US embassy cable - 03ANKARA2663

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002663 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PRA, PRM/ANE AND NEA/NGA 
CENTCOM FOR J3, J5, POLAD 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
DEPT PASS USAID FOR BHA/OFDA 
KUWAIT FOR MDRO, DART AND HOC 
EUCOM FOR JE, JR, J5, SOJ7 AND POLAD 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2008 
TAGS: EAID, IZ, MOPS, PREL, TU 
SUBJECT: TFIZ01:  MFA DELAYS TURKISH RED CRESCENT AID 
SHIPMENT TO IRAQ 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 2616 
     B. STATE 101170 
     C. KUWAIT 1547 
 
 
1. (U) Classified by Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Francis 
Ward for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D). 
 
 
2. (U) This cable contains action requests for the 
Department/CENTCOM.  See paras 9 and 10. 
 
 
3. (C) Summary:  MFA has delayed the Turkish Red Crescent's 
planned delivery of aid to Iraq to April 28, but expanded it 
from medicines only to include food and water.  Media and 
parliamentarians may travel with the convoy, which is not 
approved by the ICRC.  MFA has asked whether it can or should 
provide its own military security for the convoy.  The 
Turkish Red Crescent informed ICRC separately of the 
shipment.  Embassy requests that preliminary information on 
the convoy be passed to the HOC, CMOC and DART.  End Summary. 
 
 
4. (SBU) On April 24, Feza Ozturk, MFA Head of Department for 
International Political Organizations, told Mission Disaster 
Relief Officer (MDRO) that MFA and the Turkish Red Crescent 
(TRC) had decided to postpone to the early morning of April 
28 and to expand the scope of the proposed aid shipment for 
Iraq (ref A).  The Turks plan to send a total of 12 vehicles 
(5 trucks, 4 ambulances, 2 communications vehicles, 1 
Volkswagen minibus) carrying medical supplies, food, and 
water to hospitals in Mosul and Kirkuk.  Up to 28 persons, 
including two (unidentified) members of Parliament and at 
least one media representative (from TRT - state 
radio/television), will travel in the convoy.  MFA 
anticipates a one or two day presence in Iraq, except for the 
ambulances and their staff which might stay on for three to 
four days.  Ozturk stated frankly that this would be done 
with or without the approval of the International Committee 
of the Red Cross (ICRC), though he said that MFA would inform 
the ICRC of its plans.  He related that this decision had 
been made by the Prime Minister.  MFA will send complete 
details to Embassy on this convoy by April 25. 
 
 
5. (SBU) MDRO advised Ozturk that neither the Disaster 
Assistance Response Team (DART) nor the Civil Military 
Operations Center (CMOC) were prepared to identify hospitals 
in need of medical supplies at this point, and that they 
strongly recommended coordination of aid with the ICRC.  He 
also passed on the DART/CMOC assessment that areas north/east 
of the green line were permissive, as is Kirkuk.  Mosul is 
not currently fully permissive. 
 
 
6. (SBU) MDRO asked Ozturk whether the donors had verified 
that Mosul and Kirkuk hospitals were in need of and willing 
to accept these supplies.  Ozturk responded that MFA had not 
checked, but would do so.  However, he stated that he assumed 
that all hospitals in Iraq were in need of this kind of aid. 
Note:  Ozturk did not identify the hospitals by name, but 
said that the convoy would deliver all materials to the 
"largest state hospitals" in Mosul and Kirkuk. 
 
 
7. (C) Security:  Ozturk reiterated Turkey's offer to provide 
its own security (Turkish Special Forces) for the convoy if 
the U.S. side believed that the situation surrounding this 
aid shipment was not secure.  Ozturk also stated that the 
Turkish side would inform the KDP and PUK of its intention to 
send this convoy.  MDRO responded that he would check this 
"offer" with Task Force North and get back to MFA.  Task 
Force North maintains that no Turkish military forces of any 
kind should enter Iraq to escort the convoy.  MDRO will 
report this to MFA on April 28. 
 
 
8. (SBU) ICRC's View:  Finn Ruda, ICRC Regional 
Representative, told MDRO that ICRC had offered the Turks 
several options for delivery of aid through ICRC channels 
during the week of April 28, but that TRC preferred to go it 
alone.  However, Ruda was informed that TRC planned to send 
its convoy on April 25.  Note:  MDRO subsequently confirmed 
that TRC plans to send the convoy April 28, not/not April 25. 
 End Note. 
Action Requests: 
---------------- 
9. (U) Embassy requests that information on this convoy be 
shared with the Humanitarian Operations Center in Kuwait, as 
well as the CMOC and DART team in northern Iraq. 
 
 
10. (C) We note in ref C information that CENTCOM would 
support efforts by other coalition partners to "adopt" 
hospitals in Iraq and ask whether CENTCOM can recommend a 
hospital to be paired with the Turks. 
PEARSON