Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAGHDAD592
2007-02-19 13:22:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:
SPECIAL ENVOY RALSTON VISITS MAKHMOUR, TALKS WITH
how-toVZCZCXRO1308 PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK DE RUEHGB #0592/01 0501322 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 191322Z FEB 07 FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9738 INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000592
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREF MPREL PTER TU IZ
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY RALSTON VISITS MAKHMOUR, TALKS WITH
KRG PRESIDENT BARZANI
Classified by: RRT Erbil Leader James Yellin, reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)
This is a Regional Reconstruction Team Erbil cable.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000592
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREF MPREL PTER TU IZ
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY RALSTON VISITS MAKHMOUR, TALKS WITH
KRG PRESIDENT BARZANI
Classified by: RRT Erbil Leader James Yellin, reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)
This is a Regional Reconstruction Team Erbil cable.
1. (C) SUMMARY: KRG President Barzani told Special Envoy
Ralston that settling the PKK problem requires a political
solution from Turkey, but that the KDP and PUK are also
anxious to see this source of conflict between Turkey and the
KRG resolved. Ralston informed Barzani and other KRG
officials that Iraqi and UNHCR steps in Makhmour refugee camp
form the basis for discussion of refugee voluntary returns to
Turkey. Barzani stressed the need for amnesty and Ralston
described initial discussion of amnesty in Turkey, but said
the Turkish election in May could preclude any conclusion
during the campaign period. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) U.S. Special Envoy for Countering the PKK Gen. (r)
Joseph Ralston met Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
President Massoud Barzani in Salah al Din, Erbil, on January
29 on a one-day trip to northern Iraq during which he also
visited Makhmour refugee camp. Kurdish participants in the
meeting and luncheon included: Massoud Barzani (KDP),KRG
Vice-President Kosrat Rasool (PUK),KRG-KDP Minister of
Interior Karim Sinjari, KRG Deputy Prime Minister Omar Fatah
(PUK),and KRG-KDP Minister of Peshmerga Za,im Ali.
American participants included Ralston with a Department of
State and U.S. military delegation, U.S. Regional
Coordinator, and RRT PolOff.
--------------
Makhmour
--------------
3. (C) Ralston thanked Barzani and Sinjari for steps taken
to restore civilian status to Makhmour refugee camp and said
the UNHCR census of residents provides a basis for discussion
of voluntary return of these Turkish Kurds to their homes in
southeastern Turkey. After seeing it with his own eyes, he
said, he could tell Turkish authorities that the Iraqi
Security Forces (ISF) conducted a professional operation in
restoring the refugee camp to civilian status.
4. (SBU) Ralston said he would tell the Turks that the many
young people in Makhmour camp need the positive goal of
return to Turkey, integration, and jobs, or they may turn to
the PKK for excitement and meaning. It is to Turkey,s
advantage, he pointed out, to have these young people settled
back in Turkey.
--------------
Ceasefire
--------------
5. (C) Ralston said PKK leaders in the Iraqi Kurdistan
Region may still be involved in planning operations inside
Turkey. He called on the KRG to get the PKK to continue its
declared ceasefire through the spring, resisting the
traditional return to attacks during the spring snow melt and
the March 21 Kurdish holiday of Newroz. Barzani protested
that the PKK cease-fire is not due to winter but is because
the KRG and Government of Iraq asked the PKK to stop attacks.
6. (C) Barzani assured Ralston that the KRG has great
influence on the PKK leadership and can maintain the
ceasefire. He said that if Turkey does not attack PKK areas,
the PKK will not break its ceasefire. However, he said,
there are small splinter groups that may skirmish with
Turkish forces but that is a different issue.
--------------
No Military Solution
--------------
7. (C) Barzani said Turkey knows a military solution will
not succeed, but the KRG sees no signs that Turkey is working
on a peaceful solution. He stated that the PKK wants to be
part of the political process. Ralston told Barzani he
agreed that there would be catastrophic consequences if
Turkey were to invade the northern Iraq to attack the PKK,
with ramifications for Iran and other important regional
issues. He said he would make the case to the Turkish
government that no military solution will be successful.
8. (C) Kosrat Rasool said Turkey would not invade northern
Iraq without a &green light from the Americans8 and such an
invasion would make conditions worse for the U.S. in Iraq.
He said the Kurds consider themselves to be &strategic
allies8 of the U.S., but the KRG also has to consider its
own &national interest.8 Rasool accused some Turkish
military commanders and PKK leaders of preferring conflict
rather than a peaceful solution. Ralston responded that he
BAGHDAD 00000592 002 OF 003
will make it clear than an attack would not be a wise move
for Turkey, but that all parties need to find a political
solution.
--------------
An Increase in Terrorism?
--------------
9. (C) Rasool told Ralston that Syria and Iran have ceased
support for the PKK but warned that a Turkish attack could
reconnect the PKK with those sources of funding and support.
Omar Fatah said Turkish military action on Iraqi soil against
the PKK would destabilize Iraq and enhance terrorism in the
region as a whole by encouraging PKK affiliation with
transnational terrorist organizations. The Iraqi government,
he warned, cannot handle more pressure.
--------------
KRG Reactions to Turkish ) PKK Clashes
--------------
10. (C) If Turkey attacks the PKK, Barzani said, the KRG
will not join Turkey against the PKK. He stated that if a
peaceful and democratic solution is offered and the PKK
refuses, then a Turkish military intervention will ¬ be
much of a problem for us, because the PKK will lose popular
support.8 In that case, he said, the Turks know where the
PKK is in the mountains but the Turks must do it by
themselves, without KRG support. Rasool told Ralston that
both the PUK and KDP had fought the PKK.
11. (C) Comment: Barzani,s statement is consistent with
earlier comments that the KRG would stay neutral in a
conflict between Turkey and the PKK if the PKK openly broke
the KRG-brokered cease-fire. However, the neutrality arises
more from resistance to renewing conflict between the KRG
parties and the PKK than from KRG agreement with Turkish
military action. End Comment.
--------------
A Political Solution
--------------
12. (C) Barzani reported a significant movement among PKK
leaders toward participation in a democratic process. He
said that a Turkish effort to resolve Kurdish concerns inside
Turkey would effectively undermine support for the PKK,
especially if the PKK is allowed a role in the political
process. Ralston agreed that there are steps Turkey must
take other than military action. He commented that Turkish
politicians are beginning to discuss some form of amnesty.
However, during the Turkish election year it is difficult for
politicians to take this difficult position openly.
13. (C) Barzani called on the Turkish government to look at
its policies toward Kurds within Turkey, saying that if the
&existential denials8 by Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria of
Kurdish national identity had been effective, Kurdish
identity would already be lost. He said Turkey has room to
revise its policies and thereby gain Kurdish support, without
any security risk, because Kurds in Turkey seek neither
partition nor secession. He stressed that neither compulsory
unity nor compulsory partition can be successful. Any sign
of Turkish flexibility would cost the PKK significant
grass-roots support, and Turkish acceptance of a Kurdish
nation within Turkey would do much to resolve the conflict,
he concluded.
--------------
Relations Between Turkey and the KRG
--------------
14. (C) Ralston pointed out that the economic growth and
political stability of the KRG would be jeopardized by
military conflict with Turkey, and it is not to the KRG,s
advantage to risk this by allowing a small group of radicals
to use Iraqi territory.
15. (C) Rasool noted that Turkey is an important country in
the region and a neighbor, and both the KRG and Turkey are
allies of the U.S. He noted that the KRG and Turkey cannot
change their geographical locations, and so they should solve
conflicts by meetings rather than military action. Barzani
said Turkish trade and investment amounts to one billion U.S.
dollars in the KRG and there is room to double this amount.
He stressed that Turkey and Iraqi Kurds are &neighbors and
friends,8 and the KRG has no bad intentions toward Turkey
but rather wants good relations between the government of
Turkey and the KRG.
--------------
Kirkuk
BAGHDAD 00000592 003 OF 003
--------------
16. (C) Rasool accused Turkey of mixing the issues of the
PKK and Kirkuk, and he said Turkey has no voice in the
internal Iraqi issue of Kirkuk,s future. Barzani added that
control of Kirkuk will be determined constitutionally.
Regional Coordinator confirmed that there are mechanisms in
the Iraqi constitution for dealing with the issue of Kirkuk.
Ralston said he will urge Turkey to avoid media comment on
Kirkuk but rather to talk to the Iraqi government and the KRG.
17. (U) Special Envoy Ralston did not have an opportunity to
clear this cable before departing Erbil.
KHALILZAD
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREF MPREL PTER TU IZ
SUBJECT: SPECIAL ENVOY RALSTON VISITS MAKHMOUR, TALKS WITH
KRG PRESIDENT BARZANI
Classified by: RRT Erbil Leader James Yellin, reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)
This is a Regional Reconstruction Team Erbil cable.
1. (C) SUMMARY: KRG President Barzani told Special Envoy
Ralston that settling the PKK problem requires a political
solution from Turkey, but that the KDP and PUK are also
anxious to see this source of conflict between Turkey and the
KRG resolved. Ralston informed Barzani and other KRG
officials that Iraqi and UNHCR steps in Makhmour refugee camp
form the basis for discussion of refugee voluntary returns to
Turkey. Barzani stressed the need for amnesty and Ralston
described initial discussion of amnesty in Turkey, but said
the Turkish election in May could preclude any conclusion
during the campaign period. END SUMMARY.
2. (SBU) U.S. Special Envoy for Countering the PKK Gen. (r)
Joseph Ralston met Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
President Massoud Barzani in Salah al Din, Erbil, on January
29 on a one-day trip to northern Iraq during which he also
visited Makhmour refugee camp. Kurdish participants in the
meeting and luncheon included: Massoud Barzani (KDP),KRG
Vice-President Kosrat Rasool (PUK),KRG-KDP Minister of
Interior Karim Sinjari, KRG Deputy Prime Minister Omar Fatah
(PUK),and KRG-KDP Minister of Peshmerga Za,im Ali.
American participants included Ralston with a Department of
State and U.S. military delegation, U.S. Regional
Coordinator, and RRT PolOff.
--------------
Makhmour
--------------
3. (C) Ralston thanked Barzani and Sinjari for steps taken
to restore civilian status to Makhmour refugee camp and said
the UNHCR census of residents provides a basis for discussion
of voluntary return of these Turkish Kurds to their homes in
southeastern Turkey. After seeing it with his own eyes, he
said, he could tell Turkish authorities that the Iraqi
Security Forces (ISF) conducted a professional operation in
restoring the refugee camp to civilian status.
4. (SBU) Ralston said he would tell the Turks that the many
young people in Makhmour camp need the positive goal of
return to Turkey, integration, and jobs, or they may turn to
the PKK for excitement and meaning. It is to Turkey,s
advantage, he pointed out, to have these young people settled
back in Turkey.
--------------
Ceasefire
--------------
5. (C) Ralston said PKK leaders in the Iraqi Kurdistan
Region may still be involved in planning operations inside
Turkey. He called on the KRG to get the PKK to continue its
declared ceasefire through the spring, resisting the
traditional return to attacks during the spring snow melt and
the March 21 Kurdish holiday of Newroz. Barzani protested
that the PKK cease-fire is not due to winter but is because
the KRG and Government of Iraq asked the PKK to stop attacks.
6. (C) Barzani assured Ralston that the KRG has great
influence on the PKK leadership and can maintain the
ceasefire. He said that if Turkey does not attack PKK areas,
the PKK will not break its ceasefire. However, he said,
there are small splinter groups that may skirmish with
Turkish forces but that is a different issue.
--------------
No Military Solution
--------------
7. (C) Barzani said Turkey knows a military solution will
not succeed, but the KRG sees no signs that Turkey is working
on a peaceful solution. He stated that the PKK wants to be
part of the political process. Ralston told Barzani he
agreed that there would be catastrophic consequences if
Turkey were to invade the northern Iraq to attack the PKK,
with ramifications for Iran and other important regional
issues. He said he would make the case to the Turkish
government that no military solution will be successful.
8. (C) Kosrat Rasool said Turkey would not invade northern
Iraq without a &green light from the Americans8 and such an
invasion would make conditions worse for the U.S. in Iraq.
He said the Kurds consider themselves to be &strategic
allies8 of the U.S., but the KRG also has to consider its
own &national interest.8 Rasool accused some Turkish
military commanders and PKK leaders of preferring conflict
rather than a peaceful solution. Ralston responded that he
BAGHDAD 00000592 002 OF 003
will make it clear than an attack would not be a wise move
for Turkey, but that all parties need to find a political
solution.
--------------
An Increase in Terrorism?
--------------
9. (C) Rasool told Ralston that Syria and Iran have ceased
support for the PKK but warned that a Turkish attack could
reconnect the PKK with those sources of funding and support.
Omar Fatah said Turkish military action on Iraqi soil against
the PKK would destabilize Iraq and enhance terrorism in the
region as a whole by encouraging PKK affiliation with
transnational terrorist organizations. The Iraqi government,
he warned, cannot handle more pressure.
--------------
KRG Reactions to Turkish ) PKK Clashes
--------------
10. (C) If Turkey attacks the PKK, Barzani said, the KRG
will not join Turkey against the PKK. He stated that if a
peaceful and democratic solution is offered and the PKK
refuses, then a Turkish military intervention will ¬ be
much of a problem for us, because the PKK will lose popular
support.8 In that case, he said, the Turks know where the
PKK is in the mountains but the Turks must do it by
themselves, without KRG support. Rasool told Ralston that
both the PUK and KDP had fought the PKK.
11. (C) Comment: Barzani,s statement is consistent with
earlier comments that the KRG would stay neutral in a
conflict between Turkey and the PKK if the PKK openly broke
the KRG-brokered cease-fire. However, the neutrality arises
more from resistance to renewing conflict between the KRG
parties and the PKK than from KRG agreement with Turkish
military action. End Comment.
--------------
A Political Solution
--------------
12. (C) Barzani reported a significant movement among PKK
leaders toward participation in a democratic process. He
said that a Turkish effort to resolve Kurdish concerns inside
Turkey would effectively undermine support for the PKK,
especially if the PKK is allowed a role in the political
process. Ralston agreed that there are steps Turkey must
take other than military action. He commented that Turkish
politicians are beginning to discuss some form of amnesty.
However, during the Turkish election year it is difficult for
politicians to take this difficult position openly.
13. (C) Barzani called on the Turkish government to look at
its policies toward Kurds within Turkey, saying that if the
&existential denials8 by Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria of
Kurdish national identity had been effective, Kurdish
identity would already be lost. He said Turkey has room to
revise its policies and thereby gain Kurdish support, without
any security risk, because Kurds in Turkey seek neither
partition nor secession. He stressed that neither compulsory
unity nor compulsory partition can be successful. Any sign
of Turkish flexibility would cost the PKK significant
grass-roots support, and Turkish acceptance of a Kurdish
nation within Turkey would do much to resolve the conflict,
he concluded.
--------------
Relations Between Turkey and the KRG
--------------
14. (C) Ralston pointed out that the economic growth and
political stability of the KRG would be jeopardized by
military conflict with Turkey, and it is not to the KRG,s
advantage to risk this by allowing a small group of radicals
to use Iraqi territory.
15. (C) Rasool noted that Turkey is an important country in
the region and a neighbor, and both the KRG and Turkey are
allies of the U.S. He noted that the KRG and Turkey cannot
change their geographical locations, and so they should solve
conflicts by meetings rather than military action. Barzani
said Turkish trade and investment amounts to one billion U.S.
dollars in the KRG and there is room to double this amount.
He stressed that Turkey and Iraqi Kurds are &neighbors and
friends,8 and the KRG has no bad intentions toward Turkey
but rather wants good relations between the government of
Turkey and the KRG.
--------------
Kirkuk
BAGHDAD 00000592 003 OF 003
--------------
16. (C) Rasool accused Turkey of mixing the issues of the
PKK and Kirkuk, and he said Turkey has no voice in the
internal Iraqi issue of Kirkuk,s future. Barzani added that
control of Kirkuk will be determined constitutionally.
Regional Coordinator confirmed that there are mechanisms in
the Iraqi constitution for dealing with the issue of Kirkuk.
Ralston said he will urge Turkey to avoid media comment on
Kirkuk but rather to talk to the Iraqi government and the KRG.
17. (U) Special Envoy Ralston did not have an opportunity to
clear this cable before departing Erbil.
KHALILZAD