TFIZ01: MFA DELAYS TURKISH RED CRESCENT AID

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002660 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