TURKISH RED CRESCENT DELIVERS HUMANITARIAN AID TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005452 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2015 TAGS: PREL MOPS EAID TU IZ SUBJECT: TURKISH RED CRESCENT DELIVERS HUMANITARIAN AID TO CAMPS NEAR TALAFAR, COMPLAINS PUBLICLY OF TREATMENT BY CF REF: A. ANKARA 5247 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. GETTINGER-HILL EMAIL 09/20/05 Classified By: Acting DCM Timothy A. Betts for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is an action request--please see para. 8. ¶2. (C) Summary: Press coverage of the Turkish Red Crescent's delivery of humanitarian assistance to displaced persons' camps near Talafar has included accusations by Red Crescent that U.S. forces intimidated Turkish aid workers and attempted to block and/or dictate the terms of distribution. Turkish MFA shares some of Red Crescent's concerns, but would prefer to accentuate the positive. We would appreciate information from Iraq on what may have occurred so we can counter Red Crescent's claims. End summary. ¶3. (U) Sept. 15-18, Turkish Red Crescent delivered 10 truckloads (two convoys of five trucks each) of humanitarian assistance (HA) to displaced persons' camps near Talafar. We coordinated closely with the Turkish MFA to ensure coordination on the Iraqi side with Task Force Freedom, which had arranged for a private security contractor, Falcon Security, to provide escort to Talafar. The Turks' HA included 3500 sizable food packets, 7800 1.5 liter bottles of water, quilts, gas stoves, medicine, and other materials. ¶4. (C) MFA Head of Department for Economic Affairs Sedef Yavuzalp phoned PolMilOff late Sept. 16 to report on an apparent dispute between the Turkish Red Crescent and TFF at Fort Talafar. According to Yavuzalp, TFF confiscated Red Crescent's cell phones and communications equipment and were ordering the convoy to proceed to another location to offload its cargo; apparently Red Crescent did not want to go to this location. Both sides apparently solved the dispute; on Sept. 17 Red Crescent delivered HA to the Nawha camp east of Talafar, and returned safely to Turkey. ¶5. (U) On. Sept. 19 and 20, increasingly negative press stories--directly quoting Turkish Red Crescent officials as sources--claimed that U.S. forces in Iraq blocked Turkish Red Crescent from delivering aid, were abusive to Red Crescent personnel and fired over their heads, seized Red Crescent's cell phones and communications equipment, and became enraged when residents of a displaced persons' camp enthusiastically greeted the Turks. ¶6. (C) On Sept. 20, ECONCouns and PolMilOff called on MFA Deputy Director General for Economic Affairs Mehmet Gucuk to discuss the issue. Gucuk emphasized that "first and foremost" Turkey is pleased that the Turkish convoys unloaded their cargo and returned safely to Turkey. However, MFA was concerned that the Red Crescent staff's cell phones were allegedly taken. Additionally, according to Gucuk, Falcon Security's team of "peshmerga" (actually former pesh now working for Falcon) took a poor attitude toward the Turks and "incited" U.S. forces accordingly. That said, Gucuk lamented much of the press coverage as "far from the truth," and asserted that he had urged Red Crescent authorities not to take their concerns to the press in the absence of complete information. He said he would discuss the issue again with Red Crescent, and that the Ministry planned to release a "neutral" press statement later on Sept. 20 (full text of MFA's statement in para. 9 below). He emphasized the need for the Turkish people to hear the positive message, namely that the Red Crescent has provided aid to the people of Talafar. ¶7. (C) ECONCouns noted that we do not have a complete report from our authorities in northern Iraq on what may have occurred, and agreed that we should work with MFA to make this a good news story. We are also ready to meet with the Red Crescent should MFA deem it advisable. Both we and the Turks agreed that--in the event Turkey sends additional humanitarian aid to Iraq in the near future--we should coordinate more closely (and with the Iraqis if possible) on the destination of the aid and the security ground rules. ¶8. (C) Comment and action request: Gucuk was embarrassed by the Red Crescent's harshly negative attacks on U.S. forces in the Turkish press. While the MFA shares some of Red Crescent's concerns, we believe they would prefer to settle the issue as we would: quietly. The U.S. should be only on the sidelines of what should be a good-news story; instead we are the star attraction in an ugly press cycle (Red Crescent is known in Turkey for being feckless and corrupt). At the same time, we are handicapped by our lack of visibility on what actually happened in northern Iraq. We often hear Turkish complaints about the conduct of peshmerga and former peshmerga in northern Iraq. We also know that we are fighting a war and cannot always attend to the niceties. We understand per ref b that REO Mosul is inquiring with Task Force Freedom on what may have occurred; we are looking forward to getting the facts as quickly possible to counter Red Crescent's accusations. End comment and action request. ¶9. (U) Text of MFA statement on HA delivery to Talafar (informal embassy translation): BEGIN TEXT No: 141 Sept. 20, 2005 Statement On behalf of our government and the Turkish nation, humanitarian assistance worth about U.S.$ 400,000 has been sent to Iraq to be delivered to vulnerable people in Talafar, who are facing a disastrous situation. Within this context, our Ministry, in cooperation with the Turkish Cooperation and Development Administration (TIKA) and Turkish Kizilay (Turkish Red Crescent Organization),has sent 10 trucks (18 personnel and 2 communication vehicles) of humanitarian aid composed of mixed food packages, drinking water, water purification tablets, medicine and around 200 tents to Talafar in 2 convoys. Distribution of the humanitarian aid of the first convoy consisted of 5 trucks, which were deployed 5-6 km from Talafar in Fort Talafar, was completed on September 16, 2005 at a tent city a few kilometers from Talafar. On September 17 2005, the second convoy of 5 trucks which arrived at the tent city was obliged to return to Fort Talafar in the same day without unloading the aid due to the chaotic situation there, which included residents attempting to loot the aid. During the transfer of the humanitarian aid some problems were encountered, originating from the current local conditions related to the place and distribution methods of the aid materials. However, as a result of the action taken by our Ministry in cooperation with the Turkish Kizilay Association, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara and our Embassy in Baghdad, these problems have been solved. Our convoy consisting of 10 trucks and 5 communication vehicles went to Zakho Sept. 18 under the security protection provided by U.S. forces and stayed the night there. The Kizilay Convoy passed through the Habur Gate on September 19, 2005 at 9.00 AM and re-entered our country. We have been taking the necessary initiatives with the U.S. and Iraqi officials in order to prevent such difficulties while transferring humanitarian aid in the future. END TEXT MCELDOWNEY