US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1071

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: TURKISH MFA AND LOCAL PUK REP POSITIVE ON 
TALABANI-KORUTURK MEETING 
 
 
Classified By: Acting Counselor for Political-Military Affiars Margaret 
 H. Nardi for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: The GOT, the PUK's Ankara Representative, and 
the press are all putting a positive spin on the Feb. 24 
meeting in Dukan between PUK leader Jalal Talabani and GOT 
Special Iraq Envoy Osman Koruturk.  Turkey expressed its 
support for an Iraqi solution to questions such as the status 
of federalism and secularism in the future Iraq.  Talabani 
told the Turks he is an Iraqi first and a Kurd second, that 
Iraq's Kurds look to Turkey for support, and that he wants to 
reach out to the Iraqi Turkmen community, including the Iraqi 
Turkmen Front.  Talabani and the Turks did not discuss 
PKK/Kongra-Gel and only discussed Kirkuk briefly.  The local 
PUK Rep noted to us some KDP/PUK tensions.  End summary. 
 
Positive Meeting and Exchange of Letters 
---------------------------------------- 
 
2. (C) PolMilOffs met separately Feb. 25 with Ankara PUK 
representative Bahros Galali and GOT Deputy Special Envoy to 
Iraq Ethem Tokdemir to get a readout on PUK leader Jalal 
Talabani's Feb. 24 meting with GOT Special Envoy for Iraq 
Amb. Osman Koruturk (Galali and Tokdemir accompanied Koruturk 
to Dukan in northern Iraq for this meeting).  Both Galali and 
Tokdemir reported that the meeting was successful and 
cordial; press coverage has also been positive.  Galali 
confirmed press reports that Talabani and Turkish PM Erdogan 
had exchanged letters following the Jan. 30 Iraqi elections 
(Koruturk hand-carried Erdogan's response to Talabani). 
According to Galali, Talabani wrote Erdogan that Iraq's Kurds 
are Iraqis first and Kurds second, and that they believe in 
the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq.  Talabani told 
Erdogan that Turkey has nothing to fear from a federal system 
in Iraq.  According to Galali, Erdogan responded warmly and 
wrote that "he agreed with everything Talabani had said." 
 
3. (C) Both Galali and Tokdemir reported that Talabani warmly 
received Koruturk and his delegation, and that the Turks did 
not raise PKK/Kongra-Gel at all and Kirkuk only in passing. 
Galali said Talabani told the Turks that Iraq's Kurds want 
Kirkuk to be a place where all members of Iraq's different 
communities can live and work together in peace. 
 
Some PUK-KDP Tensions? 
---------------------- 
 
4. (C) According to Galali, Talabani told the Turks that 
there are still hard negotiations underway over the formation 
and makeup of the ITG.  Galali told us that Talabani is 
working hard to manage his relationship with KDP leader 
Masoud Barzani, whom he accused of needlessly provoking the 
Turks with pronouncements on Kirkuk and Kurdish independence. 
 (Note: In recent years the Turks have been getting along a 
good deal better with PUK than with KDP, but this has not 
always been the case.  End note.)  He noted that some KDP-ers 
in Baghdad, such as current FonMin Zibari, have performed 
well.  But Vice President Rowsch Shaways, Galali said, "is a 
very bad man" (NFI).  He speculated that senior PUK leader 
Barham Salih will remain as Deputy PM in the ITG, and Zibari 
will remain on as FonMin. 
 
Turks Find Talabani Cordial, Focused on 
Kurds' Future in Iraq 
--------------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Tokdemir reported that Koruturk had emphasized to 
Talabani that the modalities for how Iraq worked out both 
federalism and the question of secularism were for the Iraqis 
to decide.  Talabani said that he has made the transition 
from identifying himself as a Kurd first and an Iraqi second 
to the reverse, and he was urging Iraq's Kurdish people to do 
the same.  According to the Turks, Talabani stated that the 
Kurds look to Turkey for assistance much the same way Iraq's 
Shias look to Iran and its Sunni Arabs to the Arab world.  As 
Iraq's only democratic neighbor, Turkey can offer a model to 
Iraq.  (Tokdemir reported that Turkey will provide training 
for members of all of Iraq's political parties, much as it 
did for some Sunni Arabs before the elections.) 
 
6. (C) On Kirkuk, Talabani repeated what he has said on 
previous visits here: Kirkuk should be a city of friendship 
for all Iraqis, perhaps under a "Brussels model." 
Surprisingly, Talabani told the Turks that Kirkuk is not an 
urgent matter, and that determination of its final status can 
wait until after the constitutional approval process is 
completed. 
 
Talabani the Protector of the Turkmen? 
-------------------------------------- 
 
7. (C) Tokdemir noted (with evident skepticism) that Talabani 
has presented himself to the Turks as a "protector of Iraq's 
Turkmen."  In his letter to Erdogan, Talabani made a point to 
recognize the Turkmen presence in all of Iraq, including 
Kirkuk.  Talabani also told the Turks in their Feb. 24 
meeting that he wants to open a dialogue with the Iraqi 
Turkmen Front.  (Note: Talabani has apparently offered to 
meet the ITF before, but we understand this has not occurred. 
 We do not know which side has been the reason for this not 
taking place.  End note.) 
8. (U) Iraq posts minimize considered. 
EDELMAN