FORMER DTP MEMBERS HEAR PKK RHETORIC IN MAKHMOUR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001832

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM TU
SUBJECT: FORMER DTP MEMBERS HEAR PKK RHETORIC IN MAKHMOUR

REF: A. ANKARA 1792

B. ANKARA 1755

Classified By: POL Counselor Daniel O'Grady for reasons 1.4(b,d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Six officials who will soon join the Peace
and Democracy Party (BDP),including three MPs from the
former Democratic Society Party (DTP),traveled overland to
Iraq on December 22 to visit the Makhmour refugee camp and
hold meetings with officials from the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG). The visit was conducted just one day after
trilateral meetings (U.S., Iraq, Turkey) including GOT
Interior Minister Atalay, took place in Baghdad. While
Ibrahim Binici, BDP MP from Sanliurfa, said that the
delegation's goal was to assess what the residents of the
camp wanted for the future, the political wing of the
terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said that Atalay's
efforts to close the camp and eliminate the PKK were futile.
The Mahkmour trip was not coordinated with the Government of
Turkey (GOT). Binici stressed that there should be no future
returns from Makhmour unless the GOT moved forward on
democratization. The residents of the camp passed a list of
demands to the MPs to deliver back to Turkey, parroting a
list brought by PKK returnees in October. END SUMMARY.

BDP Delegation Heads to Iraq
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2. (C) Six officials who will soon join the BDP, including
three MPs from the former DTP, traveled overland to Iraq on
December 22 to visit and assess the Makhmour refugee camp and
hold meetings with officials from the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG),just one day after the trilateral meetings
(U.S., Iraq, Turkey) which included Minister of Interior
Besir Atalay. They were reportedly met by thousands of
people upon their arrival. Hatice Coban, former DTP central
executive board member, said that they were going to Makhmour
to listen to the people, ask why they went to Makhmour, and
find out their expectations if they were to return to Turkey.
Ibrahim Binici, BDP MP from Sanliurfa, told us before the
trip that no further camp members should return to Turkey
until democratization efforts moved forward, including
changing the Constitution. Binici stressed that the
delegation had not coordinated their trip with the GOT in
advance and that they did not support the government's
National Unity Project -- they were simply going to talk to
the residents and report back.


3. (SBU) The KCK, the political wing of the PKK, issued a
statement stressing that Minister of Interior Atalay's
attempts to close the camp and eliminate the PKK were futile.
The KCK complained that the GOT was conducting the
trilateral meetings to eliminate the "Kurdistan Freedom
Movement" and would not be successful. It is noteworthy that
the KCK remained silent about the DTP/BDP delegation's visit.

Camp Residents Echo PKK Demands
--------------


4. (SBU) According to press reports, the Makhmour Camp
"Democratic People's Assembly" presented a list of ten
prerequisites to return to Turkey to the delegation,
parroting the demands brought by the PKK returnees in
October. They were:

(Begin Embassy translation)

-- The isolation of the Kurdish People's Leader (Abdullah)
Ocalan should end. His path must be cleared and his road map
must be made public for achieving genuine democratization and
lasting social peace.
-- Military operations must end and clashes must cease.
-- The path for finding a peaceful and democratic solution to
the Kurdish issue should ne cleared.
-- Dialogue and negotiation must be undertaken by taking the
free will of the Kurdish people into account. (Note: The
term "the free will of the Kurdish people" is a well-known
reference to Abdullah Ocalan, and this wording means he
should be used as an interlocutor with the Kurds. End note.)

ANKARA 00001832 002 OF 002


-- The Kurdish identity must be taken under Constitutional
guarantees and the Kurds must be free and equal citizens.
-- Kurdish should be used and taught.
-- We should be able to give our children Kurdish names and
educate them in Kurdish.
-- We should freely develop and protect our Kurdish history,
culture, arts and literature.
-- The village guard system must be abolished so that towns
and villages in Kurdistan can live without the oppression of
special teams, village guards, and the police.
-- A Kurdish Citizens of the Republic of Turkey, we have been
settled in eight camps. Following the resolution of the
Kurdish issue in a democratic and peaceful way, we should be
able to live freely in the Kurdish regions of Turkey in the
mass settlements that will be built and we should be able to
provide our own security. Our return should be under the
control of the UN.

(End Embassy Translation).

Comment
--------------


5. (C) While a trip by GOT officials to Makhmour (even if
only by officials from a banned party) is a step forward
toward closing the camp, it is clear that the camp leadership
is working hand-in-hand with the PKK, at least rhetorically.
This will only bolster the government's position that
Makhmour is a fertile training ground for PKK members. One
of the ruling Justice and Democracy Party's (AKP) main goals
in the National Unity Project is to close Makhmour and return
the residents to Turkey but this will be difficult without
some concrete steps to guarantee their security and their
rights upon return. The tentative steps taken by the AKP
thus far do not seem to have assuaged the residents' fears.
SILLIMAN

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