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...
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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

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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
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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.


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