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DE RUEHAK #2573/01 2901548
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171548Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4054
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA PRIORITY 2383
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//USDP:PDUSDP/ISA:EUR/ISA:NESA/DSCA// PRIORITY
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002573 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/SE AND NEA/I 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PGOV PREL TU IZ US
SUBJECT: TURKEY: PARLIAMENT OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVES MOTION 
TO AUTHORIZE CROSS BORDER ACTION AGAINST PKK 
 
REF: ANKARA 2566 AND PREVIOUS 
 
ANKARA 00002573  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On October 17, the Turkish parliament, as 
expected, approved by an overwhelming margin a 
government-sponsored motion authorizing a cross border 
operation (CBO) against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) 
terrorists in northern Iraq.  It gives the government 
authority for one year to approve a CBO.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (SBU) The vote for the motion was overwhelming:  507 in 
favor, 19 against.  All parties except the Kurdish 
nationalist Democratic Society Party (DTP) voted in favor of 
the motion. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On behalf of the government, Deputy PM and 
government spokesman Cemil Cicek emphasized that the motion 
represented a coordinated effort among all relevant state 
actors, including government and military.  Noting that 
Turkey has suffered tens of thousands of casualties in its 
struggle against PKK terror, he stressed the current 
government had demonstrated great patience in pursuing a 
solution through diplomatic means.  With no results to show 
for this effort, the GOT had decided that it must consider 
the possibility of countering the threat through military 
means.  Cicek accused the PKK of causing the suffering of 
Turkish citizens throughout the Southeast, noting that 
terrorist violence had hindered the GOT's ability to complete 
its massive GAP development project there. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Speaking on behalf of the ruling Justice and 
Development Party (AKP), Nihat Ergun stressed that the 
economic, political and social development of the heavily 
Kurdish Southeast had been long neglected.  This had changed 
when AKP entered the scene; gradually, they won the hearts of 
the people.  He urged other parties to emulate AKP by 
knocking on all doors in the region.  He stressed Turkey's 
patient wait for the international community to act and noted 
the responsibility of northern Iraqis to support the central 
Iraqi government in the fight against the PKK.  The northern 
Iraqi administration should recognize just how determined 
Turkey is.  Turkey's diplomats would, he stressed, make 
effective use of the motion before the military. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Sukru Elekdag spoke for the Republican People's 
Party (CHP).  He underscored CHP's support for the motion, 
accusing both the US and the Iraqi Kurds of using the PKK as 
a trump card.  He alleged that the US wanted to remain in a 
divided Iraq for the oil, and termed US policies there 
"two-faced" and a "fiasco".  He stated that the Iraqi Kurds 
needed to choose between Turkey and the PKK, and concluded by 
asking whether the US would support Turkey or those who 
shelter the PKK. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Expressing the views of the Nationalist Action Party 
(MHP), Deniz Bolukbasi offered full MHP support for the 
motion, accused the government of foot-dragging on this 
matter, and hoped the AKP would demonstrate the necessary 
will to use the mandate.  He complained about the unhelpful 
stance of the US, Iraqi President Talabani and KRG President 
Barzani.  Bolukbasi argued that it would be difficult to 
target only PKKers, as they might blend into the peshmerga. 
He also pushed for a deterrent policy toward Iraq that could 
include such measures as shutting down the Habur customs 
gate, not allowing Turkish airspace to be used, and cutting 
logistical supply shipments. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The DTP's Selahattin Demirtas, representing the only 
party to vote "no" on the motion, stated that people 
everywhere want the bloodshed to stop: "Every drop of blood 
shed makes it harder to dress the wound."  He warned that in 
the event of a CBO, Turkey could get stuck in a quagmire.  He 
 
ANKARA 00002573  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
called for a solution within the framework of democracy and 
stressed that the DTP had turned its face to Ankara to 
resolve these problems.  He expressed the hope that if the 
motion were adopted, Turkey would not have to use it.  He 
offered to contribute to a solution; that is why, he said, 
voters had sent DTPers to parliament.  He asked that 
parliament work harder on economic and social measures for 
the region. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment:  Throughout the debate, AKP stuck to its 
relatively moderate line, both to keep the GOT's options 
open, and to ensure that AKP MPs from the Southeast (who were 
treated to a four-hour presentation/dinner the night before 
by Education Minister and Van MP Huseyin Celik) voted "yes". 
CHP and MHP, as expected, were the most demanding, but 
ultimately supportive of the motion.  MPs listened to DTP's 
Demirtas in stony silence, but they did listen.  The question 
now will be how much pressure PM Erdogan will find himself 
under; absent a major PKK strike, he has bought some time. 
 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON