IRAQI MINISTERS: TURKISH OFFICIALS COMPLAIN THERE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005516

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2013
TAGS: PREL PTER MARR MOPS TU IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI MINISTERS: TURKISH OFFICIALS COMPLAIN THERE
SHOULD BE MORE TURKMEN MINISTERS, AMB. LOGOGLU EXPRESSES
CONCERN ABOUT FM ZEBARI


Classified by Ambassador Eric Edelman. Reasons 1.5 B and D.
ACTION REQUEST at para 1.



1. (C) In seperate conversations with the Ambassador and DCM
Sept. 1 and August 30 respectively, MFA Deputy Undersecretary
Ali Tuygan and MFA Acting Director General Safak Gokturk said
Turkey was disappointed that the Iraqi Governing Council had
appointed only one Turkmen minister. Turkish Ambassador to
the US Farouk Logoglu (now in Ankara) had earlier told the
Ambassador on August 30 that Turkey had reservations about
the appointment of KDP official Hoshyar Zebari as Foreign
Minister. Ambassador noted that we had not seen a definitive
list but that Kurdish participation ought to be welcomed as
an indication of Kurdish commitment to a unified Iraq.
ACTION REQUEST: Post recommends that we urge Zebari to make
an early trip to Ankara so that he and the Turks can
establish a relationship based on his new post asap. The
Ambassador passed on the Turkish comments to CPA Chief of
Staff Pat Kennedy by phone.



2. (C) DCM followed up his conversation with Gokturk in a
meeting on Sept. 2. He assured Gokturk that Turkey's
concerns had been forwarded to Baghdad and Washington, that
Turkey's views on the weight of the Turkmen are well-known
and that the US has tried to ensure Turkmen are included in
the mix of every Iraqi body. There is a balance, the DCM
noted, urging the Turks to keep their eyes on the overall
functioning of the institutions and on the fact that what
matters is that the institutions represent all Iraqis.
Gokturk replied that no group in Iraq should be made to feel
alienated, but that the Turkmen did feel alienated now.
Turkey, he said, saw the appointment of only one Turkmen
minister as a repetition of the same mistake made when the
Governing Council was established with only one Turkmen rep.
He added that the Science and Technology Ministry that the
Turkmen minister will hold is only of secondary importance.
It was, he said, vital for the Iraqi Turkmen to feel they
were "A-list players." Turkey, for its part, felt like it
continued to offer advice to the US, but its advice on this
matter was never acted upon. The DCM suggested that for
there to be more Turkmen involved in Iraqi institutions, the
Turkmen in Iraq must do a better job of making themselves
available and relevant.



3. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
EDELMAN