KRG SINJARI CALLS FOR PKK AMNESTY, MAKHMOUR CAMP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 004503 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2016 TAGS: PGOV PBTS PHUM PREF PTER IZ SUBJECT: KRG SINJARI CALLS FOR PKK AMNESTY, MAKHMOUR CAMP DEMILITARIZATION REF: BAGHDAD 04371 Classified By: RRT Leader James Yellin, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team cable ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Interior Karim Sinjari told RRTOffs on December 4 and 5 that steps to resolve the presence of the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers Party) in Iraq are finally moving forward but face continuing difficulties with the Government of Turkey and the Government of Iraq in Baghdad. Sinjari said the planned tripartite talks among the U.S. Iraq, and Turkey provide hope but stressed that amnesty from Turkey would be essential for PKK disarmament or refugee returns. UNHCR representatives met with Sinjari on December 5 to establish a mechanism for demilitarization and registration of the refugees in Makhmour camp. END SUMMARY -------------- PKK ACTIVITY -------------- ¶2. (C) In a meeting with RRTOffs on December 4, KRG Minister of Interior Sinjari blamed the government in Baghdad for registering the PKK as a political party and thereby allowing PKK and front organizations such as the Kurdish Democratic Solutions Party (KDSP) to have offices in the Kurdistan Region. (Note: Although Sinjari claimed the KRG has closed all PKK offices in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk provinces in conformity with U.S. requests, the local National Democratic Institute office told RRTOffs that the Erbil office of the KDSP reopened one week after its supposed closure.) ¶4. (C) Turkish Kurds resident in northern Iraq do not uniformly support the PKK, Sinjari said. He claimed that Turkey's capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan led the PKK to moderate its independence rhetoric and subsequently lose support among Turkish Kurds in Iraq. Sinjari commented that PKK members who leave the party are "Turkish" rather than part of the KRG population and will still be "under control." Sinjari also said that, contrary to Turkish claims, the PKK launches no attacks into Turkey from the Kurdistan Region. -------------- TRIPARTITE TALKS -------------- ¶6. (C) Sinjari said no tripartite talks among the U.S., Turkey, and Iraqi envoys have occurred, but U.S. Special Envoy for Countering the PKK General Joseph W. Ralston has held bilateral discussions with the Iraqi Special Envoy for Countering the PKK Minister of State for National Security Shirwan al-Waili, the KRG Special Envoy for Countering the PKK Minister of Interior Karim Sinjari, and with Turkey's Special Envoy for Countering the PKK General Edip Baser. The KRG and Turkish envoys have not yet met with each other, Sinjari noted. ¶7. (C) Sinjari said the planned tripartite talks provide hope but stressed that Turkey needs to guarantee Kurdish rights and safety for this hope to be realized. He suggested that 90 percent of PKK fighters would lay down arms and return to Turkey if it declared a BAGHDAD 00004503 002 OF 003 general amnesty. He claimed that some PKK leaders support tripartite talks. (Comment: PKK leaders are unlikely to support an initiative that reduces the party's size and influence. We agree with the analysis of Sinjari?s Kurdistan Democratic Party - that a Turkish-recognized political role for the PKK would encourage PKK support for the tripartite talks and the disarming of PKK fighters.) -------------- SINJARI?S THOUGHTS ON MAKHMOUR -------------- ¶8. (C) Turkey wants to use the residents of the Makhmour refugee camp in Ninewah Province as "hostages" against KRG policies, said Sinjari. He likened Makhmour to a densely-populated chicken farm producing a steady stream of new PKK fighters. If Makhmour is demilitarized in coordination with a general amnesty then refugees can return to Turkey, eliminating the PKK issue from KRG-Turkey relations, he said. -------------- UNHCR MEETING ON MAKHMOUR CAMP -------------- ¶9. (C) RRTOffs, UNHCR Country Director for Iraq Janvier de Riedmatten, Ninewah Assistant Governor Yousif Ibraheem, and Makhmour Mayor Abdulrahman Barzinji met with Sinjari on 5 December to establish a mechanism for demilitarization and registration of the refugees in Makhmour camp. De Riedmatten told Sinjari that 13,000 Turkish Kurds live in the camp, and that some 3,700 other Turkish Kurds live in Dohuk and Erbil governorates. (Note: According to UNHCR data, Turkish Kurdish refugees are Iraq's third-largest refugee population after Palestinians and Iranians.) ¶10. (C) Sinjari reported that he had visited Makhmour camp on November 24 (reftel) with Iraqi Minister of State for National Security Shirwan al-Waili and Minister of Displacement and Migration Abd al-Samad Sultan and achieved full cooperation from federal and provincial officials. He said the technical committee comprised of RRT, UNHCR, Ninewah Province, Makhmour city, and KRG representatives will facilitate voluntary repatriation in response to Turkish demands that the camp be closed. Mosul governor and Makhmour city mayor expressed willingness to support demilitarization, census, and registration in the camp. ¶11. (C) Sinjari and De Riedmatten said the Second Division of the Iraqi Army in Ninewah will conduct a cordon, curfew, and search of the camp on January 17, 2007, upon the written agreement of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Afterward, UNHCR, assisted by trained local teachers, will carry out a one-day census. Sinjari and De Riedmatten agreed that Turkey would only accept a controlled single-day count as authoritative. According to De Riedmatten, after compiling the data UNHCR will issue photographic registration documents to camp residents and conduct a survey of intentions to return to Turkey. ¶12. (C) Following the Sinjari meeting, De Riedmatten and UNAMI Erbil officer Rosemary Knight told RRT PolOff that the May elections in Turkey BAGHDAD 00004503 003 OF 003 may have a negative impact on PKK issues and suggested that domestic pressure for military action may be intensified by election pressures. They added that, without amnesty and guarantee of safety from Turkey, the demilitarization of Makhmour camp will produce no reduction in the camp population. KHALILZAD