.  Iraq, he continued, would be a major 
workshop for democracy in the years ahead, one in which 
Turkey would play a key role.  Noting that none of Turkey's 
fears had proven accurate (the division of Iraq, waves of 
refugees, etc.) the Turks were still having trouble absorbing 
the fact that the old regime was gone for good and that the 
IGC, or at least some of its members, would be among the 
future leaders of Iraq with whom Turkey will need to work. 
Part of the Iraqi message, he said, was that Turkey needed to 
take a fresh look at the situation in Iraq.  Zebari said that 
the PM seemed to have been well-advised, was supportive and 
took positively the Iraqi message.  Zebari noted that the 
delegation had no meetings with military or TNIO 
representatives. 
 
 
--------- 
PKK/KADEK 
--------- 
 
 
6. (C) Turning to the PKK/KADEK, Talabani said he told the 
Turks that the IGC was against any foreign armed group in 
Iraq, that they did not want any terror attacks launched on 
Turkey from Iraq and that while the Iraqis themselves 
currently lacked the means to eliminate such groups, the IGC 
would do what it could politically to oppose them.  When 
A/PolMilCouns asked Talabani privately whether he could make 
a statement specifically naming the PKK/KADEK/KHK a terrorist 
organization that had no future in Iraq, he said that would 
require an IGC decision, but was not out of the question. 
 
 
------------------------------------- 
Police Training and Diplomat Training 
------------------------------------- 
 
 
7. (C) Talabani said the Turks had offered to train Iraqi 
police in Diyarbakir and Iraq.  When DCM mentioned the police 
training planned for Jordan, Talabani said that the need was 
so great that Iraq should take offers to train in Turkey and 
Egypt as well as Jordan, and not put all its eggs in one 
basket.  He also noted that Iraq needed training for new 
diplomats, that the Turks had offered to provide such 
training, and that Iraq would appreciate an USG offer to 
train diplomats as well. (Turkish MFA Iraq Assistance 
Coordinator Ahmet Okcun called the Embassy 11/21 to confirm 
that Turkey would like to train Iraqi police in Diyarbakir 
and may send some trainers to Iraq, but would not/not 
participate in the Jordan program.) 
 
 
---------------------------- 
Habur/Second Border Crossing 
---------------------------- 
 
 
8. (C) Talabani said he had proposed to the Turks placing 
another bridge at Habur to increase cross-border capacity 
there (a military bridge, he said, could be ready in seven 
days), but the Turks rejected the idea, stating that the 
answer for increased capacity was a second crossing point and 
increasing the use of the rail link via Syria.  Talabani said 
he told the Turks the IGC had no objection to a second 
crossing, or even four or five of them, but those could not 
be ready as quickly as was needed.  Zebari added that for the 
time being, bureaucratic delays, cumbersome military checks 
and several hours per day when Turks closed operations at 
Habur were causing the congestion.  If the Turks wanted to 
open more crossings, he said, that would be welcomed.  He 
added that the Iraqis told the Turks they welcomed enhanced 
trade, but that it had to be part of Iraq's broader trade 
policy and could not be isolated to bilateral arrangements. 
 
 
9. (C) The Turks asked if the Iraqis could help arrange 
better security for Turkish truckers working in Iraq. 
Talabani said they would.  The Turks also raised the issue of 
security for the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline.  Ambassador asked 
Talabani if there was a role BOTAS could play in securing the 
pipeline.  Talabani replied that was up to the CPA.  The CPA, 
he complained, had hired tribal chiefs with ties to Saddam to 
guard the pipeline, which was a key reason for continuing 
sabotage.  He said and Zebari seconded that security for the 
pipeline should be provided by Iraqis from local areas who 
support the new Iraq.  Talabani stated that there were Arabs 
who supported the IGC prepared to guard the pipeline between 
Kirkuk and Mosul.  They should be used. 
 
 
10. (C) Finally, Talabani noted that the Turks seemed 
unprepared for, but pleasantly surprised by the content and 
breadth of what the Iraqi delegation came prepared to 
discuss.  Comment: We will seek a separate readout from the 
Turkish MFA today, but the impression Talabani and his 
delegation left with us was one of a serious and diverse 
group of Iraqi leaders who have established a solid platform 
for building a good relationship with Turkey. 
 
 
11. (U)  Baghdad minimize considered. 
EDELMAN