Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KIRKUK88
2006-04-12 13:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
REO Kirkuk
Cable title:  

YOUNG KURDS WARN OF IMMINENT PROTESTS IN KALAR

Tags:  PINS PGOV KDEM KCOR KISL IZ IR 
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VZCZCXRO0978
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0088/01 1021353
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 121353Z APR 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0611
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD IMMEDIATE 0573
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0639
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KIRKUK 000088 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR POL, PAO, ROL COORDINATOR, NCT, IRMO, USAID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/12/2016
TAGS: PINS PGOV KDEM KCOR KISL IZ IR
SUBJECT: YOUNG KURDS WARN OF IMMINENT PROTESTS IN KALAR

KIRKUK 00000088 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Dean, Acting Regional Coordinator, REO
Kirkuk, DoS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KIRKUK 000088

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR POL, PAO, ROL COORDINATOR, NCT, IRMO, USAID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/12/2016
TAGS: PINS PGOV KDEM KCOR KISL IZ IR
SUBJECT: YOUNG KURDS WARN OF IMMINENT PROTESTS IN KALAR

KIRKUK 00000088 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Dean, Acting Regional Coordinator, REO
Kirkuk, DoS.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) SUMMARY. Students and recent graduates from Kalar
concurred that demonstrations would likely ignite there, but
they disagreed on when those demonstrations might occur or how
violent they would be. One student was adamant about protesting
on April 14 - the commemoration of the Anfal attacks on Kalar -
while two graduates said they believed PUK security forces would
prevent demonstrations on that day. Our contacts explained that
the people of Kalar were angry at the KRG about the lack of
public services and the poor conditions in the city. As a
result, Kalar residents have planned to prohibit government
officials from entering the city for the commemoration of the
18th anniversary of the Anfal attacks. Activists also plan to
attack the $15,000 Anfal monument in Rizgari. Teachers in Kalar
have encouraged students to form committees to press the KRG on
political, economic, and social demands. END SUMMARY.

Demonstrations Likely; Date and Intensity Uncertain
-------------- --------------


2. (C) On April 8, Deputy Regional Coordinator and IPAO met
with two students and three recent graduates from the Germiyan
area (southern region of Al Sulaymaniyah province). All of our
contacts concurred that demonstrations in Kalar would likely
launch at some point, but they disagreed on when those
demonstrations might occur or how violent they would be. One
student, who lost over 50 family members during Anfal, appeared
especially angry with the KRG, saying he would demonstrate on 14
April - the commemoration of the Anfal attacks on Kalar -
regardless of the consequences. When we asked where he would
flee if the security forces responded forcefully, he said, "I
will not flee, even if they kill me." That same student also
mentioned he had a friend in Rizgari who said he wanted to die
on April 14.



3. (C) Two of the graduates, however, had a more nuanced
perspective regarding demonstrations on April 14, saying that
the people of Kalar in the end probably would not demonstrate
that day. They opined that the PUK's beefed up security
measures and the public awareness of PUK's harsh response toward
the Halabjah protestors would discourage demonstrators.

Conditions Ripe For Protesting
--------------


4. (C) The students and graduates explained that the people of
Kalar were angry at the KRG because of the lack of public
services and poor conditions. They said the Rizgari
sub-district of Kalar was a hot spot because that area suffered
the most from the former regime's Anfal operations in the
Germiyan region. They described Rizgari as similar to Halabjah.
Kalar students demonstrated late last summer and attacked
several PUK-affiliated buildings.


5. (C) Our interlocutors observed that the KRG and the people
of Germiya were disconnected. Following Operation Iraqi Freedom
the people had rising social, economic, and political
expectations. The conditions in the Germiyan region are
archaic, they noted, adding that the area looked as if it were
in "the sixteenth century, without paved roads or city
services." The graduate from Kifri said that his city lacked
potable water, electricity, and many other basic services.

Protestors Plan to Attack, Security Poised to Respond
-------------- --------------


6. (C) The students told us that Kalar residents had plans
to prohibit government officials from entering the city for the
commemoration of the 18th anniversary of the Anfal attacks on
April 14. Our contacts added that the residents also planned to
attack the $15,000 Anfal monument in Rizgari (NOTE. Similar to
Halabjah, Rizgari has a monument dedicated to the victims of the
1988 Anfal attacks in that area.) They added that the
protestors' goal was not to destroy the monument, but to send a
message to the KRG that the people were angry. Our contacts
said that the PUK security forces were protecting the Rizgari
monument 24/7 since the violent Halabjah demonstrations on March

16. They asserted that the teachers and students probably would
have to initiate the demonstrations; but if they did, unlike
Halabjah, the villagers, farmers, and other residents also would
join in.


7. (C) The students and graduates were confident the security
forces would try to prohibit demonstrating of any kind in Kalar
on April 14 and probably would respond severely to protestors.

KIRKUK 00000088 002.2 OF 003


One graduate claimed that when Kalar residents recently
approached the PUK head in Kalar - Awad Shaykh Janad - to
discuss their demands, he warned that if they demonstrated he
would "break their legs."


8. (C) When asked where the people of Kalar would seek refuge
in case of an Asayish roundup, our contacts said that several
Iranian Kurdish villages near the Sirwan River had been a refuge
to Kalar residents in the past.

Teachers and Students Pressing Demands
--------------


9. (C) Our interlocutors explained that in the last few months
teachers in Kalar, representing the educated class, had
organized students to form committees to press the KRG on
political, economic, and social demands. The teachers, however,
stayed behind the scenes and did not demonstrate, because if
they did, they would lose their jobs. The teachers and students
in Kalar later included other residents in meetings and
formulated a list of KRG demands for Kalar.


10. (C) The demands included building a cultural center with a
library and computer services, constructing schools, providing
more qualified physicians, paving roads, and installing potable
water. Our contacts said that the committee sent its demands to
the KRG, but the KRG was unresponsive, other than providing land
for Anfal victims to build homes. They said the people of Kalar
were convinced the KRG did not respond to public demands and
that its promises were hollow.

Corruption: Root Cause For Lack of Services
--------------


11. (C) Our contacts complained that administrative corruption
was a key factor stymieing the fair implementation of projects
throughout the Germiyan region. They complained that the KRG
lacked a fair and transparent mechanism to allocate projects,
and, as a result, KRG leaders were able to favor some areas,
while neglecting others.


12. (C) Our interlocutors said another problem was that the
Germiyan region lacked a representative on the PUK politburo.
For example, the KRG had implemented several projects in
Hanakin, hometown of politburo member Mullah Bakhtiar, even
though it was much smaller than Kalar. The KRG also implemented
several projects, including a new large university, in Kou
Senjaq - a city hit hard by the Anfal campaign and home of PUK
leader Jalal Talabani. (NOTE: President Talabani was not born
in Kou Senjaq, but lived there several years and considers it
his home. END NOTE.)


13. (C) Our interlocutors complained that mayors and other
local officials in the Germiyan area were unqualified political
appointees. Kalar residents were angry that the PUK chief in
Kalar was not a native. Our contacts complained that the PUK
did not hold local elections, and residents were not allowed to
become civil volunteers or initiate city projects. They claimed
that local officials had neither experience in implementing city
projects nor understanding the people's needs. Moreover, the
local authorities did not have to abide by any laws and were
empowered to implement projects, according to their mood.


14. (C) Our contacts accused the KRG of exaggerating the
amount of money it had spent on city projects in order to pacify
the uneducated people of Kalar. For example, KRG authorities
quoted residents a much higher price to pave the two main roads
in Kalar and, after paving only 100 meters, told the people that
the funds had depleted. They said that the contracting
companies were PUK-affiliated, and sometimes would leave
projects half-finished to fulfill more lucrative contracts.

Party Connection Key to Obtaining a Professional Job
-------------- --------------


15. (C) Our contacts confirmed that people living in the KRG
had to be party members or have a close contact in the party to
get a professional job, or a post connected in any way to the
KRG. Even government street cleaners were chosen politically.
Our contacts said that shop owners did not need party membership
to run a business, but they often faced problems getting a stall
at a government market without it.

Comment
--------------


16. (C) We anticipate heightened tensions in the Kalar area on
April 14. Kalar residents are angry with the KRG, and emotions
tend to surface on Anfal and other anniversaries symbolizing
Kurdish suffering. Teachers and students from Kalar will be

KIRKUK 00000088 003.2 OF 003


home on break, ripening conditions further. The fact that Kalar
students violently protested less than a year ago is noteworthy.
The main question remaining is how far Kalar residents will go
in the face of PUK intimidation and threats.
ORESTE