VZCZCXRO5719
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0067/01 0791849
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 201849Z MAR 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0571
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0535
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0039
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0599

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000067 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, NCT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/20/2016 
TAGS: PINR PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: TURCOMAN FRUSTRATION MOUNTS IN KIRKUK 
 
 
KIRKUK 00000067  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY:  Michael Oreste, Regional Coordinator (Acting), 
REO Kirkuk, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary.  The Turcoman are frustrated with the Kurds' 
domination of Kirkuk politics.  An Iraqi Turcoman Front (ITF) 
leader warned that the Turcoman and Arabs might unite against 
Kurdish injustices.  The Turcoman reject the national 
Normalization Committee on Kirkuk and believe that the IPCC is 
not being run efficiently.  End Summary. 
 
Turcoman Frustrated by the Tide of Events 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  IAPOs met with Kirkuk provincial councilman and member 
of the ITF Hasan Turan to discuss issues of concern to the 
Turcoman community in Kirkuk.  Turan said the security situation 
in Kirkuk had deteriorated in the last two to three months - 
especially for the Turcoman, who do not have a militia.  Turan 
was angered by the way the Kurdish parties have initiated strong 
propaganda against the ITF.  The ITF seeks to postpone the 
referendum until after 2007. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Turan said the ITF was lobbying Baghdad to change the 
process of implementing Article 58 or at least postpone the 
referendum.  He was confident that the majority of Kirkuk 
residents sided with the Turcoman.  He argued that although the 
voting results of the last election indicated that the Kurds 
gained 53 percent of the Kirkuk vote, the Kurds manipulated 
their numbers by 20 to 30 percent. 
 
¶4.  (C)  According to Turan, the main problem of Kirkuk politics 
was the Kurds' domination of key provincial decisions.  He said 
that all three ethnicities had a legitimate claim to Kirkuk. 
Turan warned that if one group tried to force its policies 
(read: Kurds), the other two groups would bring about its fall. 
(Comment: Unfortunately for the Arabs and Turcoman, an unlikely 
prospect. End Comment)  He warned that the Turcoman and Arabs 
were considering uniting against the Kurds because the two 
groups faced the same Kurdish injustices.  Turan noted that 
while the Kurds seemed sincere in their language to cooperate 
with the other ethnicities, their actions portrayed something 
different.  Turan complained that when the U.S. intervenes on 
the Kirkuk problem, it benefits the Kurds. 
 
TURCOMAN REJECT NATIONAL NORMALIZATION COMMITTEE 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5.  (C)  Turan told us the ITF did not recognize the national 
committee on the Normalization of Kirkuk - led by Hamid al-Musa, 
Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) Secretary General - for three 
reasons: first, the committee was formed by Ayad Allawi's 
government instead of the Transitional National Assembly, which 
was the constituted legislative body legally authorized to 
create such a committee; second, the ITF had very poor relations 
with the ICP, stating that ICP members slaughtered many Turcoman 
in 1959; third, ITF members believed Musa sided with the Kurds 
because ITF members on occasion have heard Musa refer to Kirkuk 
as part of the KRG. 
 
¶6.  (C)  The ITF has met with top political figures in Baghdad - 
including Salih al-Mutlaq, Adnan al-Dulaymi, Abd al-Aziz 
al-Hakim, and Jalal Talabani - to request assistance in 
reforming the Kirkuk Normalization Committee.  Turan argued that 
the majority of Iraqi leaders supported the Turcoman's stance on 
Kirkuk.  For example, he claimed that Mutlaq and Dulaymi 
supported Turcoman complaints on the national normalization 
committee; Jafari had placed obstacles on the implementation of 
Article 58; and Muqtada al-Sadr publicly said that there could 
be no compromise on giving the Kurds Kirkuk. 
 
IPCC SLOW AND LACKING 
--------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  Turan said the Iraqi Property Claims Commission (IPCC) 
is not solving many of the claims presented to it.  The ITF 
leaders feel that one IPCC office is not sufficient to handle 
the workload in Kirkuk and have requested Baghdad to open a 
second office.  The two major Kurdish parties are now fighting 
over which party should lead this office.  Turan said he thought 
the new IPCC law was a result of KDP and PUK pressure in 
Baghdad. 
 
BIOGRAPHIC NOTE 
--------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Turan described his points in a clear and concise 
 
KIRKUK 00000067  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
manner.  He kept a sober and focused demeanor during the meeting 
and clearly showed signs of frustration with what he perceived 
to be U.S. favoritism toward the Kurds.  Turan is the leader of 
the Turcoman Justice Party - one of four parties that makeup the 
ITF - and was elected to the Kirkuk provincial council in 
January 2005.  He heads the social relations committee on the 
provincial council.  Turan has a degree in agriculture 
engineering but was unable to work in his profession prior to 
2003 because the Ba'ath regime prevented his people from 
cultivating their land.  The former regime pursued Turan for his 
political activism.  He started the Turcoman Justice Party 
following Operation Iraqi Freedom and later joined the ITF to 
give the Turcoman community a stronger voice.  Turan does not 
speak English. 
 
THE ITF 
-------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  The ITF was established in 1995.  A number of 
individuals have led the ITF since its inception; Dr. Sadadin 
Ergag leads the ITF today.  The four ITF sub-parties include the 
Turcoman Justice Party, Turcoman Patriotic Party, Turcoman 
Independent Movement, and Turcoman Islamic Movement.  The ITF 
governing body includes the Executive Council (comprised of the 
ITF leader and seven other representatives from the four 
political parties) and the Turcoman Council (parliament).   The 
ITF is a Sunni-dominated alliance.  Turan said he was confident 
that the ITF represented about 60-65 percent of the Iraqi 
Turcoman population.  The remaining Turcoman supported the 
Turcoman Eli party or the Turcoman Shia parties.  Turan said 
that although the Iraqi Turcoman parties differed ideologically 
on near-term political strategies and policies, all Turcoman 
shared the same long-term goals for Iraq. 
ORESTE