KRG SNAPSHOTS CONFIRM ACTIONS AGAINST TURKEY/PKK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003795 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017 TAGS: PGOV PTER TU IZ SUBJECT: KRG SNAPSHOTS CONFIRM ACTIONS AGAINST TURKEY/PKK REF: BAGHDAD 3788 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Greg D'Elia for reasons 1.4 ( b) and (d). This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team message. ¶1. (C) Summary: RRT Erbil contacts in Erbil and Dohuk provinces report that increased checkpoints, stepped-up checkpoint manning, PKK-affiliated office closures and redeployment of Peshmerga forces are having an effect on the ability of the PKK to get supplies and move around. Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) contacts have not yet confirmed press reports of the arrest of several Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party officials in Dohuk. A journalist punished by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)'s media office for writing a negative article about Turkey confirmed to RRT that he was docked a week's pay. Dohuk authorities told RRToffs that they were undertaking preparations for a potential internally-displaced person (IDP) problem should Turkey invade. End Summary. Erbil Intel Director Asserts Actions Are Being Taken; Erbil Security Tightened -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) In a November 15 meeting, Abdullah A. Mohammed, Director of Asayish Security and Intelligence for Erbil Province, informed RRT that the Erbil Asayish had carried out Prime Minister Barzani's orders to set up several new checkpoints in the province. Mohammed said the Asayish was taking serious steps to end the PKK's use of KRG territory by closing PKK-affiliated offices and increasing checkpoints and night patrols at Camp Mahkmour. He said there are currently 11,000 people living in the refugee camp, mostly women and children, many Turkish-Kurds, with fighters living in the mountains. Asayish is working to cut off supplies to the fighters, and the additional checkpoints were producing good results, Mohammed said. ¶3. (SBU) Local RRT staff observed and RSO security contacts reported a marked increase in security checkpoints (including "rolling" checkpoints) in Erbil city. Regionwide, they are seeing checkpoints manned for the first time by a joint force of Peshmerga, Asayish, and local police. Dohuk Local Officials Claim Peshmerga Movements Are Denying PKK Positions -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Local officials in Barmane (west of Amadi) told RRT local staff in Dohuk about the movement of Peshmerga forces into the mountains northwest of Amedi, seemingly to take up defensive positions in advance of any Turkish incursion. The officials claimed that the new Peshmerga deployments are also preventing PKK fighters from occupying those mountain positions. ¶5. (C) RRT Erbil's local staff in Dohuk Governorate visited Amadi on November 17. Amadi city officials told them that new checkpoints have recently been established on routes leading into the Mateen mountains. According to city officials, those routes were used by the PKK before the establishment of the checkpoints -- and police and Assayish are now checking IDs and blocking the flow of men and materials headed north. Officials also reported Peshmerga forces were placing heavy artillery just south of Sasrink subdistrict, with the ability to reach as far as the Turkish border. They said Peshmerga forces are deploying to mountains north of Amadi and digging trenches, but that most people in Amadi think any Turkish incursion will be minor and not come close to Amadi. They also reported the installation of anti-aircraft guns and other weaponry close to the 90% Christian village of Inshke (15km west of Amadi). Asayish Allegedly Arrest Four Members of Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party -------------- ¶6. (U) Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party Politburo member Diyar Ghareeb told Rozhnama newspaper that Asayish in Dohuk's Zhakho District arrested four party members late last week. Ghareeb said that this was not the first time Asayish of the Kurdistan Region have "illegally" arrested party members. He added that the four members have been under arrest since Nov. 15 and warned that, if they were not released soon, the party would complain to international organizations. According to Rozhnama, the arrested members were Rangeen Haidar, Musa Muhammed, Isaw Ibraheem Omer Shernakhi, and Muhammed Ali. Rozhnama reported that the Kurdistan Democratic Solution BAGHDAD 00003795 002 OF 002 Party Politburo also denied reports by Turkish media that the party has been making threats to the Turkman Front. ¶7. (C) The KRG has not yet confirmed the arrests to RRToffs, despite repeated inquiries. KDP Media Office Punishes Journalists for Article Against Turkey -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Hawlati newspaper reported that two Khabat journalists were punished by the KDP's Media Office for publishing an article critical of Turkey's policy toward Kurds. The article's writer, Mariwan Ghareeb, and Barham Sheikh Ezadeen, a Khabat editor, had seven days salary cut from their monthly pay. Ghareeb's Nov. 6 article "How Could Peace Be Fixed?" said that Kurds like peace, but Turkey employs the language of war. Ghareeb confirmed the legal ordeal, adding "I described Turkey's policy as a negative one." Sheikh Ezadeen refused to comment to Hawlati. Khabat Editor-in-Chief Nazhad Aziz Surme denied the Hawlati report, saying "there is nothing like that." Dohuk Authorities Say They're Preparing for IDP Influx in the Event of Turkish Military Operation -------------- -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Musa Ali Bakir, an official with the Dohuk IDP Directorate and its former director, told RRTOffs that local authorities were concerned by the possibility of an influx of IDPs in the event of a Turkish cross-border operation, but added that authorities were preparing for such a contingency. He said authorities were especially concerned about a large influx should the Turkish military move south of the Mateen mountain area northwest of Amadi. However, he also emphasized that he was unaware of any new families to have been displaced amid recent cross-border shelling by Turkey and tension over the PKK. He also said his office continued to work with the Dohuk governor's office, international agencies such as the UNHCR and NGOs, and emergency responders to prepare a contingency plan for 2,000 families in the event of a Turkish cross-border operation, a disaster or other disruptive event. CROCKER