IRAQ OCV REGISTRATIONS IN TURKEY SLOW

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000377

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2010
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PREF TU IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQ OCV REGISTRATIONS IN TURKEY SLOW

REF: 04 ANKARA 6809

Classified By: Counselor for Political-Military Affairs Timothy A. Bett
s for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) On Jan. 24, PolMilOff called on Gezim Kiseri (Deputy
Head of Country) and Sandra Khadhouri (Country Chief of
External Relations) of IOM-Turkey's Iraq Out-of-Country
Voting (OCV) office. They reported that OCV registration in
Turkey has been low: 3,764 as of Jan. 23 (2,730 in Istanbul,
1,034 in Ankara). With only Jan. 24-25 left to go in the
(extended) registration process, it appears IOM will fall
short of its initial estimate of 10,000-30,000 eligible
voters in Turkey. They believe part of the low turnout may
be explained by the fact that the GOT insisted that Iraqi
voters be able to show that they have some legal status (even
if only a valid visitor visa) in Turkey.


2. (C) Kiseri and Khadhouri said that negotiations with the
GOT to establish the modalities for Iraq OCV in Turkey were
"difficult." IOM and the GOT only reached agreement on Jan.
4, later than most or perhaps all other countries. Since
then, however, the IOM officials characterized Turkish
cooperation as very good. Turkish police will provide
security at polling sites (two in Istanbul, one in Ankara),
but they will not have the authority to examine voting
documents, nor can they enter the polling station unless
requested by IOM. All poll workers will be Iraqis.


3. (C) PolMilOff asked if the GOT had approached IOM
regarding the presence on the Iraqi ballot of two parties the
Turks claim are PKK/Kongra-Gel fronts (see reftel). Kiseri
responded that the Turkish ambassador in Geneva had
approached IOM HQ regarding this issue on a worldwide basis,
and that HQ had told the Turks that it was bound to use the
ballot it was provided by the IECI.


4. (SBU) Kiseri and Khadhouri handed us a list showing the
status of all OCV registrations worldwide as of Jan. 23:

Australia 10,095
Canada 9,481
Denmark 12,243
France 958
Germany 23,533
Iran 48,010
Jordan 14,573
Netherlands 14,220
Sweden 27,862
Syria 12,665
Turkey 3,764
UAE 10,069
UK 27,839
USA 22,392

TOTAL 237,704


5. (SBU) A number of Embassy Ankara and AmConGen Istanbul
personnel will serve as observers for Turkey OCV.


6. (U) Embassy Baghdad and Iraq REOs minimize considered.
EDELMAN