PUK REPRESENTATIVE GALALI DISCUSSES PKK AND KIRKUK

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 004235 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2021 TAGS: PREL PTER ENRG ETRD TU IZ SUBJECT: PUK REPRESENTATIVE GALALI DISCUSSES PKK AND KIRKUK ISSUES REF: ANKARA 4085 Classified By: DCM Nancy McEldowney for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S//NF) SUMMARY: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Turkey representative Bahros Galali told us he will immediately urge President Talabani and KRG President Barzani to take public steps against the PKK as a way to prevent a Turkish cross-border operation (CBO) into northern Iraq and to also send an Iraqi Kurdish delegation to Turkey. He also suggested that Talabani would like to slow the momentum on Kirkuk and opined that the scheduled December 2007 referendum on the city's status would be delayed. He also told us that the GOT was considering opening a border gate with Syria and noted that Talabani still has not received an invitation to visit President Sezer. END SUMMARY -------------- PKK Problem in Northern Iraq -------------- ¶2. (S//NF) Deploying Washington guidance, we urged the Iraqi Kurds to take action as soon as possible to constrain PKK freedom of action in northern Iraq. Galali--who in the past has demonstrated his close relationship with top PUK leaders--told us that he would send a note to both Talabani and Barzani emphasizing that KRG needs to take action against the PKK to show Turkey that they take this issue seriously. He took on board our request that the GOI and the Iraqi Kurds take public actions, such as closing down PKK offices in Erbil and Baghdad and condemning PKK attacks in Turkey, and agreed to include these points in his message. Galali also said that he would suggest that the Iraqi Kurds send a delegation to Ankara to speak with Turkish officials about how to solve the PKK problem in Northern Iraq. He informed us after the meeting that the message was sent and received. -------------- Slowing Kirkuk Process -------------- ¶3. (C) Galali told us that Talabani would like to slow down the process on Kirkuk; however, Talabani could not say this publicly. He acknowledged the sensitivity of the issue and agreed that some solution needs to be worked out with the other ethnic groups in Kirkuk to prevent conflict. Galali said that Talabani and other PUK leaders know that issues such as compensation for Arabization Arabs who will leave the city will need to be dealt with. He opined that the scheduled December 2007 referendum on the city's final status would be delayed. When we asked if Barzani and the KDP supported Talabani's idea of slowing down the process, he noted that up until now Barzani and Talabani were of the same mind, but he does not know how Barzani would react to a delay. -------------- A Border Gate with Syria? -------------- ¶4. (C) Galali told us that the Turks were supposedly negotiating with the Syrians to open a border gte that would allow traffic to travel from southeastern Turkey through Syria to Tal Afar and Kirkuk (NOTE: We understood that Turkey and Iraq had agreed in principle to two border gates, one at Ovakoy on the far western side of the Turkey-Iraq border, and one near the current crossing, both of which abut KDP territory (reftel). END NOTE). We queried why the Turks would want to create such a round-about route, and Galali asserted that this way the Turks could give direct support to the Turkmen and also have a route to Kirkuk that would completely bypass KDP territory. -------------- Invitation for Talabani to Visit Sezer -------------- ANKARA 00004235 002 OF 002 ¶5. (C) Galali noted that although Talabani has been President for two years he has never received an invitation from President Sezer to visit Ankara. He believes that this is because Sezer does not like Kurds and therefore does not want to meet Talabani, though we note that Sezer did receive FonMin Zebari during his recent visit. We told him that we would work with the Turkish MFA to get Talabani an invitation. ¶6. (S//NF) COMMENT: Galali appears to be closely tied to top PUK leaders, including Talabani, and is savvy enough to realize that a Turkish cross border operation in Northern Iraq would be bad for the Iraqi Kurds and the U.S. He appeared genuine in his desire to convince Talabani and Barzani that something needed to be done immediately to placate the Turks on the PKK. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON