US embassy cable - 03ANKARA3922

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003922 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR D, P, E, EUR A/S JONES, NEA A/S BURNS, AND 
EUR/SE; DOD FOR DEPSEC AND ASD CROUCH; NSC FOR DEPUTY NSA 
HADLEY AND FRIED. JCS FOR J5 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2013 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, MOPS, TU, IZ, PTER, ASEC 
SUBJECT: UNILATERAL ACTIONS BY KURDISH GROUPS CONTINUE TO 
HAMPER FLOW OF HUMANITARIAN AND RECONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE 
TO IRAQ; TIME FOR A PLAN 
 
 
REF: ANKARA 3794 
 
 
(U) Classified by A/DCM Stuart V. Brown.  Reasons:  1.5 (B 
and D). 
 
 
1. (U) This is an action request.  See para 3. 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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2. (C) The KDP's June 17 refusal to allow a 40-person 
delegation of Iraqi businessmen to cross into Turkey to meet 
with Turkish businessmen, together with the KDP's continued 
practice of charging taxes/fees for goods crossing the 
Turkish-Iraqi border (reftel), is disrupting the flow of 
assistance to Iraq and is restricting our overall 
reconstruction efforts.  The Turks responded to the KDP's 
refusal to allow the businessmen to cross into Turkey by 
temporarily shutting down Habur Gate and thus halting the 
flow of all goods (humanitarian and commercial, including 
trucks carrying LPG fuel via the Ground Line of 
Communication) into Iraq.  While the KDP has since allowed 
the Iraqis to enter Turkey and the Turks have re-opened Habur 
Gate, this latest KDP action and Turkey's reaction is a 
reminder that as along as the Kurdish groups continue to 
"run" the border on their own, reconstruction and 
humanitarian assistance through Turkey will not flow smoothly 
to Iraq.  The KDP's unilateral, uncoordinated actions will 
also continue to restrict our ability to press the Turks to 
implement the steps they need to take to open up their side 
of the border.   End summary. 
 
 
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ACTION 
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3. (C) We need a plan now that removes the existing obstacles 
to the free flow of assistance and commerce (including 
people) to and from Iraq.  Such a plan must be satisfactory 
to all parties involved and address existing problems on both 
sides of the Turkish-Iraqi border.  For the Turkish side, we 
recommend that the US continue to press the GOT hard to open 
its border fully to two-way trade.  On the Iraqi side, the 
USG needs to devise (with the KDP if necessary) a more 
equitable, transparent system for processing the movement of 
goods and people into/from Iraq.  After we have developed a 
plan and secured a commitment from the KDP to implement it, 
we should brief the Turks on its details and ensure them the 
USG intends to enforce it.  If the KDP resists the plan or 
does not implement it, Washington should instruct US 
officials in Iraq to immediately assume greater 
administrative and security control of the border crossings 
to ensure proper implementation.  End action request. 
 
 
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IRAQI BUSINESS DELEGATION TURNED AWAY AT BORDER 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
4. (C) MFA Iraq Department Head Kerim Uras informed us June 
17 that KDP forces had denied a delegation of 40 Iraqi 
businessmen entry into Turkey to meet with Turkish 
businessmen earlier that same day.  Uras said the KDP had 
told the Iraqis (most of whom are Turkmen from Mosul and 
Kirkuk) that they first must travel to Irbil to obtain 
"proper documentation and permission" from KPD officials 
there before they would be permitted to travel to Turkey. 
Uras said that while only half of the individuals possessed 
passports, the GOT was willing to let them enter Turkey using 
Iraqi identification cards given Turkey's interest in 
facilitating stronger business ties between the Turkey and 
Iraq.  Uras said that the GOT had complied with past 
practices regarding travel by Iraqis to Turkey by informing 
the KDP at least three days in advance (June 13) of the 
delegation's visit and said that the KDP had not objected to 
the visit.  Uras said that some of the Iraqis were being told 
they would have to pay $1,000 to KDP officials in Irbil as 
part of the process of obtaining permission to travel to 
Turkey.  Uras said that when he called the local KDP rep, 
Safeen Dizayee, to complain about the delegation not being 
allowed to travel to Turkey, Dizayee reportedly said the 
delegation was most likely turned away because it had not 
followed the proper procedures and first would need to travel 
to Irbil.  TGS also sent ODC Chief a letter complaining about 
KDP discrimination against Turkmen at the border. 
 
 
5. (C) Dizayee told us later June 17 that the KDP did not 
have advance notice of the visit.  He said he first learned 
of the visit that same day when the MFA called to complain 
about the treatment of the delegation at the border.  Noting 
that many of the Iraqis did not possess Iraqi passports, 
Dizayee said "how can Turks demand during the past 12 years 
that all travelers from northern Iraq have passports in order 
to enter Turkey and then, all of a sudden, demand that we let 
anyone cross into Turkey with just an identification card?" 
He defended the requirement that all Iraqis in the north 
travel to Irbil ("the central processing center for the 
north") and argued that all Iraqis are required to pay a fee 
to travel to Turkey.  Dizayee also said that the KDP 
continued to limit the number of visas issued to Iraqis to 
travel to Turkey (five/day), but that if an Iraqi wanted to 
get around this restriction they could pay the Iraqi Turkmen 
Front approximately $650 and "go to the front of the line." 
(Note:  if the KDP is running the border, it is unclear to us 
how the ITF is able to circumvent KDP quotas.  End note.) 
 
 
6. (C) Uras called us late June 17 to report that the KDP had 
changed its position and allowed 20 members of the delegation 
to cross into Turkey.  Uras did not know the reason, but 
suspected that the KDP's reversal of position was a result of 
the Embassy's earlier inquiry to the KDP and the fact that 
these 20 individuals possessed Iraqi passports. 
 
 
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TURKEY RETALIATES BY TEMPORARILY SHUTTING DOWN HABUR GATE 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
 
7. (C) The US contractor VBR notified US military officials 
at Incirlik early June 18 that the Turks had closed Habur 
Gate.  In response to the Embassy's query, the MFA's initial 
response was that it was unaware that the border had been 
closed.  The MFA later called back to confirm that Habur Gate 
had indeed been closed temporarily in "retaliation" for the 
KDP's discriminatory practices of not allowing the Turkmen to 
enter Turkey, and that the Gate would be open to all commerce 
around 1200 local time.  Uras from the MFA's Iraq desk called 
one hour later to report that Gate was open and that priority 
would be given to trucks transporting humanitarian assistance 
and LPG through the GLOC.  At around 1400 (local time), 
trucks carrying UN humanitarian assistance and the LPG via 
the GLOC began to cross the Habur Gate into Iraq. 
 
 
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KDP ALLOWS THE REMAINING BUSINESSMEN TO CROSS 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
 
8. (C) Uras called us at 1300 local June 18 to report that 
the KDP had agreed to allow the remaining 20 Iraqi 
businessmen to cross into Turkey.  Uras said the decision as 
made by KDP leader Nechirvan Barzani following a request (via 
the Ankara KDP rep) by a senior TGS official.  According to 
Uras, Barzani agreed to allow the remaining 20 to cross, but 
said it was "the last time."  From here on out, all travelers 
to Turkey would have to follow the procedures and apply for 
permission from the KDP office in Irbil.  The KDP's Dizayee 
separately told us that eight of the remaining 20 had shown 
up at the Iraqi side of the Gate and were being allowed to 
cross.  He did not know the whereabouts of the remaining 12, 
but assured us they would be permitted to cross if/when they 
appeared at the border crossing. 
 
 
9. (C) Dizayee also said there were approximately 70 Iraqi 
citizens "stranded" at the Habur Gate on the Turkish side of 
the border who were not being allowed to travel to Iraq.  He 
said that the Turkish military officials were only allowing 
those Iraqis who were born in Turkmen-dominated areas of the 
north to cross, and sending back to Turkey those Iraqis from 
KDP and PUK-controlled areas.  Dizayee said that when the 
Iraqis asked why they were not being permitted to cross, the 
Turkish military authorities at Habur reportedly told them 
that "as soon as the 12 remaining Turkmen businessmen cross 
into Turkey, you can cross into Iraq."  Dizayee said that if 
the Iraqis were not permitted to cross by 1700 local (when 
Habur closes), the KDP would be forced to issue a public 
statement criticizing the Turks for not allowing innocent 
civilians to return home. 
 
 
10. (C) The MFA's Uras told us the GOT is aware of the 
presence of the Iraqi civilians on the Turkish side of the 
border waiting to return to Iraq.  He said the MFA is working 
with other GOT agencies to defuse the situation and expressed 
hoped the problem would be solved by "this evening." 
PEARSON