US embassy cable - 04ANKARA1649

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001649 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
DEPT. FOR NEA/NGA AND EUR/SE; BAGHDAD ALSO FOR CJTF-7 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: IRAQI TURKMEN CULTURAL AND SOLIDARITY ASSOC. 
COMPLAINS ABOUT TAL IN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH 
 
1. (SBU) On March 17, two representatives of the Iraqi 
Turkmen Cultural and Solidarity Association, Abbas Turkmen 
and Tahsin Saaci, called on PolMilOff to deliver a letter to 
President Bush (text at para 3) complaining about Iraq's 
Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), and said their main 
concern was that the Iraqi Kurds would use the TAL to create 
a "fait accompli" in the Kurds' favor that discriminated 
against the Iraqi Turkmen.  They claimed there were between 
3.5 and 4 million Turkmen in Iraq (the highest figure we have 
ever heard), mostly in Kirkuk, and that over the past year 
Iraqi Turkmen always assisted and supported coalition forces. 
 They said they expected equality and democracy but neither 
civilian nor military administrators were responding 
positively to their expectations.  They said the Kirkuk City 
Council was disproportionately Kurdish with Turkmen 
underrepresented.  They urged that a thorough census be 
conducted, but cautioned that the Iraqi Governing Council 
would not be capable of conducting such a census impartially. 
 PolMilOff went through the TAL with them, explaining that 
the document represented a compromise in which everyone got 
something they wanted but no one got all they wanted.  The 
Turkmen reps were pleased with the discussion and the chance 
to express their concerns.  They left saying they would focus 
on the future and work to engage Iraqi Turkmen in the 
upcoming elections and constitutional process. 
 
 
2. (U) The same letter was publicly presented by multiple 
reps of the same organization to the Consulate General in 
Istanbul on March 17.  The Iraqi Turkmen there were 
accompanied by a large local media presence. 
 
 
3. (U) Begin text of letter: 
 
 
  His Excellency, President George Bush 
 
 
  President of the United States of America. 
 
 
  Your Excellency: 
 
 
 The transitional constitution of Iraq is a promising event 
for a civilized move to a democratic government        for 
Iraq. We appreciate the efforts of the Coalition Forces in 
the establishment of the pillars of a democratic and 
civilized government in our country. However the law contains 
many contradictions, the first contradiction in our opinion 
is the consideration of both Arabic and Kurdish as the two 
official languages of the country. The Turcoman citizens, the 
third ethnic group after the Arabs and Kurds, feel that 
Article 12 of the law that recognizes the equality of the 
Iraqi citizens regardless of their gender, opinion, creed, 
ethnicity, religion, sector or national origin in the eyes of 
the law and prohibits discrimination against Iraqi citizens 
in accordance to the International Proclamation of Human 
Rights contradicts and rejects this acceptance. 
 
 
The second contradiction is that the law is recognizing the 
legitimacy of the region of Kurdistan as having a national 
assembly, a council of ministers and judicial regional 
authority for the Kurds, where as it prohibits granting the 
same rights to other Iraqi citizens. In spite of the fact 
that the law has granted the administrative, cultural and 
political rights of the Turcoman and Chaldo-assyrians, the 
sovereignty principle has been granted only to the Arabs and 
Kurds, as stated in Article 9 of the law thus prohibiting 
other Iraqi citizens from enjoying the same rights. 
 
 
The Turcoman citizens of Iraq like to voice their concern on 
continuation of the policies of oppression and hegemony 
dictated by some of the articles of the law and constitution. 
Article 27 for example states that the formation of armed 
forces or militias not under the direct control of the 
leadership of the Iraqi government is prohibited. However, 
Article 54 permits the government of the region of Kurdistan 
to control Police, and internal security forces. 
 
 
The Turcoman citizens also fear the imposed migration of 
large numbers of Kurdish militia (peshmerge) to the areas 
where Turcoman live such as Kirkuk, Alton Kopru, Tuz and 
districts surrounding these areas. The Kurdish militia 
intends to create a new demographical pattern that favors 
their own ulterior motives, particularly concerning Article 
58, which delineates the final status of the city of Kirkuk. 
 
 
Further, the current law has ignored the Iraqi government's 
commitment of 1932, which was a precondition for acceptance 
of Iraq into the international community and League of 
Nations. The commitment admitted that the Turcoman 
constituted the majority of the inhabitants of Kirkuk and 
Kifri and accepted the adoption of the Turcoman language in 
litigation.  Furthermore, the obligation stated in Article 30 
which granted a fair representation for the Turcoman in the 
Iraqi General Assembly, is incredible, and the methodology of 
this practice has not been incorporated into the current law. 
The Turcoman citizens fear that issue of legitimizing of the 
Turcoman marginal representation in the government's 
administration as has actually happened in the current 
governance council shall be the practice of the future 
applications. 
 
 
The Turcoman citizens hereby appeal to the government of the 
United States and your Excellency to help in solving these 
problems and granting a fair representation equal to other 
basic ethnic groups in the Republic of Iraq. 
 
 
Sincerely, 
Abbas Turkmen 
 
 
End text of letter. 
EDELMAN