US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4072

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004072 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR E, EB, NEA/NGA, EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2013 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, MOPS, PTER, ASEC, TU, IZ 
SUBJECT: KURDISH GROUPS' UNILATERAL ACTIONS CONTINUE TO 
OBSTRUCT FLOW OF ASSISTANCE AND TRADE TO IRAQ 
 
REF: A) ANKARA 3922 B) ANKARA 3794 C) ANKARA 3731 
 
 
1. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
 
2. (C) Summary and action request:  Reftels report the KDP's 
practice of charging taxes/fees for goods crossing the 
Turkish-Iraqi border.  Reports from GOT officials, local 
businessmen, and UN officials indicate that the KDP continues 
to charge fees for certain goods and vehicles.  UN and MFA 
officials also complain of long delays on the Iraqi side of 
the border.  This situation is disrupting the flow of 
assistance to Iraq and hampering our overall reconstruction 
efforts.  Ref A recommends that the USG devise (with the KDP 
if necessary) a more equitable, transparent system for 
processing the movement of people and goods to/from Iraq. 
Post looks forward to Department's guidance on this issue. 
End summary and action request. 
 
 
KDP Still Charging Fees, Reports of Delays at Border 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
 
3. (C) Reports from GOT officials, local businessmen, and UN 
officials indicate that the KDP continues to charge fees for 
certain goods and vehicles crossing the Turkish-Iraqi border 
(reftels).  U.N. World Food Program (WFP) Ankara 
representative David Schaad told us June 25 that the KDP was 
still charging the WFP $20/truck.  Schaad said he was also 
concerned about the long wait at the border (which he claimed 
was up to 25 km of trucks on either side of the border), 
which he attributed mainly to bottlenecks on the Iraqi side. 
Schaad noted, however, that the GOT was also slowing traffic 
by meticulously checking incoming trucks to ensure they were 
not smuggling cheap fuel into Turkey.  Schaad also complained 
that the Iraqi side was giving priority to U.S. contractors' 
trucks, which further delayed WFP trucks.  Alp Ay of the 
MFA's Multilateral Political Organizations office also told 
us June 25 the border was congested primarily due to 
technical and administrative bottlenecks on the Iraqi side. 
 
 
4. (C) An official from USG military contractor Kellogg, 
Brown, and Root (KBR) told us June 25 that the KDP had 
stopped charging KBR trucks several weeks ago; however, he 
said, he had heard that other vehicles entering Iraq from 
Turkey were still routinely being charged taxes/fees.  (Note: 
 as reported ref C, local KDP rep Safeen Dizayee told us June 
9 that the KDP would exempt U.S. military and UN shipments.) 
The Vice President of Delta Petroleum, a private Turkish 
company engaging in barter trade with SOMO (septel), told us 
June 25 that the KDP had not charged the Delta trucks 
entering Iraq with benzine and LPG.  However, the Delta 
official said, he had just learned that Delta trucks 
attempting to enter Turkey with Iraqi fuel oil were being 
charged a USD 120 per truck "export tax" by the KDP.  Delta's 
trucks were currently stuck at the border while the company 
decided what to do about this tax. 
 
 
Security Concerns Increasing for Truckers 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
5. (C) The WFP and KBR officials with whom we spoke 
complained that the security situation in Iraq was 
deteriorating, particularly near and to the south of Baghdad. 
 WFP's Schaad said that security concerns were deterring 
Turkish truckers from driving WFP supplies south of Baghdad; 
the KBR official said he was also having trouble getting 
truckers to go near or to the south of Baghdad, adding that 
his trucks were routinely returning from Iraq with bullet 
holes, and one of his drivers had recently been shot (but 
appeared to be recovering). 
 
 
Action Request 
-------------- 
 
 
6. (C) The KDP's continued practice of charging a range of 
taxes/fees for goods crossing the Turkish-Iraqi border is 
disrupting the flow of assistance to Iraq and hampering our 
overall reconstruction efforts.  Post will continue to press 
the GOT to reduce all unnecessary obstacles to the flow 
across its border to facilitate fully the two-way trade.  On 
the Iraqi side, we reiterate the recommendation in Ref A: 
that the USG devise (with the KDP if necessary) a more 
equitable, transparent system for processing the movement of 
people and goods to/from Iraq.  Post looks forward to early 
Department guidance on this issue. 
PEARSON