PKK/KADEK CHANGES ITS NAME, PLANS TO HOLD PRESS

S E C R E T ANKARA 007025 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2013 TAGS: PTER PREL PREF MARR MOPS TU IZ SUBJECT: PKK/KADEK CHANGES ITS NAME, PLANS TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE IN NORTHERN IRAQ: U.S. MUST PREVENT PRESS CONFERENCE REF: A. FBIS GMP 20031111000090 ¶B. FBIS GMP 20031111000085 ¶C. FBIS GMP 20031111000043 (U) Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch. Reasons 1.5 b and d. NIACT IMMEDIATE due to urgent operational content and USG holiday closure. ACTION REQUEST at Para 4. ¶1. (U) Press reports on November 11 (see Refs) cite a statement distributed by the terrorist organization PKK/KADEK in Baghdad stating that it had dissolved itself and formed a new organization to permit more democratic and broader participation. The new organization is called the Kurdistan People's Congress, or KHK, and claims to be a legitimate, democratic and lawful organization in line with international criteria. Ref B CNN Turk report says that the armed wing of PKK/KADEK would remain separate from the KHK and be called the People's Defense Forces. CNN Turk also speculates that the name change was made to prevent having KADEK listed by the EU as a terrorist organization. Both AP and AFP are reporting that the new organization will soon hold a press conference in northern Iraq. ¶2. (C) Embassy Public Affairs officer is already fielding calls from Turkish journalists asking if the USG will consider the KHK a terrorist organization, just as it did the PKK/KADEK. ¶3. (S) It would be a travesty if the U.S. allowed the PKK/KADEK/KHK terrorists, responsible for the murder of thousands of Turkish civilians, under their new name to hold a public press conference in an Iraq that is under coalition control. Allowing it to take place will undermine the President's pledge to rid Iraq of all terrorists. Our credibility is already strained by the fact that the PKK/KADEK/KHK leadership lives with impunity in territory over which we have responsibility and where we have troops deployed. Our counterterrorism coordinator has publicly said that we would eliminate the PKK/KADEK threat from northern Iraq and that the PKK/KADEK had no future there. Yet, this group has apparently just concluded a "Congress" in northern Iraq where it made its name-change decision. To retain our credibility, we cannot stand by while the PKK/KADEK morphs into a new name in public before the press in northern Iraq. It is time for us to prove to the PKK/KADEK/KHK leaders, the Turks, and others that we meant what we said. The future is now. ¶4. (S) ACTION REQUEST: We request Department work with DOD to get instructions to CPA and CJTF-7 to take whatever steps necessary, with the assistance of the Iraqi Border Police, the KDP, the PUK, and the Bradostis as appropriate, to prevent such a press conference from taking place. ¶5. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. EDELMAN