ACTION REQUEST: TURKISH SPRING DEPLOYMENT INSIDE

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 001391 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2017 TAGS: PINR PREL TU PGOV PTER MOPS IZ SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: TURKISH SPRING DEPLOYMENT INSIDE IRAQ REF: 04/21/07 NARDI-HORNER EMAIL Classified By: Ambassador Ryan Crocker for reasons 1.4 (A/B/D) ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para 5. ¶2. (S/REL MNF-I) SUMMARY: On April 18, the Turkish Liaison Team Chief passed a letter to Multi-National Corps -Iraq Commanding General informing him of Turkish plans to deploy military forces to five locations inside Iraq within the next two weeks to counter PKK intrusion into Turkey. These deployments will occur within the next two weeks. According to Embassy Ankara (ref),these observation posts have been manned by the Turkish forces each spring since the Saddam era. Turkey has notified MNC-I in advance of its spring deployments since 2003. We are not aware, however, of the Government of Turkey officially notifying the Government of Iraq or the Kurdish Regional Government of these annual movements. As part of our efforts to encourage a constructive bilateral relationship between the Government of Turkey and GOI, we should instruct Turkey to notify Iraq of its spring deployment through bilateral diplomatic channels. END SUMMARY ¶3. (S/REL MNF-I) Turkish Liaison Team Chief Colonel Huseyin Erdogan notified MNC-I Commanding General Odierno by letter on April 18 of its plans to deploy ground forces to five locations within Iraq this spring. The five locations include: Baryak Tepe, Gazi Tepe, Geymusule Tepe, Kopki Tepe, Nezirkina Tepe. (NOTE: Turkish forces are already in Bayrak Tepe.) Force deployment for Gazi Tepe will begin on April 25 and the other locations on May 1. Turkey has carried out such spring deployments within Iraq since the Saddam era. With the fall of Saddam in 2003, Turkey began providing advance notification of its spring movements to the Commanding General of the Multi-National Corps-Iraq. ¶4. (S/REL MNF-I) According to the Turkish letter, the deployment aims to secure the Turkish side of the border and prevent PKK terrorists from infiltrating Turkish soil. ¶5. (S/REL MNF-I) Action Request: We have been encouraging the government of Iraq to improve cooperation with neighbors on security and border control. We have also encouraged Iraq to assert its prerogatives of sovereignty with its regional partners. Although much of that emphasis has been with respect to Iraq's relationship to Iran, the logic is equally applicable to Turkey. We request that Turkey inform Iraq of its spring deployment through a demarche or diplomatic note. We ask the Department to pursue this action through the Turkish mission in Washington or Embassy Ankara. CROCKER