TURCOMAN FRUSTRATION MOUNTS IN KIRKUK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000067 SIPDIS SIPDIS BAGHDAD FOR POL, NCT E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/20/2016 TAGS: PINR PGOV KDEM IZ SUBJECT: TURCOMAN FRUSTRATION MOUNTS IN KIRKUK KIRKUK 00000067 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Michael Oreste, Regional Coordinator (Acting), REO Kirkuk, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary. The Turcoman are frustrated with the Kurds' domination of Kirkuk politics. An Iraqi Turcoman Front (ITF) leader warned that the Turcoman and Arabs might unite against Kurdish injustices. The Turcoman reject the national Normalization Committee on Kirkuk and believe that the IPCC is not being run efficiently. End Summary. Turcoman Frustrated by the Tide of Events -------------- ¶2. (C) IAPOs met with Kirkuk provincial councilman and member of the ITF Hasan Turan to discuss issues of concern to the Turcoman community in Kirkuk. Turan said the security situation in Kirkuk had deteriorated in the last two to three months - especially for the Turcoman, who do not have a militia. Turan was angered by the way the Kurdish parties have initiated strong propaganda against the ITF. The ITF seeks to postpone the referendum until after 2007. ¶3. (C) Turan said the ITF was lobbying Baghdad to change the process of implementing Article 58 or at least postpone the referendum. He was confident that the majority of Kirkuk residents sided with the Turcoman. He argued that although the voting results of the last election indicated that the Kurds gained 53 percent of the Kirkuk vote, the Kurds manipulated their numbers by 20 to 30 percent. ¶4. (C) According to Turan, the main problem of Kirkuk politics was the Kurds' domination of key provincial decisions. He said that all three ethnicities had a legitimate claim to Kirkuk. Turan warned that if one group tried to force its policies (read: Kurds),the other two groups would bring about its fall. (Comment: Unfortunately for the Arabs and Turcoman, an unlikely prospect. End Comment) He warned that the Turcoman and Arabs were considering uniting against the Kurds because the two groups faced the same Kurdish injustices. Turan noted that while the Kurds seemed sincere in their language to cooperate with the other ethnicities, their actions portrayed something different. Turan complained that when the U.S. intervenes on the Kirkuk problem, it benefits the Kurds. TURCOMAN REJECT NATIONAL NORMALIZATION COMMITTEE -------------- --- ¶5. (C) Turan told us the ITF did not recognize the national committee on the Normalization of Kirkuk - led by Hamid al-Musa, Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) Secretary General - for three reasons: first, the committee was formed by Ayad Allawi's government instead of the Transitional National Assembly, which was the constituted legislative body legally authorized to create such a committee; second, the ITF had very poor relations with the ICP, stating that ICP members slaughtered many Turcoman in 1959; third, ITF members believed Musa sided with the Kurds because ITF members on occasion have heard Musa refer to Kirkuk as part of the KRG. ¶6. (C) The ITF has met with top political figures in Baghdad - including Salih al-Mutlaq, Adnan al-Dulaymi, Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, and Jalal Talabani - to request assistance in reforming the Kirkuk Normalization Committee. Turan argued that the majority of Iraqi leaders supported the Turcoman's stance on Kirkuk. For example, he claimed that Mutlaq and Dulaymi supported Turcoman complaints on the national normalization committee; Jafari had placed obstacles on the implementation of Article 58; and Muqtada al-Sadr publicly said that there could be no compromise on giving the Kurds Kirkuk. IPCC SLOW AND LACKING -------------- ¶7. (C) Turan said the Iraqi Property Claims Commission (IPCC) is not solving many of the claims presented to it. The ITF leaders feel that one IPCC office is not sufficient to handle the workload in Kirkuk and have requested Baghdad to open a second office. The two major Kurdish parties are now fighting over which party should lead this office. Turan said he thought the new IPCC law was a result of KDP and PUK pressure in Baghdad. BIOGRAPHIC NOTE -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Turan described his points in a clear and concise KIRKUK 00000067 002.2 OF 002 manner. He kept a sober and focused demeanor during the meeting and clearly showed signs of frustration with what he perceived to be U.S. favoritism toward the Kurds. Turan is the leader of the Turcoman Justice Party - one of four parties that makeup the ITF - and was elected to the Kirkuk provincial council in January 2005. He heads the social relations committee on the provincial council. Turan has a degree in agriculture engineering but was unable to work in his profession prior to 2003 because the Ba'ath regime prevented his people from cultivating their land. The former regime pursued Turan for his political activism. He started the Turcoman Justice Party following Operation Iraqi Freedom and later joined the ITF to give the Turcoman community a stronger voice. Turan does not speak English. THE ITF -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The ITF was established in 1995. A number of individuals have led the ITF since its inception; Dr. Sadadin Ergag leads the ITF today. The four ITF sub-parties include the Turcoman Justice Party, Turcoman Patriotic Party, Turcoman Independent Movement, and Turcoman Islamic Movement. The ITF governing body includes the Executive Council (comprised of the ITF leader and seven other representatives from the four political parties) and the Turcoman Council (parliament). The ITF is a Sunni-dominated alliance. Turan said he was confident that the ITF represented about 60-65 percent of the Iraqi Turcoman population. The remaining Turcoman supported the Turcoman Eli party or the Turcoman Shia parties. Turan said that although the Iraqi Turcoman parties differed ideologically on near-term political strategies and policies, all Turcoman shared the same long-term goals for Iraq. ORESTE