BAKU HOSTS IRAQI TURKOMEN CONFERENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 001143 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PBTS AJ IZ SUBJECT: BAKU HOSTS IRAQI TURKOMEN CONFERENCE Classified By: Ambassador Anne E. Derse for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) A delegation of Iraqi Turkomen came to Baku September 4-5 to raise awareness about the plight of Turkomen in Iraq. The delegation met with Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov, Presidential Foreign Policy Aide Novruz Mammadov, opposition party representatives, and other Azerbaijani commentators and journalists. The Turkomen delegation included representatives from the Iraqi Turkomen Front -- including deputy chair Anvar Khavid Bayragdar, the Justice Party, the Nationalist Turkomen Society, and a Turkomen television station. The visit included repeated requests for Azerbaijan to strengthen its public support for Iraqi Turkomen against the backdrop of appeals to pan-Turkic solidarity. ¶2. (C) Iraqi Ambassador Ershad Omar Ismail (an ethnic Turkomen) told the Ambassador that representatives from the Iraqi Turkomen Front requested the visit. The representatives approached Ismail, asking for his assistance in organizing the visit. According to Ismail, the Turkomen delegation sought assistance from Azerbaijan in the health and educational sectors, establishment of a Turkomen office in Baku, and more public support from another Turkic country. Civil society activist Novella Jafaroglu confirmed to us that the Turkomen were seeking financial assistance to send Turkomen orphans to Baku for medical treatment, an office in Baku, and enhanced public support. ¶3. (SBU) The visit began with a half-day conference focused on the plight of the Iraqi Turkomen. The Turkomen showed a video produced by a Turkomen television station, then a Turkomen representative delivered a 45-minute speech. The speech appealed to pan-Turkic solidarity, while criticizing U.S. support for the Kurds, which the representative claimed is undermining the Turkomen community's position in Iraq. The Iraqi Ambassador, Turkish DCM, and Azerbaijani MP Ganira Pashayeva (a member of Azerbaijan,s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, who is very active on ethnic minority issues throughout the region) attended the conference, which included approximately 125 attendees. After the conference, Turkomen representatives conducted meetings with a range of government and non-government representatives. ¶4. (C) Comment: Pan-Turkic sentiments traditionally play very well with the Azerbaijani public, and the GOAJ has stepped up its outreach on pan-Turkic events over the last year both to build its international credentials and to win greater support for its position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Separately, the State Committee on Work with Azerbaijanis Living Abroad, which is one instrument for implementing the GOAJ,s interest in pan-Turkic issues, had previously expressed concern about the plight of ethnic Turkomen in Iraq, reporting that increasing numbers of Turkomen were seeking refuge in Azerbaijan. We have not seen any evidence to support this claim, nor was the issue addressed in the delegation,s visit to Baku. DERSE