IRAQ: KIRKUK VIOLENCE HAVING IMPACT ON TURKISH

S E C R E T ANKARA 005419

SIPDIS


STATE FOR P, EUR, EUR/SE, NEA AND NEA/NGA


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2013
TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS PTER TU IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQ: KIRKUK VIOLENCE HAVING IMPACT ON TURKISH
PUBLIC OPINION, PUTTING GOT UNDER PRESSURE

(U) Classified by DCM Robert S. Deutsch. Reasons: 1.5 (B
and D).


--------------
Summary and Comment
--------------



1. (C) The August 23-24 violence in Kirkuk that left several
Turkmen and Kurds dead/injured was front page news in Turkey
over the weekend, and generated demonstrations in front of
the Ankara PUK offices that reportedly left 23 police and 5
demonstrators injured. While the story has subsided here to
an extent, it has had strong impact on Turkish public opinion
and put GOT officials under pressure. While the GOT is
making an effort to turn Turkey's Iraq policy into one that
looks at the country as a whole (and in this case did make a
helpful statement to the effect that the US and Turkey were
cooperating, and the situation was under control),the press
and public continue to focus squarely and almost exclusively
on the issues of the north, and in particular the tensions
between Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) and the KDP and PUK Kurds.
Clashes between these groups in northern Iraq will contribute
to the difficulty the GOT will face in getting public and
parliamentary support for a Turkish contribution to the Iraq
stabilization force elsewehere in Iraq. End summary and
comment.



2. (S) Based on what we have been able to learn from CJTF-7
and CPA-North, on August 22 in Tuz Khurmatu, Shia Turkmen
demonstrated in protest of the desecration of a Shia shrine,
and shooting broke out between the Turkmen and Kurds,
resulting in the deaths of two Kurds and three Turkmen.
Coalition forces responded to the firefight, were fired upon
themselves, and returned fire. Two more Turkmen were killed,
although it is not clear from various reports whether they
were hit by US forces or others. On August 23, a Turkmen
demonstration was held at a police station in Kirkuk to
protest the composition of the Kirkuk police force. A
protester tried to place an ITF flag on the building.
Several shots were fired from inside and a grenade was thrown
from outside. The crowd was then dispersed by coalition
forces and local police. This crowd then linked up with
another demonstration at the Kirkuk Government building to
protest the shooting of Turkmen in Tuz Kurmatu. When the two
groups joined together, totalling over 800 people carrying
Iraqi Turkmen Front and Shia Turkmen flags, the crowd became
excited and local police apparently fired shots into the
crowd, killing two Turkmen and wounding two others. The
police suspected of firing the shots have been arrested and
are in jail. Coalition forces and the Kirkuk City Council
are looking into the incident and meeting with local
community and political leaders to defuse the tensions.



3. (S) According to a US military officer who was on the
scene in Tuz Khurmatu, both sides had weapons and neither
could say who started the shooting, but the coalition
intervention ended it. Religious and party leaders from both
sides went on local TV to denounce the violence. The
situation on the ground seems to be on the mend. However,
the Turkish press over the weekend would lead to the opposite
conclusion, with some reports suggesting that the tensions
were intentionally stoked by KDP and PUK leaders to avert the
deployment of Turkish troops into Iraq and specifically
blaming the PUK for shooting Turkmen. We note that while
this incident did not get significant press play in the US or
international press, it was the lead item here for several
days. We were is a dialogue with the MFA and various other
GOT entities, although they were generally in an
information-gathering mode. But those contacts were
reflected in the responses given by the PM and the FM to the
press. As we look toward GOT efforts to contribute to a
stabilization force, we will need to be mindful of the
extreme sensitivities of the Turkish body politic to even
isolated incidents like this one in northern Iraq and
continue to manage them with the Turks as inclusively as
possible.



4. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
EDELMAN