VZCZCXRO0978
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0088/01 1021353
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 121353Z APR 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0611
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD IMMEDIATE 0573
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0639

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KIRKUK 000088 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, PAO, ROL COORDINATOR, NCT, IRMO, USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/12/2016 
TAGS: PINS PGOV KDEM KCOR KISL IZ IR
SUBJECT: YOUNG KURDS WARN OF IMMINENT PROTESTS IN KALAR 
 
KIRKUK 00000088  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Dean, Acting Regional Coordinator, REO 
Kirkuk, DoS. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  Students and recent graduates from Kalar 
concurred that demonstrations would likely ignite there, but 
they disagreed on when those demonstrations might occur or how 
violent they would be.  One student was adamant about protesting 
on April 14 - the commemoration of the Anfal attacks on Kalar - 
while two graduates said they believed PUK security forces would 
prevent demonstrations on that day.  Our contacts explained that 
the people of Kalar were angry at the KRG about the lack of 
public services and the poor conditions in the city.  As a 
result, Kalar residents have planned to prohibit government 
officials from entering the city for the commemoration of the 
18th anniversary of the Anfal attacks.   Activists also plan to 
attack the $15,000 Anfal monument in Rizgari.  Teachers in Kalar 
have encouraged students to form committees to press the KRG on 
political, economic, and social demands.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Demonstrations Likely; Date and Intensity Uncertain 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2.  (C)  On April 8, Deputy Regional Coordinator and IPAO  met 
with two students and three recent graduates from the Germiyan 
area (southern region of Al Sulaymaniyah province).  All of our 
contacts concurred that demonstrations in Kalar would likely 
launch at some point, but they disagreed on when those 
demonstrations might occur or how violent they would be.  One 
student, who lost over 50 family members during Anfal, appeared 
especially angry with the KRG, saying he would demonstrate on 14 
April - the commemoration of the Anfal attacks on Kalar - 
regardless of the consequences.  When we asked where he would 
flee if the security forces responded forcefully, he said, "I 
will not flee, even if they kill me."  That same student also 
mentioned he had a friend in Rizgari who said he wanted to die 
on April 14. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Two of the graduates, however, had a more nuanced 
perspective regarding demonstrations on April 14, saying that 
the people of Kalar in the end probably would not demonstrate 
that day.  They opined that the PUK's beefed up security 
measures and the public awareness of PUK's harsh response toward 
the Halabjah protestors would discourage demonstrators. 
 
Conditions Ripe For Protesting 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (C)  The students and graduates explained that the people of 
Kalar were angry at the KRG because of the lack of public 
services and poor conditions.  They said the Rizgari 
sub-district of Kalar was a hot spot because that area suffered 
the most from the former regime's Anfal operations in the 
Germiyan region.  They described Rizgari as similar to Halabjah. 
 Kalar students demonstrated late last summer and attacked 
several PUK-affiliated buildings. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Our interlocutors observed that the KRG and the people 
of Germiya were disconnected.  Following Operation Iraqi Freedom 
the people had rising social, economic, and political 
expectations.  The conditions in the Germiyan region are 
archaic, they noted, adding that the area looked as if it were 
in "the sixteenth century, without paved roads or city 
services."  The graduate from Kifri said that his city lacked 
potable water, electricity, and many other basic services. 
 
Protestors Plan to Attack, Security Poised to Respond 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶6.  (C)  The students  told us that Kalar residents  had plans 
to prohibit government officials from entering the city for the 
commemoration of the 18th anniversary of the Anfal attacks on 
April 14.  Our contacts added that the residents also planned to 
attack the $15,000 Anfal monument in Rizgari (NOTE.  Similar to 
Halabjah, Rizgari has a monument dedicated to the victims of the 
1988 Anfal attacks in that area.)  They added that the 
protestors' goal was not to destroy the monument, but to send a 
message to the KRG that the people were angry.  Our contacts 
said that the PUK security forces were protecting the Rizgari 
monument 24/7 since the violent Halabjah demonstrations on March 
¶16.  They asserted that the teachers and students probably would 
have to initiate the demonstrations; but if they did, unlike 
Halabjah, the villagers, farmers, and other residents also would 
join in. 
 
¶7.  (C)  The students and graduates were confident the security 
forces would try to prohibit demonstrating of any kind in Kalar 
on April 14 and probably would respond severely to protestors. 
 
KIRKUK 00000088  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
One graduate claimed that when Kalar residents recently 
approached the PUK head in Kalar - Awad Shaykh Janad - to 
discuss their demands, he warned that if they demonstrated he 
would "break their legs." 
 
¶8.  (C)  When asked where the people of Kalar would seek refuge 
in case of an Asayish roundup, our contacts said that several 
Iranian Kurdish villages near the Sirwan River had been a refuge 
to Kalar residents in the past. 
 
Teachers and Students Pressing Demands 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  Our interlocutors explained that in the last few months 
teachers in Kalar, representing the educated class, had 
organized students to form committees to press the KRG on 
political, economic, and social demands.  The teachers, however, 
stayed behind the scenes and did not demonstrate, because if 
they did, they would lose their jobs.  The teachers and students 
in Kalar later included other residents in meetings and 
formulated a list of KRG demands for Kalar. 
 
¶10.  (C)  The demands included building a cultural center with a 
library and computer services, constructing schools, providing 
more qualified physicians, paving roads, and installing potable 
water.  Our contacts said that the committee sent its demands to 
the KRG, but the KRG was unresponsive, other than providing land 
for Anfal victims to build homes.  They said the people of Kalar 
were convinced the KRG did not respond to public demands and 
that its promises were hollow. 
 
Corruption: Root Cause For Lack of Services 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (C)  Our contacts complained that administrative corruption 
was a key factor stymieing the fair implementation of projects 
throughout the Germiyan region.  They complained that the KRG 
lacked a fair and transparent mechanism to allocate projects, 
and, as a result, KRG leaders were able to favor some areas, 
while neglecting others. 
 
¶12.  (C)  Our interlocutors said another problem was that the 
Germiyan region lacked a representative on the PUK politburo. 
For example, the KRG had implemented several projects in 
Hanakin, hometown of politburo member Mullah Bakhtiar, even 
though it was much smaller than Kalar.  The KRG also implemented 
several projects, including a new large university, in Kou 
Senjaq - a city hit hard by the Anfal campaign and home of PUK 
leader Jalal Talabani.  (NOTE:  President Talabani was not born 
in Kou Senjaq, but lived there several years and considers it 
his home.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶13.  (C)  Our interlocutors complained that mayors and other 
local officials in the Germiyan area were unqualified political 
appointees.  Kalar residents were angry that the PUK chief in 
Kalar was not a native.  Our contacts complained that the PUK 
did not hold local elections, and residents were not allowed to 
become civil volunteers or initiate city projects.  They claimed 
that local officials had neither experience in implementing city 
projects nor understanding the people's needs.  Moreover, the 
local authorities did not have to abide by any laws and were 
empowered to implement projects, according to their mood. 
 
¶14.  (C)  Our contacts accused the KRG of exaggerating the 
amount of money it had spent on city projects in order to pacify 
the uneducated people of Kalar.  For example, KRG authorities 
quoted residents a much higher price to pave the two main roads 
in Kalar and, after paving only 100 meters, told the people that 
the funds had depleted.  They said that the contracting 
companies were PUK-affiliated, and sometimes would leave 
projects half-finished to fulfill more lucrative contracts. 
 
Party Connection Key to Obtaining a Professional Job 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶15.  (C)  Our contacts confirmed that people living in the KRG 
had to be party members or have a close contact in the party to 
get a professional job, or a post connected in any way to the 
KRG.  Even government street cleaners were chosen politically. 
Our contacts said that shop owners did not need party membership 
to run a business, but they often faced problems getting a stall 
at a government market without it. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶16.  (C)  We anticipate heightened tensions in the Kalar area on 
April 14.  Kalar residents are angry with the KRG, and emotions 
tend to surface on Anfal and other anniversaries symbolizing 
Kurdish suffering.  Teachers and students from Kalar will be 
 
KIRKUK 00000088  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
home on break, ripening conditions further.  The fact that Kalar 
students violently protested less than a year ago is noteworthy. 
 The main question remaining is how far Kalar residents will go 
in the face of PUK intimidation and threats. 
ORESTE