IRAQ: TURKEY WANTS TO SEND HUMANITARIAN AID TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006100 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2015 TAGS: EAID PREL MOPS TU IZ SUBJECT: IRAQ: TURKEY WANTS TO SEND HUMANITARIAN AID TO TALAFAR AND KIRKUK, SEEKS TO PARTICIPATE IN TALAFAR RECONSTRUCTION REF: A. ANKARA 5452 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. ANKARA 5209 Classified By: Acting DCM Thomas Goldberger for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) . ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para. 7. Humanitarian Aid for Talafar and Kirkuk -------------- ¶2. (C) MFA Coordinator for Iraq and Afghanistan Reconstruction Amb. Koray Targay called in A/DCM Oct. 6 to inform us that Turkey wishes to provide humanitarian aid (HA) for Talafar during Ramadan. (NOTE: Head of Department Sedef Yavuzalp subsequently informed us Oct. 7 that Turkey wishes to split this aid between Talafar and Kirkuk, with approximately 60% of the aid going to Talafar. The GOT was thinking of sending primarily food unless we or the Iraqis determine an urgent need for non-food items. END NOTE.) Targay noted in passing the complaints lodged by the Turkish Red Crescent when it delivered HA to Talafar last month (reftel),but chalked up some of these to hurried Turkish planning. He viewed the September shipment as "a successful mission" despite these problems. He asked that the GOT, USG, and ITG work together to make the next shipment a successful effort. ¶3. (C) A/DCM urged that the GOT discuss this matter as soon as possible with the ITG in order to improve coordination. Targay agreed, noting that the GOT will discuss the issue with the ITG, and the Turkish Red Crescent will also coordinate with its Iraqi counterpart. Talafar Reconstruction: Water Project and Hospital -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Now that the operations in Talafar are winding down, Targay said Turkey wanted to reiterate its interest in contributing to the water project for Talafar and to providing equipment for Talafar's hospital. Noting that Turkey was not yet prepared for security reasons to send a team to look at what it could do for the water project (see ref b),Targay asked if we could provide any feasibility study that has been done for this project so that Turkey can evaluate where it may be able to contribute in the near future. ¶5. (C) Targay asked for our evaluation of the condition of Talafar's hospital. He understood that the hospital building had been sound but that it lacked equipment, adding that Turkey was ready to contribute items such as MRI machines, incubators, etc. Turkey may also be prepared to contribute to repairs to the building itself, if necessary. Immediate Need for Rubble Clearing Equipment -------------- ¶6. (C) A/DCM noted that we had been in direct touch with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Talafar, who identified for us some urgent heavy equipment needs to clear rubble; we handed the list to Targay. He responded that the MFA will look into availability. We noted that if Turkey were to offer this machinery as part of its aid package, Turkey would need to make the offer formally to the ITG. However, it is possible that the USACE and the Turkish contractors may just want to make this a straight commercial transaction. We are pursuing this with USACE while the Turks research their end. Action Request -------------- ¶7. (C) We would appreciate guidance from Washington and Mission Iraq on the Turks' HA offer. No doubt the Turks are calculating how their HA offer will play at home politically, but the humanitarian needs (at least in Talafar) are evident. We would also appreciate guidance on the Turks' offers regarding the Talafar hospital and water project. If there is a feasibility study available for the latter, please forward to us. MCELDOWNEY