KURDISH GROUPS' UNILATERAL ACTIONS CONTINUE TO

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
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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