USG POLICY ON CONTACT WITH THE PKK

S E C R E T ANKARA 004032 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2014 TAGS: PTER PREL IZ TU SUBJECT: USG POLICY ON CONTACT WITH THE PKK REF: A. STATE 156062 ¶B. ANKARA 3901 Classified By: (U) Charge d'Affaires a.i. Robert S. Deutsch. Reason: 1 .4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (S) During a July 19 meeting on another subject, MFA DDG for Intelligence and Research Hakan Okcal asked polmilcouns whether he had any news about the PKK. Okcal confirmed that he knew that the Turkish General Staff had relayed some information the previous week (ref b). Drawing on ref a, polmilcouns assured Okcal that Embassy Baghdad was looking into the allegations, and that it remained USG policy that there be no official contact, either civilian or military, with the PKK/KADEK/Kongra Gel or the PKK front organization, the Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party. ¶2. (S) Okcal acknowledged that the USG has long considered the PKK and its successor and front organizations as terrorists. However, "the PKK should be eliminated from northern Iraq," he said. Polmilcouns recalled that the President had reiterated during his June visit here that removing the threat to Turkey from the PKK/KADEK/Kongra Gel in Iraq remains a USG goal as well. ¶3. (S) During EUR DAS Laura Kennedy's call on MFA DU/S Tuygan July 20, Charge passed the same message per instructions ref a. Tuygan did not react. ¶4. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. DEUTSCH