VZCZCXRO3883
PP RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #3104 3371259
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021259Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6279
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KABUL 003104 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
OSD FOR MCGRAW 
CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICCENT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV AF TU
SUBJECT: DOSTUM LEAVES FOR TURKEY 
 
REF: A. KABUL 2856 
     ¶B. KABUL 3028 
 
¶1. (SBU) Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum departed Afghanistan for 
Turkey this week, following a reconciliation ceremony last 
month with a political rival and a brief, but notable return 
to public life (ref A).  Dostum had been living under a loose 
form of house arrest after a violent altercation in February. 
 The clash was the latest in a series of embarrassing 
incidents that led many in the Afghan government and Dostum's 
predominately ethnic Uzbek Junbesh-e-Milli party to seek a 
quiet, honorable exit from the country's politics for the 
warlord. 
 
¶2.    (SBU) The Turkish government, long a patron of 
Dostum's, had waffled between facilitating Dostum's exit and 
maintaining their influence in "Afghan Turk" communities via 
the powerful military leader.  Turkish Embassy Political 
Counselor Erdogan Odabas said Dostum had finally agreed to 
make the trip after heavy lobbying by the Turkish government. 
 Dostum will stay with family in Ankara and may seek medical 
treatment for alcoholism.  Odabas told us on Dec. 2 he 
expected Dostum to stay for several months, but conceded 
Dostum may push to return to Afghanistan before next year's 
presidential election.  He said Turkey will try to convince 
the general to stay as long as possible. 
 
¶3.    (SBU) In between his Oct. 26 reconciliation with Akbar 
Bai and this week's flight to Turkey, Dostum made a series of 
brief public appearances and publicized the ongoing voter 
registration process with commercials on his Aina television 
network (ref B).  The pro-government tone of his appearances 
led many to suspect Karzai's reconciliation initiative and 
subsequent canceling of Dostum's house arrest came after 
Dostum agreed to support Karzai's re-election.  Junbesh and 
Palace sources deny a specific deal was made, but some 
opposition United Front officials say they are no longer 
counting on Dostum to rally Uzbek voters for their 
presidential candidate next year. 
 
¶4.    (SBU) Dostum's departure leaves a gap in Junbesh's 
leadership.  Lower House MP Shakar Kargar (Faryab, Uzbek) 
said Dostum had left him in charge of political affairs and 
designated Junbesh Chairman Sayed Noorullah to handle the 
party's administrative issues.  However, at least one other 
Junbesh MP, Rahman Oghly (Faryab, Uzbek), disputed Kargar's 
claim to Dostum's endorsement. 
DELL