US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1211

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001211 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: TURKISH LEADERS CRITICIZE IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT; 
LOCAL ITF REP SAYS "WE ARE AN UNLUCKY NATION" 
 
REF: A. BAGHDAD 824 
 
     B. BAGHDAD 645 
     C. BAGHDAD 595 
     D. BAGHDAD 568 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Eric S. Edelman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: GOT leaders have criticized the Iraqi Turkmen 
Front (ITF) for its poor showing in the Iraqi elections. 
ITF's Ankara representative told us that his party favors 
Ja'afari for Prime Minister and will continue to fight for 
Turkmen rights in Kirkuk.  He accused the U.S. of treating 
Iraq's Turkmen unfairly as payback for the 2003 Turkish 
decision not to allow U.S. forces to enter Iraq from Turkey, 
and of manipulating election results in Kirkuk.  Ankara may 
be displeased with the ITF, but the ITF's views appear to be 
unchanged and we doubt Ankara will cease its patronage for 
the party.  If Turkey is eventually permitted to open 
consulates in Iraq, however, ITF will cease to be one of 
Ankara's only sources of information.  End summary. 
 
2. (U) Following the poor results for the Ankara-supported 
Iraqi Turkmen Front in Jan. 30 elections, both PM Erdogan and 
FonMin Gul (while still voicing Turkish concerns about 
alleged election fraud) harshly criticized the ITF's 
performance.  Nationwide, the ITF received 93,000 votes and 
only three seats in the TNA.  In Kirkuk governorate, ITF 
polled 73,000 votes (compared to 237,000 for the Kurdish 
coalition); ITF and its allies control only eight of 41 seats 
on the governorate council (GC). 
 
3. (C) Erdogan fired the first shot, telling an AKP Executive 
Board meeting on Feb. 15 that "ITF could not carry out its 
task.  Their leaders were in Ankara during the 
election...They did not devote the necessary attention to the 
elections."  Gul followed up on March 2, telling the Turkish 
daily Hurriyet "I cannot deny we are disappointed about the 
Turkmen."  He criticized ITF for displaying the "gray wolf" 
(Turkish arch-nationalist symbol), and noted that apparently 
more Iraqi Turkmen voted for Shia and Kurdish parties in Iraq 
than the ITF.  MFA Under Secretary Ali Tuygan told the 
Ambassador March 4 that the results the Turkmen achieved were 
disappointing and that the MFA recognized errors in the way 
ITF had been advised.  The approach had left the Turkmen vote 
split between Shia and Sunni and various party lists.  He 
added that he looked forward to a census, so that the size of 
the Turkmen population could actually be clearer. 
 
4. (C) In the midst of this criticism, PolMilOff called on 
the ITF's Ankara representative, Ahmet Muratli, on March 3 to 
get a readout on the ITF's view of the election and their way 
ahead.  Muratli admitted that he was tired and a bit 
dispirited from both the election results and the GOT's 
criticism.  Nonetheless, he insisted the ITF made the right 
decision to participate in the election, that the party is 
"not affected psychologically" by the loss, and that "we will 
continue our struggle." 
 
5. (C) Muratli bemoaned the Turkish parliament's March 1, 
2003 decision not to allow coalition forces (CF) to enter 
Iraq from Turkey.  He believes that the U.S. was angry at 
Turkey and took out this anger on the Iraqi Turkmen.  Thus, 
Muratli said, "we are an unlucky nation."  (PolMilOff 
disputed that CF have treated Iraqi Turkmen unfairly. 
COMMENT: We recall that the ITF itself opposed the war and 
resisted being fully associated with the Iraqi opposition of 
the time, so Muratli's criticism of the March 1 vote is 
disingenuous at best.  END COMMENT.) 
 
6. (C) Muratli reported that the ITF has thrown its support 
to List 169's choice for Prime Minister, Ibrahim Ja'afari. 
ITF believes that it is more democratic that the coalition 
with the most votes gets to choose the PM.  Furthermore, List 
169 includes five Turkmen, and ITF wants to work together 
with other Turkmen in the TNA (it estimates there are 15 
total) on areas of common interest, particularly the 
constitution and the future of Kirkuk.  He hopes the Iraqi 
Turkmen can serve as a bridge to solve differences between 
Shias and Kurds. 
 
7. (C) For the ITF, Muratli said, Kirkuk is still the key 
issue, "the one not to be given up."  He accused U.S. forces 
of manipulating the Kirkuk GC election results both in favor 
of and to the detriment of the Kurds.  In Muratli's 
formulation, the U.S. allowed mass movements of Kurds to 
Kirkuk to change the demographics on the ground and also 
permitted Kurds to be trucked in from Suleimaniyah on 
election day to vote again in Kirkuk, but then stepped in to 
prevent the Kurds from controlling 28 of the GC's 41 seats. 
Why, PolMilOff asked, would we permit the Kurds to control 26 
GC seats but not 28?  Muratli responded that 28 seats would 
mean two-thirds control of the council, and would thus be 
excessive. 
 
8. (C) Muratli complained about developments in Kirkuk since 
the election, such as the governor allegedly freezing the 
assignment of teachers (presumably to ensure Kurds get the 
jobs) and making Kurdish the "official" language of the 
province.  PolMilOff pointed out that the governor had 
actually issued a directive reminding Kirkukis that both 
Arabic and Kurdish were the official languages of Iraq under 
the TAL, not mandating Kurdish as the only official language. 
 Muratli seemed surprised to hear this.  Muratli added that 
Kurdish peshmerga are taking over control of the security 
apparatus for the city.  "Are you going to stop them (the 
Kurds) if they go too far?"  PolMilOff responded that 
security in the province was the responsibility of the Iraqi 
Security Forces, and that REO Kirkuk and Task Force Warrior 
were also monitoring developments there.  He repeated that 
the U.S. supports an orderly and national solution for Kirkuk 
as laid out in the TAL; Muratli affirmed ITF support for the 
TAL as well. 
 
9. (C) Comment: We should not interpret Erdogan and Gul's 
criticism as a signal they are cutting the ITF loose, at 
least not yet. ITF was primarily the creation of the military 
and the bureaucracy, not the ruling AK Party.  Whatever their 
political failings, the ITF continues to be an important, 
albeit flawed, source of information on developments on the 
ground for the GOT and the Turkish press.  This is likely to 
remain the situation until the Iraqi authorities agree to 
allow Turkey to open consulates in Iraq.  As for the ITF 
itself, Muratli's comments indicate that the party is not 
planning to change its course soon.  End comment. 
 
10. (U) Iraq posts minimize considered. 
EDELMAN