KDP ANKARA OFFICE ATTACKED, NO INJURIES, MINOR

UNCLAS ANKARA 001401 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR NEA/NGA AND EUR/SE; NSC FOR AMB. KHALILZAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM CASC ASEC TU IZ SUBJECT: KDP ANKARA OFFICE ATTACKED, NO INJURIES, MINOR DAMAGE ¶1. Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Ankara staff member Omar Merani called Operation Northern Watch POLAD early March 5 to report that the night of March 4, the building housing the KDP's Ankara office was attacked with two molotov cocktails. Merani said one of the bottles exploded against the exterior wall and left some burn marks but did no visible structural damage. The other bottle broke through the window of KDP Ankara rep Safeen Dizayee's office but failed to explode. No one was injured in the incident. Merani, who lives in the building with his family, said he had no idea who had done this and was not aware of the attack until he woke up this morning and found the burn marks and bottle pieces. Merani and his family are AmCits and intend to report this incident to the Consulate's ACS unit. Merani said he would be contacting the Turkish MFA this morning to report the incident. ¶2. The attack is almost certainly linked to hightened tensions between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds (and the KDP in particular) over statements made by the Turkish FM that Turkey would send troops to northern Iraq to disarm the Kurds, the declaration of the Salahadeen Iraqi opposition conference opposing Turkish military intervention in northern Iraq, and an anti-Turkey demonstration in Irbil March 3 at which Turkish flags were burned. PEARSON