US embassy cable - 03ANKARA7340

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 007340 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2013 
TAGS: PREL, ETRD, ETTC, PTER, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: IRAQ: TURKISH MFA DG BURCUOGLU ON VISIT OF 
TALABANI/IGC DELEGATION: IRAQI VISIT EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS 
 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 7300 
     B. ANKARA 7253 
     C. STATE 321138 
 
 
Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch.  Reasons 1.5 b and d. 
 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) DCM met MFA Director General for the Middle East 
Tahsin Burcuoglu Nov. 21 to deliver the Secretary's oral 
message on Iraq (Ref C) and to get a Turkish readout of the 
Talabani/IGC visit (Ref A).  Burcuoglu pointed to the CPA-IGC 
agreement's reference to a federal structure, suggesting that 
if federalism were part of the fundamental law, it would also 
end up in the constitution, and Turkey would be unhappy about 
that.  Turkey was pleased, he said, with the prospect of a 
rapid transfer of sovereignty.  U/S Ziyal would raise these 
issues in Washington in early December.  Burcuoglu said that 
the large, representative IGC delegation Talabani brought to 
Turkey had delivered a message of friendship, and that 
Talabani had "promised us everything we wanted."  Personally, 
Burcuoglu said he was skeptical as to whether the IGC would 
live up to the promises.  Burcuoglu said the IGC wanted 
agreements with the GOT to enhance IGC legitimacy, and 
reported that the IGC reps told the Turks, "forget about CPA, 
work with us."  The IGC reps told the Turks they were ready 
to cooperate in every field, including receiving training for 
Iraqi police and diplomats from Turkey.  End summary. 
 
 
2. (C) On Nov. 21, DCM met MFA DG for Middle East Burcuoglu. 
Burcuoglu took note of the Secretary's oral message and 
provided a readout of the visit of IGC President Talabani and 
his delegation.  Burcuoglu, after noting that Turkey would be 
unhappy if there were a direct provision for federalism in 
the fundamental law, as in that case, it would inevitably end 
up in the constitution.  Burcuoglu also said that during 
Undersecretary Ziyal's early December visit to Washington, 
the Turkish delegation would expect detailed consultations 
with the USG on Iraq issues, and would be sending DDG Safak 
Gokturk with Ziyal's team for that purpose.  He expressed 
frustration that Turkey was learning about changes in Iraq 
from news reports rather than from the US.  Decisions about 
Turkey's neighbor would be made in the UNSC by Chile and 
Peru, but were not being discussed with Turkey.  This, he 
said, was not fair. 
 
 
3. (C) Turning to the Talabani visit, Burcuoglu said that the 
GOT had reached an understanding with Talabani and his 
delegation.  Burcuoglu characterized the delegation as big 
and representative, with some very impressive individuals and 
others who were not.  They brought, he said, a message of 
friendship and repeatedly cited Turkey as a leading country 
with great importance for the region and for Iraq.  Burcuoglu 
said the Iraqis complained about UNSCR 1438 because of its 
limitations on sovereignty, but were satisfied with UNSCR 
1511.  They complained to the Turks that they had lost 7 
months of time due to CPA's refusal to have a provisional 
government.  Since gaining more power on Nov. 15, they now 
considered themselves a de facto government.  FM Zebari told 
the Turks that Iraq would send a Sunni Arab ambassador to 
Ankara as soon as possible. 
 
 
4. (C) Burcuoglu reported that the Iraqis were keen to sign 
agreements on everything from security and defense to border 
crossings with the GOT because, he said, it would enhance the 
IGC's legitimacy.  The Iraqis told the Turks they were ready 
to cooperate in every field, he said, and had signed an 
agreement on trade matters earlier that day (see Ref B).  U/S 
Ziyal offered training for Iraqi police at the Turkish 
facility in Diyarbakir.  Talabani said Iraq would welcome 
that.  FM Zebari asked the Turks if they could provide 
training for Iraqi diplomats, which the Turks said they were 
prepared to offer in Ankara.  The Iraqis, Burcuoglu repeated, 
agreed in principle on everything.  They asked Turkey to use 
some of the USD 50 million pledged in Madrid to build 
hospitals in Basra as well as in Najaf and Karbala (to 
counter Iranian influence there). 
 
 
5. (C) Taking pleasure from reporting this, Burcuoglu told 
the DCM that when Talabani spoken about federalism with PM 
Erdogan, others in the Iraqi delegation challenged Talabani. 
After the meetings, some IGC members complained to the Turks 
that they were under intense pressure from the Kurds in 
Baghdad, according to Burcuoglu.  Burcuoglu questioned 
whether the IGC had the authority or influence to convince 
the Iraqi people as a whole about the future of Iraq. 
However, he said, in general they were cheerful about being 
in Turkey. 
 
 
6. (C) Burcuoglu said the visit went far beyond GOT 
expectations, that he would reserve judgment on the Iraqis' 
ability to meet their promises, but that all their meetings 
were good ones and the visit passed without drama or 
controversy.  He said Turkey hoped to have a visit in 
December from that month's IGC President Abdulaziz Bakr 
al-Hakim, but dates had not yet been set. 
 
 
7. (U)  Baghdad minimize considered. 
EDELMAN