TURKEY/IRAQ: DIPLOMACY MUST COME FIRST

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000483 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EUR/SE AND NEA/I E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2018 TAGS: PREL PTER TU IZ SUBJECT: TURKEY/IRAQ: DIPLOMACY MUST COME FIRST REF: ANKARA 461 Classified By: Ambassador Ross Wilson for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (S) SUMMARY: Senior GOT officials are committed to following through with efforts to transform Turkey's relationship with Iraq and set a new course focused principally on diplomacy. Jalal Talabani's successful March 7-8 visit to Ankara, the first by a democratically elected Iraqi head of state, has bolstered long-term efforts by some within the GOT to engage with Iraqi Kurds and, more specifically, Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) leaders. Prospects for meetings involving KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani and GOT officials, including newly appointed GOT Iraq Coordinator Murat Ozcelik and perhaps PM foreign policy advisor Ahmet Davutoglu, are increasingly bright. Discussions about a possible meeting soon in Baghdad are ongoing. Such talks would represent the beginning of what Ozcelik describes as a confidence-building process, which he hopes will lead to fundamental change for the better in GOT-KRG relations, and the broader Turkey-Iraq relationship. END SUMMARY ¶2. (S) Newly appointed GOT Iraq Coordinator Murat Ozcelik told Ambassador the Talabani visit was very positive. From now on, "diplomacy must come first." Referring to ongoing discussions about a possible meeting with Nechirvan Barzani that could also include Davutoglu, Ozcelik said he plans to travel soon to Baghdad, where he hopes the Barzani meeting may occur, if not in Erbil. Exchanges that Turkish National Intelligence Chief Emre Taner has had with Massoud Barzani and Talabani have signaled to GOT officials that the KRG is willing to take additional steps to counter the PKK in northern Iraq. One item apparently on the agenda is securing a genuine PKK cease-fire. Ozcelik stressed that initial talks will have to be secret until both sides feel comfortable with progress made and that they have something positive to announce. ¶3. (S) Ozcelik also referred to internal discussions within the GOT on how to proceed on non-military measures to counter the PKK. He noted Deputy PM Cemil Cicek (a hard-line nationalist who chairs the GOT's counter-terrorism board) had indicated that GOT leaders want to try to use the existing repentance law (Article 221 of the Turkish Penal Code) to attract PKK elements not yet involved in violence down from the mountains. To make the effort work where past attempts have failed, Cicek said the GOT needs to make clear it is serious about reintegrating former fighters. To avoid implementation problems of the past, Ozcelik said the GOT is considering training a special group of prosecutors to send to the southeast, where returning fighters would be processed, to ensure the repentance law is implemented using as broad an interpretation as possible. ¶4. (C) Regarding press reports of a Turkish-Iraq bilateral high level political council headed by the PM or FM, Ozcelik said Talabani had suggested a mechanism through which senior political leaders could keep an eye on progress made by ministries on bilateral cooperative efforts. Turkey had agreed in principle, though modalities remain to be determined. Resuming the IZ-TU-US trilateral process or establishing an IZ-KRG-TU-US quadrilateral process to facilitate cooperation against the PKK would not, Ozcelik said, be a priority for Turkey. The GOT was grateful for U.S. assistance in helping to facilitate dialogue between Turkey and Iraq, and especially in helping to ensure that Talabani "understood Turkey's position and knew well what was important." As a result of the Talabani visit, the Iraq-Turkey relationship has reached a point where bilateral dialogue should proceed. Once the ice with KRG officials is broken, it will become "only natural for an Iraqi delegation to include regional (i.e., KRG) representatives," according to Ozcelk. ANKARA 00000483 002 OF 002 ¶5. (C) Ambassador referred to the recent visit of U.S. and UN officials to Makhmour Refugee Camp. He noted U.S. officials in Baghdad would be briefing Turkish Ambassador Kanbay on their findings. He asked that the GOT accept FM Zebari's invitation to participate in a conference to discuss resuming negotiations on closing down the camp. Ozcelik indicated it is not an issue he had followed closely; Amb. Hayati Guven, outgoing MFA DG for Security Affairs, has the lead. Ozcelik acknowledged the GOT owes Zebari a response but indicated the larger issue of establishing a dialogue with the KRG and deepening cooperation with Iraq on the PKK issue were more important immediate next steps. If successful, this would allow for issues like Makhmour to be solved more easily. Ambassador pitched the closure of Makhmour and successful repatriation of over 10,000 Turkish citizens as a key signal to PKK elements that DPM Cicek wants to draw away from the fight by means of the repentance law. ¶6. (C) Ozcelik mentioned briefly the March 6 visit of UNSRSG Steffan di Mistura to Ankara, during which the Special Rep. explained his attempt to establish a process through which Iraq's internal boundary disputes could be peacefully resolved. The GOT is encouraged by di Mistura's efforts. With regard to ongoing negotiations to convince Iraqi Turkmen representatives to return to the Kirkuk Provincial Council, we discussed continued difficulties posed by Ali Mahdi of the Turkmen Bloc. We asked Ozcelik to weigh in with Bloc members, especially Mahdi, to urge that they engage constructively in talks with the Kurdish Kirkuk Brotherhood List. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON