REVISED ACTION REQUEST: TURKS FORMALLY REQUEST

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 007674 SIPDIS SIPDIS BAGHDAD ALSO PLEASE PASS TO MNF-I REO MOSUL ALSO PLEASE PASS TO TF-BOB E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2015 TAGS: PREL MOPS PGOV TU IZ SUBJECT: REVISED ACTION REQUEST: TURKS FORMALLY REQUEST ASSISTANCE FOR MISSION TO MOSUL REF: ANKARA 7539 Classified By: DCM Nancy McEldowney for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is an action request -- please see para. seven. ¶2. (C) Summary: MFA has revised its request for assistance for a Turkish team to travel to Mosul -- now o/a Jan. 16-19 -- to meet with local and U.S. officials and look at sites for the new Turkish consulate. We hope our colleagues in Mosul can meet this request; this will assist Turkey in engaging meaningfully in the new Iraq. End summary. ¶3. (C) MFA Deputy Director General for the Middle East Sakir Torunlar called us in Dec. 28 to "formally" request U.S. assistance for a Turkish team to travel to Mosul in January to meet with local and U.S. officials and look for a site to re-open the Turkish consulate there. MFA has revised their previous, "informal" request of Dec. 20 (reftel). ¶4. (C) The Turkish delegation now proposes to travel to Mosul o/a Jan. 16-19 by air. They would plan to land at the Military Air Field (MAF) in Mosul; their plane would immediately go back to Turkey and return to collect the team later. The team would consist of Consul General Avni Botsali, three additional MFA personnel, five bodyguards (with small arms),and one representative each from the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, the Ministry of Interior's Security Division, and the Turkish General Staff. The Turks will provide three hard cars and drivers: one will drive to Mosul from the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad, two others will cross overland from the Turkish border to Mosul to meet the team. Thus the total size of the delegation --including drivers and bodyguards -- will be fifteen. ¶5. (C) In addition to permission to land at the MAF, the Turks have requested that TF-BoB/REO Mosul provide food and secure lodging for the team for three nights (GOT is happy to pay for these services if required),a security escort through Mosul to meet Iraqi officials and look at sites to place the Turkish Consulate, calls on the Mosul RC and TF-BoB's senior representative, and other meetings with CF and REO officials to elicit our advice on security in Mosul. ¶6. (C) Torunlar emphasized that the safety of the Turkish delegation is the GOT's top priority. He will instruct his team to closely heed our advice on security, and only to enter those parts of Mosul we consider sufficiently safe. He added that MFA will provide us complete details on the small arms the team's security detail will carry. Finally, Torunlar said that while the GOT hopes to complete this mission by the end of January, we are welcome to recommend different dates than Jan. 16-19 if it is more convenient for us. ¶7. (C) Action Request: We realize that providing the Turks with this level of assistance is a significant undertaking for our people in Mosul. At the same time, we want to support Turkey's continuing positive engagement in building the new Iraq. Turkey is Iraq's only democratic neighbor; visiting senior Iraqis consistently note this. Over the past year, the GOT has taken a number of positive steps toward Iraq, such as hosting a meeting between Amb. Khalilzad and Sunni Arab leaders in Istanbul earlier this month; providing training for Iraqi diplomats, POLITICAL parties, and military officers; allowing the use of Incirlik Air Base for cargo hub and tanker refueling flights in support of OIF; and opening the Habur Gate ground line of communication for transport of coalition sustainment supplies and humanitarian fuels for the Iraqi people. Botsali, Turkey's incoming Consul General in Mosul, has told us that opening a Turkish consulate in Mosul sends a message of normalization of RELATIONS and solidarity with the Iraqi government. We should assist them in sending this important message. WILSON