TURKEY: IRAQ SPECIAL REP. OZCELIK LOOKS AT NEXT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000901 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EUR/SE AND NEA/I E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2018 TAGS: PREL PTER ECON ENRG TU IZ SUBJECT: TURKEY: IRAQ SPECIAL REP. OZCELIK LOOKS AT NEXT STEPS Classified By: Ambassador Ross Wilson for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Turkish MFA Special Representative for Iraq Murat Ozcelik plans to return to Baghdad May 13 to resume consultations with the GOI and has the green light from President Gul and the Turkish military to meet with Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) president Massoud Barzani in Baghdad. The GOT hopes to have its consulate in Basra up and running by this summer; the new Consul General will accompany Ozcelik on this visit. Other high-level visits of GOT officials to Baghdad on the horizon include State Minister for Foreign Trade Tuzmen on May 17-18 and MFA U/S Apakan on May 24. A proposed visit by PM Erdogan to kick-off the bilateral oversight commission may occur in June if the GOT and GOI can agree on its specifics. The GOT bureaucracy continues to seek consensus on how to come to agreement with Iraq on their bilateral counterterrorism agreement and the issue of "hot pursuit." A GOT interagency meeting is planned on the issue in the coming days. END SUMMARY Turkey-Iraq Engagement Continues... -------------- ¶2. (C) Ozcelik told Ambassador May 9 he received authorization from President Gul to meet with KRG President Massoud Barzani in Baghdad during his next visit to Iraq. Ozcelik said he was struck that the Turkish General Staff (TGS) did not object to the meeting, perhaps because of the Baghdad venue. Whether the meeting occurs next week or at some point in the future, Ozcelik underscored the importance the GOT places on the KRG taking more concrete steps to counter the PKK presence in northern Iraq. Ambassador noted that was a message Ambassador Crocker was taking to Barzani. ¶3. (C) The only negative aspect of Ozcelik's meeting with Nechirvan Barzani had been the latter's denial that 200 PKK operatives could have entered northern Iraq through Erbil or Suleymaniyah airports to participate in the PKK's annual congress. Ozcelik said the response diminished his credibility. Nevertheless, the GOT was moving forward in response to Nechirvan's request for specific information on those individuals, with Turkish National Intelligence Office (TNIO) Chief Emre Taner sending officials to Erbil to follow-up on Barzani's offer to work on interdiction efforts. Ambassador noted we had received contradictory information that the PKK influx may have entered Iraq via Iran. ¶4. (C) Ozcelik said he will take with him to Baghdad Turkey's newly appointed Consul General in Basra, Ahmet Yazal, for meetings next week, accompanied by representatives of construction firms that will be responsible for establishing Turkey's physical presence in Basra. Ozcelik noted that HMG Iraq Coordinator Frank Baker had offered a plot within the airport compound on which the GOT can erect a temporary consulate using pre-fabricated trailer-like structures, though a hardened building might still be made available as well. The Turks hope to have the consulate up and running by July. They also hope to establish a Turkey-Iraq-Kuwait trilateral working group to work on Turkey's proposed industrial development zone near Basra, but the GOT awaits action by PM Maliki to name foreign ministry and customs representatives to that body. ¶5. (C) Other visits of high-level GOT officials to Iraq are on the horizon, including a possible May 17-18 visit by State Minister for Foreign Trade Tuzmen and a May 24 visit by MFA U/S Apakan. PM Erdogan hopes to travel to Baghdad before the end of June to kick-off the bilateral oversight commission. Ozcelik said the GOT awaits word from PM Maliki on which ministers he wants to participate in the initial meeting of the commission so the Turks can coordinate within their own bureaucracy to get the right people there. The Turks want to include their energy minister, but Maliki noted the GOI has three ministers with responsibility for parts of the Turk's ANKARA 00000901 002 OF 003 turf. Once Ankara receives clarification from Maliki's office on that, they will proceed with planning. President Gul has made clear he, too, would like to travel to Baghdad, once these other visits have taken place. ¶6. (C) While in Baghdad, Ozcelik intends to meet with UNSRSG de Mistura to talk about plans for upcoming local elections and de Mistura's efforts on the Article 140 process. Ozcelik will also seek to engage with Iraqi Turkmen representatives to continue to push them to end their boycott of the Kirkuk Provincial Assembly. He noted his impression that they are beginning to understand and appreciate the damage their boycott has had on Turkmen interests. He also warned, however, the Turkmen would not support de Mistura's process in resolving Article 140-related internal boundary disputes if the end result leaves them as a minority in a Kurdish-controlled area. In that regard, he underscored the importance of adhering to the 32/32/32/4 formula for representation in Kirkuk governing structures. ...Including on Mil-Mil Ties -------------- ¶7. (C) Ambassador asked where negotiations on a Turkey-Iraq bilateral defense agreement stand. Ozcelik was aware that DCHODs Saygun and Abbadi had signed a joint declaration of principles during the latter's recent visit. He promised to look into it. He said that agreement was achieved on the bilateral counterterrorism pact during Abbadi's recent visit. There will be a GOT interagency meeting in the coming days to chart a way forward in hopes of achieving agreement with Iraq on the outstanding issues surrounding Article 4 on "hot pursuit." Ozcelik thought one way to achieve that might be for Iraq and Turkey to agree to resolve the hot pursuit issue in military-to-military channels. Ambassador also urged Ozcelik to press for Turkish notification to GOI officials of counter-PKK military action in northern Iraq. This would help foster mutual trust that Ozcelik seeks to build and underpin Iraqi sovereignty that Turkey supports. Ozcelik noted that MFA generally finds out about counter-PKK operations well after the fact but agreed that notification to Iraq would be valuable and promised to follow-up. ¶8. (C) Ambassador provided a brief read-out of the recent visit of Iraqi Shiite politicians to Iran regarding Iranian support for Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) and its negative impact on Iraq. Ambassador urged the GOT also to underscore this message to Tehran in its interaction with Iranian officials. Hope to Avoid Mistakes on Hydrocarbons -------------- ¶9. (C) Ozcelik said he had in recent days given the political approval for the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) to move ahead on its partnership deal with Shell. Ozcelik expressed concern, however, about moving ahead on deals before a national hydrocarbons law has been agreed to in Baghdad, for fear of creating facts on the ground that will continue to cause KRG officials to hold out on signing a deal. At the same time, Turkey does not want to get caught with no involvement in Iraq's energy sector as other nations' companies strike deals. He expressed interest in the USG's assessment of the situation, noting that "Turkey really does not want to make a mistake on this right now." Consultations with USG Officials -------------- ¶10. (C) Ozcelik asked if it would be possible for him to meet with Amb. Crocker and Amb. Satterfield at some point during his May 13-16/17 trip to Baghdad to confer on these and other issues. We said we would convey the request and the Turkish embassy in Baghdad will follow-up. ANKARA 00000901 003 OF 003 Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey WILSON