KURDISH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DELEGATION ON TURKEY/PKK

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003669

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: KURDISH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DELEGATION ON TURKEY/PKK
CRISIS


Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Ellen Germain for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)

Kurds Get Support From CoR, GOI -- And Sistani
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1. (C) Adnan Mufti (PUK),Speaker of the Kurdistan National
Assembly (KNA),led a hastily-assembled delegation to Baghdad
October 31 ) November 4 to meet with the Council of
Representatives (CoR) and the GOI leadership to discuss the
Turkey/PKK crisis. At a dinner for the delegation on October
3 hosted by General Babakir, chief of the Iraqi general
staff, Mufti said that the delegation,s session at the CoR
was very good and that all the political blocs declared their
support for their &Kurdish brothers8 and the need to defend
the Kurdistan region as part of the territory of Iraq. He
said the delegation also had good meetings with PM Maliki,
President Talabani, VPs Adel Abdel Mehdi and Tariq Hashimi,
and FM Zebari.


2. (C) Mufti said the delegation had traveled down to Najaf
and had an excellent 40-50 minute meeting with Grand
Ayatollah Sistani. Mufti was amazed at how closely Sistani
was following the situation, and enthused over how
well-informed he was about the details of the PKK/Turkey
situation and the deep understanding revealed by his
questions. He said Sistani expressed strong support for the
Kurds, stressing that the Kurds and Arabs are all brothers
and that the KRG is an integral part of Iraq. Mufti also
noted with admiration that Sistani had shaken hands with the
sole female parliamentarian in the delegation. He wound up
by saying that he had become &a propagandist8 for Sistani.

Standard Accusations Against Turkey
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3. (C) Fadhil Mirani, General Secretary of the KDP, offered
up the standard Kurdish line that Turkey,s recent actions
are not really about the PKK, but rather are a pretext for
Turkey,s real aim of undermining and destabilizing the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). He reiterated the
strong friendship between the Kurdish people and the U.S.,
and demanded to know why Turkey would not recognize the KRG.
In response to A/PolCouns,s argument that the KRG needed to
take concrete actions against the PKK such as cutting off
supply lines, closing PKK offices, and beefing up security at
the airport, and make those actions public, Fadhil claimed
the measures had already been taken and were &all over the
news.8 Mufti added that if Turkey wanted to do a bombing
raid on Quandil mountain, it should just go ahead and do it
quietly.

Benchmark Legislation
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4. (C) Turning to legislation, CoR Second Deputy Speaker
Aref Tayfur (KDP),who was also present, expressed pessimism
about the prospects for swift passage of the hydrocarbons,
provincial powers, and elections laws. However, he thought
the de-Baathification law and the 2008 budget might pass by
the end of the year. He noted that there are two different
drafts of the de-Baathification law in the CoR right now, but
the leaders, draft (agreed to in the August 26 leaders,
communiqu) was the good one and the two versions needed to
be reconciled. He said that although the Shia have been
opposing the de-Baathification law because it is &too
merciful,8 he believed it might make it out of committee
next week. Tayfur said that the provincial powers law was
with the Shura council, and declined to offer any estimate of
when the Shura might complete its review.

CROCKER