TURKEY: REPORTED FORCED DEPORTATION OF IRANIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001155 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2018 TAGS: PHUM PREF PREL IR IZ SY TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: REPORTED FORCED DEPORTATION OF IRANIAN REFUGEES REF: STATE 46682 Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner, reasons 1.4 (b),(d ) ¶1. (C) Post raised US concerns over reports of forced repatriations by Turkey to Iraq per reftel at various levels of the MFA. Ambassador has done so twice with MFA U/S Ertugrul Apakan. Apakan was initially only slightly aware of the incident from having to approve MFA press guidance and said he would look further into the matter. In a subsequent conversation Apakan said the facts reported to him were quite different from those stated by UNHCR and the U.S. He appreciated our concerns, but saw no reason to challenge his own government's account. ¶2. (C) PolCouns expressed the USG's serious concern over reports of forced repatriation that reportedly led to four drownings (reftel),and requested the GOT's cooperation in bringing to light the facts in a May 25 meeting with Melih Ulueren, MFA Deputy Director General for Asylum and Illegal Migration. Ulueren flatly denied the claims in UNHCR's April 25 press release, and expressed deep frustration with the international attention the press release attracted. Ulueren stated that all the deportees were "illegal migrants," not refugees. UNHCR unilaterally could not recognize persons as refugees; to receive such status, migrants must report to and receive a determination from Turkish authorities. Ulueren maintained Turkish authorities handed over all persons to Iraqi authorities. Turkish officials did not force anyone to cross a dangerous river. ¶4. (C) Ulueren referred to an Interior Ministry memorandum, which described Turkish authorities as having initially detained a total of 77 persons in Edirne, heading toward the Bulgarian border. Of those, 72 were Iraqis and 5 were Iranian. Ulueren claimed Iraqi authorities accepted all 77 into Iraqi territory. He also said there were 10 additional Palestinians (not Syrians, as UNHCR had stated); those persons were not accepted by Iraq and were brought back to Turkey, where they remain. ¶5. (C) Ulueren said the GOT had no information on the specifics of how the people died or if they had died. He suggested the most plausible scenario was that the deportees, whom he described as determined to get to the West, may have tried to re-enter Turkey and, in doing so, may have tried to cross the river. He also insisted that, since no bodies ere ever found, there may have been no drownings. Ulueren said the GOT has no objective information on the alleged drownings and would welcome any additional information to help run to ground the truth of the matter. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON