US embassy cable - 05ANKARA6445

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 006445 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, IZ, TU, Iraq 
SUBJECT: TURKEY/IRAQ:  ALLAWI IN ANKARA 
 
REF: BAGHDAD 4376 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner for reasons 1.4 (b, 
d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  Former Iraqi PM Allawi visited Ankara the 
week of October 17 and met with FM Gul in the latter's 
capacity as acting PM.  Allawi told the Turks he sought to 
build a broad, moderate coalition across sectarian lines with 
an Iraqi nationalist agenda.  While impressed with Allawi, 
the MFA cautioned he may be maintaining a "second track" with 
Iran.  They see Allawi as aspiring to win enough votes in the 
December elections to become Iraq's "kingmaker."  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C)  In separate discussions with Pol and PolMilOffs, MFA 
DirGen Oguz Celikkol and Middle East Department Head Avni 
Botsali described former Iraqi PM Allawi's recent visit to 
Turkey as positive.  The MFA noted Allawi had not visited 
Turkey officially during his tenure as interim Prime Minister 
but had come to Turkey in earlier years.  Botsali reported 
Allawi was accompanied by a Sh'ia cleric and his chief 
bodyguard was a Kurd.  In PM Erdogan's absence, Deputy PM and 
Foreign Minister Gul received Allawi, who also met with 
senior Turkish Foreign Ministry officials and 
parliamentarians.  In those meetings, the officials reported, 
Allawi admitted mistakes in his first election campaign which 
prevented him from gaining sufficient leverage to act as an 
effective moderating force.  Allawi claimed he wants to 
recover the political center and get away from sectarian 
policies in favor of Iraqi national policy.  To this end, he 
told the Turks, he is seeking to form a broad coalition 
across ethnic and sectarian lines, to include sidelined 
political leaders. 
 
3.  (C)  Botsali said Allawi had no particular agenda in 
Turkey, but wanted to improve his relations with Iraq's 
neighbors in the runup to elections.  He reportedly asked 
Turkey to use its influence to encourage Iraq's other 
neighbors to support Iraq's democratic development and 
particularly Allawi's own moderate coalition.  Allawi 
appeared confident, well-connected with Iraq's Arab groups 
and apparently on good terms with the Barzani Kurds as well. 
(Note: That said, Celikkol noted with pleasure that Allawi 
was "well-informed on the importance of Kirkuk to the future 
of Iraq," suggesting Allawi indicated to the Turks he thought 
Kirkuk ought not come under Kurdish control.  End Note.) 
 
4.  (C)  Although he presented himself as an Iraqi 
nationalist and warned against Iranian influence in Iraq, 
Botsali told us the Turkish MFA suspects Allawi is 
maintaining a "second track" with Iran and recommended we 
watch this carefully.  Overall the MFA seemed impressed with 
Allawi and viewed his visit as positive.  In the GOT view, 
Allawi's goal in the short to medium term is to garner enough 
votes in upcoming elections to be Iraq's "kingmaker." 
Botsali noted that Allawi appears quite close to the U.S. and 
wondered aloud if our intention is to boost his political 
stature. 
MCELDOWNEY