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