UPDATE ON HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE: MFA, UN AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001835

SIPDIS


DEPT FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE AND NEA/NGA
DEPT PASS USAID FOR BHA/OFDA - WGARVELINK AND FFP
EUCOM FOR JE, JR, J5, SOJ7 AND POLAD
GENEVA FOR RMA
CENTCOM FOR J3, J5 AND POLAD


E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2013
TAGS: EAID IZ MOPS PREF PREL TU WFP
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE: MFA, UN AND
TURKISH RED CRESCENT

REF: ANKARA 1799


(U) Classified by Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Deutsch
for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D).


Summary:



1. (C) Emboffs met with MFA, Turkish Red Crescent and UN
officials just before and after the start of military
operations in Iraq to gauge preparedness and review
humanitarian assistance issues. MFA told us it is willing
to host a coordination mechanism involving the USG and UN
agencies, pending final GOT interagency approval of PRM A/S
Dewey's March 12 proposal. UN agencies noted a range of
bureaucratic and other difficulties in channeling
assistance, but said that it was slowly working through
these problems with the GOT. However, UN Turkey is
concerned about Turkish intentions to set up camps in
northern Iraq, and told us it would not provide any
assistance to the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) if it crossed
the border in violation of international mandates on
relief. TRC's General Director told us the organization
was prepared to deal with flows of displaced persons and
would like to act in accordance with international-
recognized mandates in providing relief. End Summary.


MFA on Coordination and NGO Registration
--------------



2. (C) Econ Counselor and Mission Disaster Relief Officer
(MDRO) met with Tunc Ugdul, MFA Deputy Director General for
International Political Organizations, and Feza Ozturk,
Head of Department and manager of the MFA Iraq Crisis
Center on March 20. Ugdul told us that MFA is interested
in hosting an ad hoc coordination mechanism for
humanitarian assistance which would include USG civilian
and UN agency representatives, but that a final,
interagency-cleared decision is still pending. MFA's does
not plan to include NGOs in the initial meetings. Econ
Counselor clarified that the USG has not/not set up a
Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Center (HACC) in
Diyarbakir and has not taken a decision to request GOT
permission to do so. On siting of Humanitarian Daily
Rations (HDRs),MFA expects to have a final, positive
answer for the USG shortly. However, he asked that, in the
future, we consider purchasing locally-produced HDRs.



3. (SBU) Ozturk confirmed that the GOT is now looking at
NGO applications for registration to work in Turkey and for
transit to Iraq on an expedited basis. He said that MFA
has received 14 applications from NGOs seeking to provide
aid in Turkey, but none from NGOs seeking to transport aid
to Iraq through Turkey. He clarified that the latter group
would need to submit a detailed request to MFA for the
first shipment of aid to be transported. The first
application would be reviewed carefully, but subsequent
ones could be handled quickly. Note: Per reftel, several
international NGOs told us they plan to apply for transit
permits, but as we understand, they have not submitted
specific requests as yet. End Note. In response to a
question from Econ Counselor, Ugdul stated that MFA in
principle had no problems in allowing AID DART members to
cross the Turkish - Iraqi border, but that MFA would need a
request in writing to authorize this.


UN Agencies on Cooperation with the GOT
--------------



4. (SBU) Econ Counselor, MDRO, and DART member meet with UN
Resident Coordinator Alfredo Witschi-Cestari and
representatives of UNICEF, WFP and UNHCR on March 20.
Witschi-Cestari opined that the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC)
would like to cross the border, and warned that UN agencies
would have to freeze cooperation with TRC, in a very public
way, if TRC were to set up camps in Iraq. Under a new
agreement worth USD 150,000, UNHCR is providing relief
goods to TRC.



5. (SBU) Security Concerns: Witschi-Cestari indicated that
all UN international staff have been evacuated from Iraq.
Witschi-Cestari said a decision to return staff would be
based in part on USG views on the security situation and
asked Embassy personnel to share as much information as
possible.



6. (C) Coordination with Turkish Officials: Witschi-
Cestari and his team said that the GOT was cooperating with
UN activities, but not very efficiently. In particular, UN
staff indicated customs and other difficulties at the port
of Mersin, at warehouses, and along the road to Silopi.
Current indications from UN staff in Silopi are that 20 to
30 trucks are crossing the border per day. Trucks are
being completely unloaded, taking an average of 30 minutes
per truck. UN contingency plans call for 150 to 200 WFP
trucks to cross per day, and the UN is very concerned
about the reluctance of the GOT to facilitate the customs
process at the border. UNHCR indicated that, as recently
as March 19, UNHCR staff were unable to reach Silopi due to
Turkish checkpoints refusing to allow access to the area.
UN staff were able to cross the checkpoint several hours
later, but the situation seems to be hit or miss.
Additionally,
the UN stated that they have had difficulty in coordinating
with Turkish military officials. Note: In a subsequent
conversation, Witschi-Cestari told Econ Counselor that
several of these issues had been addressed by MFA. End
Note.



7. (SBU) NGO Coordination: UN remains reluctant to
coordinate NGO meetings in Turkey, because of concerns that
it may be taking responsibility for the activities of
unregistered NGOs in the country, but it is still
considering this issue. UNHCR stated that it is willing to
help NGOs which will be implementing partners in the
registration process for work in Turkey.



8. (SBU) Coordination Mechanism: Econ Counselor raised the
tripartite aid coordination mechanism raised by A/S Dewey
on March 12. UN officials were receptive to the concept,
provided that the GOT were to host these meetings
and provided they did not a priori exclude other donors.


Turkish Red Crescent Says It Wants to Work Within
International Mandates
--------------



9. (SBU) Econ Counselor, Mission Disaster Relief Officer
(MDRO) and Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART)
Leader discussed contingency planning and preparedness with
Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) Director General Fatih Evren
on March 19. Evren told us that contrary to some press
reports, TRC had not moved into northern Iraq, nor had it
set up displaced person (DP) camps. TRC wanted to act in
accordance with internationally-recognized mandates and
principles in providing relief, and TRC, MFA and the ICRC
are discussing the issue of mandates. Evren added that
there had been no significant population movements toward
Turkey's border thus far. He maintained that TRC had
asked for supplies from NATO, EU and UN agencies, but had
not received any assistance thus far. Nonetheless, he
said TRC was ready to cope with a crisis. Evren stated
that the possible use of chemical or biological weapons
in Iraq was his principal concern.
PEARSON