Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ISTANBUL1017
2007-11-28 06:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Istanbul
Cable title:  

IRAQI CG IN ISTANBUL ON IRAQ-TURKEY RELATIONS AND

Tags:  PREL ECON IQ TU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7522
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHIT #1017 3320648
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 280648Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7703
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L ISTANBUL 001017 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2017
TAGS: PREL ECON IQ TU
SUBJECT: IRAQI CG IN ISTANBUL ON IRAQ-TURKEY RELATIONS AND
BUILDING TRUST WITH THE LOCAL IRAQI COMMUNITY

REF: BAGHDAD 3834

Classified By: DPO Sandra Oudkirk; Reason 1.5 (d),

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISTANBUL 001017

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2017
TAGS: PREL ECON IQ TU
SUBJECT: IRAQI CG IN ISTANBUL ON IRAQ-TURKEY RELATIONS AND
BUILDING TRUST WITH THE LOCAL IRAQI COMMUNITY

REF: BAGHDAD 3834

Classified By: DPO Sandra Oudkirk; Reason 1.5 (d),


1. (C) Summary. In a courtesy call on Consulate Istanbul
CG Wiener on November 27, Iraq,s Consul General in Istanbul,
Ambassador Salah Abdulsalam, said his two top priorities here
are to rebuild contacts with the Iraqi community in Turkey
and to strengthen economic, commercial, and political
cooperation with Turkey. End Summary.


2. (C) Iraqi CG Abdulsalam described to CG Wiener on
November 27 the key priorities of the Iraqi consulate in
Istanbul, which was reopened in July 2006. Abdulsalam and
his staff of six diplomats are focusing first on rebuilding
the GOI,s relations with the Iraqi community in Turkey,
which he characterized as being "strained and suspicions"
under Saddam and in the immediate aftermath of Iraq,s
liberation. He claims to have an open-door policy with all
Iraqis in Turkey, has regularized the visa fees and put all
Consulate financial matters under one person,s control to
prevent bribery and graft, and has hired several local Iraqis
fluent in Kurdish, as well as an Iraqi Christian, to assist
Kurdish and Iraqi Christian refugees. Abdulsalam added that
anytime he has a high-level Iraqi delegation of VIP,s
visiting Istanbul -- almost weekly -- he insists they also
take time to meet local resident Iraqis, which he felt was
slowly rebuilding trust.


3. (C) According to Abdulsalam, the Iraqi community in
Turkey is stratified. It includes a significant number of
professionals (e.g., doctors, engineers) at the higher end of
the socio-economic spectrum, but also includes poor and
destitute Iraqis, many of whom came as refugees, and many
more of whom entered Turkey illegally and have asked the
Iraqi consulate for help in securing permission for them to
stay in Turkey, an issue Abdulsalam said he takes a personal
interest in addressing. Asked how large the Iraqi community
here is, he noted that 22,800 Iraqi voted were counted in
Istanbul and other local polling stations during the December
2005 Iraqi legislative elections. Some of those votes, he
admitted, were later discounted, but he believes the Iraqi
community in western Turkey numbers at least in the many
thousands. Abdulsalam speculated that many Iraqi residents
in Turkey, including professionals, would consider returning
to Iraq under more stable and secure conditions, though even
with the recent improvement in security in Iraq, he felt the
situation was not yet stable enough to persuade them to
return.


4. (C) Abdulsalam said strengthening bilateral relations
with Turkey was his other top priority. The recent bilateral
strain over PKK terrorism, he felt, was incrementally
improving. He characterized at least some of the recent
bilateral tension over the PKK as "a political card that the
Turkish military and political parties were playing" for
domestic political effect. But he underscored the GOI,s
commitment to working with Turkey to stop PKK terrorism, and
added that the Kurdish Regional Government also plays an
important role. On that score, he said he was pleased by the
recent visit to Istanbul of a Kurdish party delegation led by
Kurdish Islamic Union Secretary General Salahdin Bayadin
(reftel para 6),who Abdulsalam says met with PM Erdogan,s
foreign policy advisor, Ahmed Davutolglu, in Istanbul.
Abdulsalam said Bayadin was pleased with the meeting, and
speculated that contacts like that between Turkish and
Kurdish officials would have a significant "calming" effect.
Abdulsalam also pointed to Turkey,s willingness to allow
international organizations to hold a growing number of
Iraq-related international seminars and training courses in
Istanbul for Iraqi officials (e.g., judicial training for
Iraqi judges),in lieu of holding such training in Amman or
Cairo. Abdulsalam said he is also working hard to increase
bilateral trade between Turkey and Iraq, especially in the
energy and transportation sectors.


5. (C) CG Weiner thanked Abdulsalam for sharing his views,
and urged him to redouble his diplomatic efforts to help
secure Turkey,s help in stabilizing Iraq, not only in the
fight against PKK terrorism but also through expanded
political, economic, and commercial cooperation.
WIENER