MAKHMOUR: MFA OFFICIAL READY TO DISCUSS SECURITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 002508 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2021 TAGS: PTER MOPS PREL PREF TU IZ UN SUBJECT: MAKHMOUR: MFA OFFICIAL READY TO DISCUSS SECURITY MEASURES FOR CLOSING THE CAMP REF: A. ANKARA 1397 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. BROOKS-BETTS EMAIL 5/1/06 Classified By: Counselor for Political-Military Affairs Timothy A. Bett s for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C/REL GBR) Per ref b, we discussed the way forward on steps required to close the Makhmour refugee camp in northern Iraq with MFA Director General for Security Affairs (S/CT-equivalent) Hayati Guven on May 3. Guven reported that he was prepared to travel to Geneva for discussions with U.S. and UNHCR officials on UNHCR's operations plan for removing PKK elements and influence from the camp, determining the desires of the residents, and facilitating the movement of refugees out of the camp in accord with their wishes. However, Guven said he had been instructed by MFA Undersecretary Tuygan not to commit to travel to Geneva until UNHCR had provided him the document. To accelerate the process, we encouraged Guven to seek authority to commit to dates now, conditioning his travel on prior receipt of the UNHCR plan. ¶2. (C/REL GBR) Following up, we called UNHCR's Ankara representative, Gesche Karrenbrock, on May 4 to inquire as to the status of the planning document. She reported that UNHCR-Geneva had instructed her to hand the document to Guven ASAP, but Geneva was still editing it and had not yet sent it to her. UNHCR's Turkey office told us COB May 5 that they should be able to hand over the document to Guven by May 8 or ¶9. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON