IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: TURKS UNHAPPY WITH

S E C R E T ANKARA 004468 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2013 TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO IZ TU SUBJECT: IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL: TURKS UNHAPPY WITH TURKMEN REPRESENTATION REF: STATE 202537 (U) Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch, reasons 1.5, b/d. ¶1. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. ¶2. (S) After several unsuccessful attempts to schedule a joint US/UK meeting to deliver reftel points to MFA's Iraq department at the working level, UK Ambassador Westmacott reportedly raised the points with MFA U/S Ziyal and DG Burcuoglu July 15 during a previously scheduled meeting. The UK Ambassador described the discussion as "extremely unrewarding" in that he received a long tirade from Ziyal and Burcuoglu about the Turkmen situation in Iraq in general. Westmacott tried to emphasize the positive aspects of the GC's composition, including the fact that the Turkmen representative was an Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) member and the sole representative from Kirkuk. When the Turks noted peevishly that she was not on the leadership council of the ITF, Westmacott reportedly retorted that, were there any "constructive" candidates on ITF's leadership council, they might have been considered. After some prodding, the Turks said they might consider issuing a statement supportive of the GC, but would possibly include that they had concerns about the composition of the council. DCM also raised the issue of the Council with Burcuoglu at a luncheon July 15. Burcuoglu similarly objected to the number of Turkmen as well as the absence of clear ITF leadership. He said the MFA was meeting later that day to decide how to react to the Council. ¶3. (S) Comment: The UK Embassy assessed that the Turks are still smarting far too much from the July 4 incident to have a productive dialogue on this topic now. The points have been raised, and we agree it would be best to let this topic rest until some of the emotion fades. PEARSON