PRT NINEWA: TURKMAN POLITICAL FIGURE ASSASSINATED

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003116 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2019 TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL ASEC KDEM IZ TU SUBJECT: PRT NINEWA: TURKMAN POLITICAL FIGURE ASSASSINATED IN MOSUL Classified By: Classified by Ninewa PRT Leader W. Patrick Murphy: Reaso ns 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. This is a Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) message. ¶2. (C) Summary. The November 22 assassination in Mosul of Yauz Ahmad Efendi, head of Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) party operations in Ninewa, shocked the province's large Turkmen community, but sparked little public backlash. Ninewa's Turkmen community, the target of multiple terrorist attacks in 2009, remains in mourning, but quick condemnation from local officials and a trip to Mosul by Turkey's Ambassador to Iraq appeared to dampen tensions. Local observers, including Governor Alnujaifi, speculate that unknown assailants targeted Efendi for political retribution, given his alignment with the anti-Kurd, Arab Sunni-dominated al-Hadba Gathering (AHG). Regardless of motive, the attack highlights Ninewa's precarious security situation in the lead-up the 2010 election, sending yet another chilling message to minority and political leaders alike: public life remains a risky business in Ninewa Province. YAUZ AHMAD EFENDI, NINEWA BORN AND BRED, GUNNED DOWN -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Born in the late 1950s to the prominent Efendi tribe in the central Ninewa city of Tal Afar, home to the province's largest Turkmen population, Yauz Ahmad Efendi became a well-known personality while rising through the ranks of Iraq's security services before the ITF named him head of Ninewa party operations in 2006. On November 22, three unknown gunmen knocked on the door of his Mosul home, reportedly seeking transport to Turkey for a medical patient, and shot him dead in front of his son. Efendi's death brought quick condemnation from Ninewa's political leadership and condolences to the Turkmen community from Turkey,s Foreign Minister. The day following the attack, the Turkish Ambassador to Iraq made an office call on Ninewa,s governor and received Turkmen community leaders at his consulate in Mosul. NINEWA POLITICAL FIGURE -------------- ¶4. (C) Aligned with AHG through shared anti-KRG sentiments and a close, mutual friend of Ninewa Governor Alnujaifi, Efendi recently made anti-Kurdish statements in the local press, including a public address two days prior to his death. A vocal advocate for Ninewa's diverse minority communities, including facilitating medical evacuations of terrorist attack victims to Turkey, Efendi appeared poised to run for the 2010 Iraqi national election. Some Mosul residents speculate, however, that his public prominence and anti-Kurd statements, as well as his connections to Turkey, made him a prime target for assassination. Governor Alnujaifi told PRT TL on November that Efendi's killing is under investigation, but preliminary results indicate a likely political motive behind the attack. COMMENT: PUBLIC LIFE IN NINEWA COMES WITH A PRICE -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Local media reports speculate there is a connection between Efendi's death and the near-simultaneous killing in Mosul on November 22 of a retired municipality worker, a leading member of the minority Shabak community. Regardless of motive, the attacks highlight Ninewa's precarious security situation in the lead-up the 2010 election. A series of significant car bombings and suicide vest attacks throughout mid-2009 targeted the province's most vulnerable populations, the minority communities who lie trapped, literally and figuratively, between northern Iraq,s polarized Arab and Kurd regions. Efendi's killing sent yet another chilling message to minority and political leaders alike: public life Qmessage to minority and political leaders alike: public life remains a risky business in Ninewa Province. FORD