This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS ANKARA 001630 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER TU IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT CONCERNED ABOUT POSSIBLE 
NEWRUZ VIOLENCE IN KIRKUK 
 
¶1. (U) Turkish MFA Director General for Middle East Affairs 
Tahsin Burcuoglu called DCM March 17 on instruction from FM 
Gul to pass on the contents of a phone conversation between 
Gul and Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) leader Faruk Abdulrahman, 
who called in from Kirkuk.  Abdulrahman told Gul that his 
convoy had been attacked earlier in the week by an IED which 
damaged one of the cars.  Abdulrahman reported an enhanced 
presence of radical Shi'a, and worried that the March 21 
Kurdish Newruz celebrations in Kirkuk could become violent. 
He told Gul that if there were provocations, it could lead to 
"bloody events."  Abdulrahman said he had already warned US 
authorities in Kirkuk and the CPA in Baghdad that March 21 
would be a dangerous day. 
 
 
¶2. (U) Burcuoglu told the DCM that Abdulrahman may have had 
specific information, although his concerns may have been 
based only on an "analysis" of the situation. 
EDELMAN