TURKISH MFA, TURKMEN FRONT ALLEGE KDP AND BADR

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 004012

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER TU MOPS IZ
SUBJECT: TURKISH MFA, TURKMEN FRONT ALLEGE KDP AND BADR
BRIGADE INVOLVEMENT IN TALAFAR

REF: A. MOSUL 79


B. ANKARA 3405

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


1. (C) During a long June 30 discussion on the situation in
the northwest Ninewah province town of Talafar, Ankara Iraqi
Turkmen Front representative Ahmet Muratli alleged to
PolMilOff that KDP leader Masoud Barzani was fomenting
sectarian violence in the town through payoffs and
encouragement to tribal leaders. Muratli could not produce
evidence for this claim, but outlined what he believed was
Barzani's interest in controlling Talafar in his bid to
stretch the KDP's influence to Sinjar and the Syrian border.
Muratli claimed that Barzani has long wanted to extend his
control to Sinjar, near the Syrian border, as the town has a
large Kurdish population. In doing so, Barzani could
consolidate his control to the Syrian border and control
cross-border trade. Additionally, through controlling Sinjar
Barzani would eliminate any advantage Turkey would seek to
gain by opening a second border gate with Iraq at Ovakoy, on
the extreme western side of the Turkey-Iraq border. (Turkish
officials have forthrightly told us they prefer Ovakoy since
Turkish trucks would pass through only a very small patch of
KDP-controlled territory.)


2. (C) PolMilOff also discussed Talafar with MFA Iraq Desk
Officer Hakan Cakil. Cakil did not raise Barzani, but said
he had seen reports that the Badr Brigade was actively
supporting the Shia side of the sectarian conflict there.
Cakil and PolMilOff agreed that--if these reports are
true--this would be a serious development, but PolMilOff
added that he had not seen such reports. Cakil added that
the Turks perceive significant anger and concern in the Arab
world on the Kirkuk issue.


3. (C) COMMENT: Muratli and the ITF are prone to
exaggeration. We suspect the ITF to be the source of much of
the information that fed the exaggerated and downright false
reporting during September 2004 CF counterinsurgency
operations in Talafar. We have made a concerted effort to
pass on real-time, accurate reporting on the situation there
to the GOT since then, and the official and press reaction to
the difficult situation there now has been muted by comparison


4. (C) COMMENT, CONT.: While Cakil did not parrot the ITF
allegations to us, we are struck that both the Turks and
local Turkmen groups have said they are worried about
Talafar, and share the concern that the violence there seems
to have also taken on a sectarian dimension (see refs). END
COMMENT.


5. (U) Iraq REOs minimize considered.
MCELDOWNEY