US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA355

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000355 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR NEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, PHUM, IZ, CA, Iraqi Turkmen Front ITF 
SUBJECT: IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT ON THE JANUARY 30 ELECTION 
 
REF: BAGHDAD 427 
 
 1. (SBU) Asif Rashid Sertturkmen, senior representative of 
the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) in Canada and the UK, recently 
met with us (at his request) to brief on the status of the 
Turkomen population in Iraq, and outline what the ITF 
believes is the systematic political disenfranchisement of 
the Turkomeni, particularly in Kirkuk.  The ITF is accusing 
the Kurdish political leadership of taking measures, 
including intimidation and polling fraud, that unfairly skew 
the political balance-of-power in Kirkuk in favor of the 
Kurds.  This includes the bringing into Iraq of large numbers 
of non-Iraqi Kurds from Iran and elsewhere.  (NOTE: Though 
his numbers seem high to us, Sertturkmen stated that the 
Turkomen population in Iraq is 3.5 million, which he says is 
13 percent of the population in Iraq, and that most of the 
original resident population of Kirkuk is Turkomeni.  END 
NOTE.)   Moreover, the ITF feels that the Kurd "power play" 
is occurring with the passive acquiescence of Coalition 
forces. 
 
2. (SBU) Among other items, Sertturkmen cites an incident 
involving the seizure of 25 election ballot boxes from 
Turkomen neighborhoods in Kirkuk.  According to Sertturkmen, 
Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi Police units (comprised of 
Kurdish Pershmerga) took them after declaring that American 
officials wanted to see the ballot boxes, and that the 
ballots were later found littering the street. He also cited 
unfair campaign practices, including Kurdish use of 
government buildings and resources, and the deliberate 
removal of the Turkomen campaign symbol from voting materials 
and ballots. 
 
3. (SBU) Sertturkmen also contends that the Kurds have denied 
Turkomen access to U.S. government representatives.  He 
believes that Kurdish interpreters and other local 
"gate-keepers" employed by Coalition forces essentially make 
it impossible for Turkomen representatives to meet with 
American officials.  Sertturkmen went on to say, however, 
that the Turkomen have a strong rapport with U.S. Army 
personnel, whom they regularly meet while Coalition forces 
are conducting street patrols in the Kirkuk area.  The ITF 
sees the Kurds as acting unilaterally, in ways that undermine 
the creation of a united, multi-ethnic democracy in Iraq that 
they (the ITF) want to see emerge.  He added that regions 
with significant Turkomen populations are the most peaceful 
in Iraq, but that the Turkomeni are being marginalized, 
sometimes violently in the political process.  In sum, the 
ITF is a positive force in Iraq and deserve a full hearing, a 
role in the democratic process, and a reference to the 
Turkomeni population in the new constitution. 
 
4. (SBU) Action Request: Sertturkmen requests meetings in 
Washington with appropriate U.S. officials who are involved 
in the post-election process of democratization and 
assistance to the Iraqi transitional national assembly.  He 
seeks to present the ITF's case, answer questions, and 
attempt to facilitate regular contacts on the ground in Iraq 
between Turkomen representatives and State Department and 
other Coalition representatives. 
 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
CELLUCCI