IRAQ-TURKEY-U.S. SECURITY DIALOGUE: PLANNING FOR

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001752 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2029 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR IZ TU SUBJECT: IRAQ-TURKEY-U.S. SECURITY DIALOGUE: PLANNING FOR JULY MINISTERIAL IN TURKEY REF: A. 08 BAGHDAD 03710 ¶B. BAGHDAD 1018 ¶C. BAGHDAD 150 ¶D. BAGHDAD 561 ¶E. BAGHDAD 1497 ¶F. BAGHDAD 1339 Classified By: Acting Political-Military Counselor Walter S. Reid for r easons 1.4 (b) and (d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (S) In mid-July (date TBD),the third Ministerial level meeting of the Iraq-Turkey-U.S. Security Dialogue will take place in Istanbul. The Trilateral Committee is divided into three parts: the Ministerial Level Committee, the Intermediate Subcommittee, and the Working Group. The main successes of the committee, to date, include the establishment of a trilateral intelligence sharing office in Erbil, Iraq; the closure of PCDK offices throughout Iraq; the banning of the Hiwa Party from participating in the KRG elections in July; and the sharing of real intelligence between the GOI and the GOT to combat the PKK in Iraq. At the Ministerial level meeting in Istanbul, we hope to see a continuation of the positive momentum in the GOI-GOT relationship and the beginning of a dialogue on the issue of the Makhmour Refugee Camp. While we defer to Embassy Ankara on this point, we believe that it is important to insulate the U.S.-Turkish bilateral relationship from the events and developments of the trilateral process. End summary. -------------- MINISTERIAL LEVEL MEETINGS -------------- ¶2. (S) The first Ministerial level meeting of the Iraq-Turkey-U.S. Security Dialogue (ITUSD) took place on November 19, 2008 (Ref A). It was followed by the second Ministerial level meeting on April 11, 2009 (Ref B). The primary result of the first ministerial was a decision to form a trilateral committee to be based in Baghdad to share intelligence and discuss operational coordination in the fight against the PKK in Iraq. At the second Ministerial meeting, on April 11, delegates agreed to establish a tripartite intelligence sharing cell in Erbil. The GOI and the GOT also exchanged statements on the need for cooperation on the Makhmour refugee camp. The Turkish delegation said that it would "study the issue in Ankara." At the Ministerial meeting, the GOI committed publicly to banning the PKK front organization PCDK from engaging in political activity in Iraq. -------------- �A;INTERMEDIATE LEVEL SUBCOMMITTEE -------------- ¶3. (C) The Intermediate Subcommittee (SC) held its initial meeting on January 15, 2009 (Ref C) where Iraqi Deputy Minister of State for National Security Affairs Tariq Baldawi co-chaired the Iraqi delegation, with KRG Major General Delshad Najeeb Othman representing Erbil. Turkish General Staff Deputy J3 (Operations) Major General Erdal Ozturk flew down to Baghdad with a large interagency delegation that included representatives from the ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs. MNF-I RDML Lothrop "Buzz" Little and Acting Pol-Mil Counselor led the U.S. team. The second Subcommittee meeting took place February 26 (Ref D). -------------- THE WORKING GROUP -------------- ¶4. (S) The trilat Working Group has met on a weekly or biweekly basis since November 2008. It is at the Working Group level where the GOI -- after a very slow and inauspicious beginning - actually started to share intelligence on the PKK with the GOT. Through the work of all the levels of the ITUSD, a Trilateral Intelligence Qall the levels of the ITUSD, a Trilateral Intelligence Sharing Office (TISO) was established in Erbil Iraq, (Ref E) on June 1. The TISO consists of two intelligence officers each from Iraq, Turkey and the United States. The representatives live and work on a KRG-owned military base (Camp Zaytun). In part, also through the efforts of the committees, the GOI took steps to ban the Hiwa Party from participating in the KRG elections scheduled for July 25, ¶2009. The Hiwa Party was seen as a front for the PCDK, and, BAGHDAD 00001752 002 OF 002 therefore, for the PKK. ¶5. (S) The trilat Working Group met again on June 25. Members discussed recent visits to the TISO, of BG Legere (CJ-2),RDML Little, and DepPolMilCouns on two separate occasions. Overall, the visitors and members of the committee were pleased with the results, but RDML Little cautioned them not to become complacent with the short-term victory, but keep working hard on perfecting the information exchange. ¶6. (S) While the date of the July 2009 ministerial is yet to be determined, the window is July 16-20, still in Istanbul. The working group set the agenda as follows: - Accomplishments of the Trilateral Committee - Makhmour Camp - Border Security - The Iraqi-Turkish counter terrorism agreement - Article 4 of this treaty, which contains a point of disagreement -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (S) In preparation for the Ministerial meeting in Istanbul in July, Embassy Baghdad believes the GOI will primarily be interested in seeing something from the GOT on the subject of the Makhmour Refugee Camp. For our part, we want to see the positive momentum that has come from standing up the TISO to continue and to develop. The presence of Turkish, Iraqi, Kurdish and American officers working together has been a strong confidence building measure that we want to see continue going forward. Secondly, we want to facilitate the beginning of a discussion between the GOI and the GOT on the topic of Makhmour (Ref F). Embassy Baghdad understands the imperative to keep the bilateral U.S.-Turkey relationship isolated from the trilateral process. HILL