UNAMI CONSULTS IN TURKEY FOCUS ON KIRKUK: TURKS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001442 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV UN IZ TU SUBJECT: UNAMI CONSULTS IN TURKEY FOCUS ON KIRKUK: TURKS PUSH FOR REFERENDUM DELAY REF: A. ANKARA 1337 ¶B. BAGHDAD 1544 ¶C. ANKARA 1244 Classified By: DCM Nancy McEldowney for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) Deputy Schulenburg used meetings with GOT officials in Ankara to push for greater realism and a more coherent policy on Kirkuk. He emphasized that the issue of Kirkuk's future status is an emotional problem, not a rational one, and posited that defining the Kurdish Region's internal administrative boundary should be the first priority. With regard to constitutional reforms, he noted the presence of a remarkable degree of consensus among members of Iraq's Constitutional Review Committee regarding the need to assert the primacy of federal law and authority over regional powers, in direct contravention to the existing constitutional provisions that address the issue. END SUMMARY GOT VIEW ON UN ROLE -------------- ¶2. (C) UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General in Iraq Michael von der Schulenburg provided DCM a read-out of his meetings with GOT officials June 7. Schulenburg noted he had met with MFA Under Secretary (Deputy Minister equivalent) Ertugrul Apakan and Iraq Special Envoy for Iraq Oguz Celikkol; TGS officers were not available to meet with him. To Schulenburg's surprise, neither Apakan nor Celikkol expressed much enthusiasm for an enhanced UN role in mediating an agreement on the status of Kirkuk. Schulenburg mentioned that following contacts with GOT representatives in New York, he had expected a greater degree of receptivity. ¶3. (C) DCM explained the current tensions in play between the Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led government and the military in the run-up to Turkey's July 22 parliamentary elections. She also pointed to the neuralgia felt throughout Turkey over the continued threat posed by PKK terrorists based in northern Iraq, the perception that Massoud Barzani and the KRG support the PKK presence there, and the fear that inclusion of Kirkuk into the Kurdish autonomous region will lead to the establishment of an independent Kurdish state. ¶4. (C) Schulenburg responded that Kirkuk is an emotional problem, not a rational one, for all parties involved. In pursuing dialogue with KRG officials, including PM Nechirvan Barzani, on the subject of Kirkuk and the referendum on Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, Schulenburg has counseled the Kurds not to "overreach" in their efforts to extend their power in the north. He expressed his view that delimiting an internal administrative boundary for the Kurdish region was actually more important than the status of Kirkuk, which could be solved through a power-sharing arrangement in which the city itself becomes a special region, and offered the possibility that the UN could be helpful in mediating both issues. Schulenburg said KRG President Massoud Barzani and other Kurdish leaders have backed themselves into a political corner by promising a referendum on the status of Kirkuk this year. Schulenburg noted that both the Turks and the Kurds now seem reluctant to accept UN involvement in reaching a compromise on Kirkuk. He believes they both prefer to negotiate - or even intimidate - without UN interference, perhaps in the belief that they can utilize greater leverage to achieve their equally divergent goals without broader international involvement. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON