KIRKUK: IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT CUTS LOOSE MINOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003665 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2018 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL TU IZ SUBJECT: KIRKUK: IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT CUTS LOOSE MINOR TURKMEN PARTIES Classified By: PRT Leader Howard Keegan - reason 1.4 b and d This is a Kirkuk Provincial Reconstruction Team (RRT) cable. ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Leaders of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) have decided to dissolve their coalition with other Turkmen political parties. ITF leaders apparently think the ITF brand is strong enough they can go it alone in the upcoming provincial elections. The main cause of the split was financial ) other parties had little reason to stay with the ITF except for its money, which a top ITF official came close to conceding comes in large part from Ankara. Although the many minor Turkmen parties that joined the coalition buttressed ITF's claim to speak for Iraq's entire Turkmen community, ITF leaders have increasingly chafed at supporting financially parties without significant support. ITF has generally taken a harder line in opposition to the Kurdish parties, so a more prominent role for ITF leaders could make local accommodation more difficult. On the other hand, the smaller Turkmen parties may choose to accept Kurdish financial support in exchange for a softer line, or Arab support for a harder one. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Provincial Council (PC) member Zhala al-Nafitchi (ITF) told us that, just prior to the split in early October, many of the minor parties demanded more funding from the ITF. She added that recent disagreements between the parties also contributed to the split. Ms. al-Nafitchi commented that many minor parties do not have enough money to slate candidates in the upcoming provincial elections; the ITF has 31 candidates. She also expressed concern that Kurdish parties are attempting to &bribe8 minor party leaders for their loyalty. According to Ms. al-Nafitchi, since the ITF is the most popular Turkmen political party in Kirkuk, the minor parties need its support to obtain representation on the PC. ¶3. (C) PC member Hassan Toran (Turkoman Justice Party) indicated that he was not surprised by the dissolution of the ITF coalition. His party prepared in advance for the split and possesses the financial wherewithal to slate candidates for the upcoming elections. He added that his party raised enough money internally to expand its operations to Diyala and Mosul. Toran said the dissolution is in part a result of an upheaval of party coalitions in the Council of Representatives. He thinks it would be beneficial for all Turkmen parties to run together, but estimated that there is only a &40 percent8 chance that they would run together in the upcoming provincial elections. ¶4. (C) Another political party leader, Jamal Schaun (Chairman of Iraqi National Turkmen Party),confirmed the ITF split. He commented that, on the positive side, his party no longer needs to abide by ITF rules. However, on the negative side, the loss of ITF funding puts the party in financial turmoil. He indicated that he only possesses enough money to cover operations such as furniture and rent, and would not have sufficient funds to slate any candidates in the upcoming elections. Mr. Schaun commented that &the ITF thinks they can be successful without other Turkmen parties.8 He added that the other parties will most likely fail without ITF financial support. He indicated that his party had 52,000 members worldwide and 25,000 in Kirkuk Province; only approximately 5,000 of these are active members. He was hopeful that the ITF would regroup and work together for the Turkmen people. ¶5. (C) Muneer Burhan Rasheed al-Qafili (Kirkuk City Council Chairman and Chairman of ITF Elections Commission) told us that no ITF funding &officially8 comes from Ankara. He stated that the majority of their income derives from the ITF Investment Institute and the Institution of Communication and Development. Questioned further, Mr. al-Qafili admitted that these organizations "could" receive funds from Ankara. He defended the practice of taking money from foreign countries, saying that other political parties also do so. He added that the ITF also accepts charity donations from individuals and receives funding from a tourism company in Turkey which focuses on tours of Kirkuk for Turkish intelligence officers. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: The splintering of the ITF probably weakens Turkmen ethnic interests overall, but will especially sideline the minor Turkmen parties seeking greater accommodation with the Kurds and independence from Ankara. This could have been one desired motive of the separation ) the ITF attempting to cow other Turkmen into accepting a hard line. If the ITF chooses to take the smaller parties back, they likely will make demands that result in more confrontational bloc policies. The barely-solvent small parties are likely to receive overtures from the dominant Kurdish parties, which could end their financial woes but whose rule in Kirkuk the Turkmen population generally opposes, or from the emerging Arab Unity Bloc, which contains former insurgency supporters who make the Turkmen nervous but which shares the goal of countering Kurdish hegemony. END COMMENT. CROCKER