US embassy cable - 04ANKARA5190

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005190 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, MOPS, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER WALKS BACK HIS THREAT TO CUT 
COOPERATION ON IRAQ 
 
REF: ANKARA 5140 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Eric S. Edelman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: FonMin Gul told the press Sept. 13 that if 
civilian casualties continue to mount in the Talafar 
operation, Turkey would end its cooperation with the U.S. on 
Iraq.  Ambassador spoke with MFA Undersecretary-designate 
Tuygan and A/DCM with MFA's spokesman Sept. 14 to register 
our displeasure with Gul's comments, and Gul walked himself 
back in comments to the press later the same day.  We do not 
believe Turkey's overall approach to Iraq has changed, but 
the GOT seeks a broader dialogue on the future of Iraq.  End 
summary. 
 
2. (C) According to Turkish press reports, upon his Sept. 13 
return from a trip to the Baltic states, FonMin Abdullah Gul 
stated that the coalition operation in the northern Iraqi 
city of Talafar was harming the civilian, mainly Turkmen, 
population there, and he threatened that if this were to 
continue, Turkey would end its cooperation with the U.S. in 
Iraq.  (Comment: Gul's statement was wholly inconsistent with 
what the GOT has been telling both the public and us.  The 
Turks' line up to now has been that they recognize the 
necessity of the operation in Talafar, but urge that we can 
to end the operation quickly, minimize civilian casualties, 
and facilitate GOT efforts to provide humanitarian assistance 
to the city (see refs).  End comment.) 
 
3. (C) A/DCM contacted Gul's spokesman, Namik Tan, Sept. 14 
to seek clarification of Gul's statements from the previous 
evening.  A/DCM emphasized to Tan that the FonMin's comments 
were inconsistent with both the private and public line the 
GOT has taken, and passed the message that Embassy Ankara and 
Washington were deeply disturbed by Gul's comments.  Tan 
(protect) responded that Gul had made his comments at an 
event at which Tan was not present, and that he (Tan) had 
worked hard during Gul's Baltic trip to keep the minister on 
message.  Tan went on to say that in his personal 
interpretation Gul was really speaking to two audiences: the 
Turkish people and the radicalized Arab world.  Tan said that 
the GOT, including Gul, was feeling pressure from the Turkish 
people regarding the rising number of kidnapped and murdered 
Turkish truckers in Iraq.  Additionally, Tan surmised that 
Gul was seeking to imply to radicalized Arabs that Turkey was 
distancing itself from U.S. Iraq policy.  Tan told A/DCM in a 
subsequent conversation that he had spoken to Gul the morning 
of Sept. 14, shared the embassy's concerns, and advised him 
not to take such a tough line next time he had contact with 
the press. 
 
4. (C) Ambassador then contacted Undersecretary-designate Ali 
Tuygan Sept. 14 to register our concerns and seek 
clarification: Was the GOT contemplating ceasing our 
cooperation on Iraq, including on humanitarian aid for 
Talafar?  Tuygan responded that the GOT is not planning to do 
so, and indeed our cooperation was all the more urgent given 
the Turks' desire to get humanitarian aid to Talafar.  Tuygan 
said that the Minister's statement was meant to highlight 
Turkey's overall concerns about Iraq, and was broader than 
just Talafar.  He told the Ambassador that the GOT sought a 
wider dialogue on Iraq policy with the U.S.; he noted that we 
generally discussed only logistics and crises: kidnapped and 
murdered Turkish truck drivers, the Incirlik cargo hub, and 
now Talafar.  Turkey shares the goal with us of a peaceful 
and prosperous Iraq, Tuygan emphasized.  Ambassador 
registered the point, but also urged the Turkish embassy in 
Baghdad to avail itself of both the IIG and our embassy there. 
 
5. (U) Comment: We are trying to correct the public record on 
Talafar, most recently when the Ambassador spoke to the press 
following his meeting with U/S Tuygan on Sept. 13 (see 
reftel).  Ambassador emphasized that the operation was not 
aimed at the city's civilian population and that eyewitness 
accounts made clear that coalition and ING forces took "great 
care to minimize civilian casualties."  Ambassador 
specifically took issue with characterizations by Turkmen 
sources of "genocide" and that 95% of Talafar had been 
destroyed.  He urged everyone to operate on the basis of 
facts, not outlandish charges.  He also repudiated the notion 
that TFO operations were intended to change the demographic 
balance in Talafar.  He added that we are working with GOT 
authorities to get humanitarian assistance to Talafar. 
Ambassador's remarks were widely picked up in the Turkish 
press Sept. 14.  We will seek other opportunities in the days 
ahead to repeat this story. 
6. (C) Comment, cont.: Namik Tan's counsel to his minister 
appears to have worked, as Gul moderated his line in a press 
availability the afternoon of Sept 14.  He reiterated 
Turkey's desire for a peaceful Iraq, then added: "We conveyed 
our worries (on Talafar) to the U.S. at the highest levels, 
asking for utmost attention.  They promised to do so.  Our 
humanitarian aid to the region will continue." 
 
7. (C) Comment, cont.: Whatever Gul's motivations--which we 
believe include fatigue from a foreign trip and ignorance of 
the high-level dialogue on Talafar we carried on with his 
ministry in his absence--Turkey's overall position on Iraq 
appears to be unchanged.  It remains in our interest to 
continue cooperation on facilitating Turkish humanitarian aid 
to Talafar and to work through the issues on our mutual Iraq 
agenda (a unified, federal Iraq; trucker security; continued 
PKK presence in northern Iraq; Incirlik cargo hub).  The GOT 
is under pressure from both the press and its people to 
disengage from Iraq, pressure that we need to counterbalance 
by reminding the Turks of their long-term interests and also 
by engaging them on their policy concerns.  End comment. 
 
8. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
EDELMAN