Ambassador's remarks and public events

Ambassador Ross Wilson Interview with Kanal 7

February 27, 2006
(Broadcast February 28, 2006)
 

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, thank you very much for joining us, first of all. 

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Thank you.  I am delighted to be here.

 

QUESTION:  Let me start my questions from the recent developments in Iraq.  As you know, last week the Holy Tomb was attacked, and since that time hundreds of people were killed in Iraq.  I am not going to ask you who attacked the tombs or who is killing each other, but the real question at this point is who is responsible for the situation in Iraq?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Clearly, the images that we have seen over the last several days from Iraq are sickening.  They are deeply disturbing.  It is not clear who carried out these attacks. That may be established in the days to come.  However we know for a fact that Al-Qaeda and foreign fighters, who have been operating in Iraq, in particular Mr. Zarqawi, have a stated goal of trying to provoke a civil war in that country.  The Iraqi people don’t want that, Iraq’s leaders do not want that.  I think it was helpful and instructive to us, and interesting for us that a broad cross-section of leaders from the all of the main ethnic groups in that country, and political groups in that country met over the weekend.  They condemned the violence that has taken place.  They urged calm throughout the country.  And they agreed among themselves to really accelerate the effort that they have been engaged in, to establish the government of national unity to take Iraq out of the crisis in which it finds itself.  If there is a good outcome in this very bad situation, that may be it.  We are very hopeful that they will make progress. 

 

QUESTION:  Then, does it mean that the US administration has no responsibility for the situation in Iraq?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Clearly it is up to Iraqis to determine their political future.  We have argued that.  We helped the Iraqis to organize the elections that took place in January.  We helped them to develop the constitution that was ratified and the referendum that took place later in the year.  We and others helped them to stage the elections that took place in December.  The fundamental political decisions are for the Iraqi people themselves to make through their elected leaders.  Clearly, we and the coalition forces and the Iraqi forces share responsibility for the security of the country.  Against the determined adversary, against the determined terrorist, that is a difficult and complicated task.  I am sure Turkey understands that quite well, as do many other countries in the region.  To deal effectively with the problem requires all elements of the Iraqi political community to come together and to take decisive action against these insurgents.

 

QUESTION:  I see.  I mean even in the United States in Washington, even the senators of the Republican Party are saying that things are going worse in Iraq, and they are criticizing the US administration.  That’s why I asked the question.  Do you really believe that things are going worse than before in Iraq?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  It depends on what your perspective is.  Clearly, the events of last several days have not shown signs of great improvement although the violence was somewhat less yesterday than it was two to three days before.  But the pattern over the last week or so has not been a good one.  If you look at the longer sweep of recent developments in Iraq, it is clear that an enormous amount of progress is being made.  The elections in January, the elections in December, the agreement on a constitution, the work that’s been going on since the December elections to form a new government that is cross-sectarian that includes all of the main communities in Iraq.  That’s extremely important.  It’s extremely difficult.

 

QUESTION:  Do you agree with the idea that the recent developments take the country to a kind of sectarian war or civil war?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I would take my cue from the Prime Minister of Iraq who on Saturday night declared to the public Iraq is not going to have a civil war, and we are not doing it.  Clearly, there are a lot of difficulties in that country.  There have long been a lot of difficulties in that country.  There have been sectarian divisions in Iraq.  They were suppressed in the Saddam Hussein era.  There is a certain natural release of tensions and of pressures that built up over a long period of time.  The important thing I think is to note that the leaders of the Sunni community, the leaders of the Shiite community, the leaders of the Kurdish community have come together in the last couple of days to say enough of this violence, enough of division, we are going to form a strong, national unity government that will take Iraq to a better future.

 

QUESTION:  I see.  And the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mr. al-Jafari is coming to Ankara.  My question is on the recent developments and for the future of Iraq, can Turkey do something?  If yes, what kind of role can Turkey play in Iraq?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Turkey for some time has played a helpful role in Iraq, in assisting the Iraqi people, in developing a better future for themselves.  In particular, Turkey has played a helpful role in promoting broad participation in the political process by all of the main ethnic and sectarian groups -- and to work to facilitate the formation of a broad national unity government.  We have encouraged that effort.  We have encouraged the Turkish authorities to reach out both in showing support to the new leaders of Iraq, and in helping them in practical ways to reach the agreements that will be necessary to form this broad national unity government.  I thought it was very important that on the day that I arrived here, Foreign Minister Gul and our ambassador to Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, held a meeting in Istanbul to which they had invited Iraqi Sunni leaders.  They met all day.  The Turkish authorities worked hard to encourage those Sunni leaders to participate in the elections that took place a couple of weeks later.  Turkey has continued to use those contacts with the Sunni community, with the Shiite community, with the Kurdish community to urge people and push people in the right direction and we appreciate that.

 

QUESTION:  As far as I remember, a few days ago, an article was published in the New York Times.  They said if the united Iraq cannot be sustained, Turkish forces may enter Iraq.  What is your comment on that?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  This is one of those articles.  I have read the piece.  It was in the New York Times on Sunday.  It was one of those articles that began “what if.”  What if everything goes wrong?  What then? The author speculates on a variety of things that might happen.  His article speaks for itself.  You can read it.  Your viewers can take a look at it.  Or you can explain it to them.  Policy makers are not in the business of speculating.  We are in the business of trying to influence developments in the right direction that are supported by the Iraqi leadership and getting this national unity government formed and helping to make it effective is really what we are trying to do, and where Turkey is trying to be helpful.

 

QUESTION:  I would like to ask you a few questions on the reactions to the Hamas leader’s visit to Ankara.  It’s been more than ten days since Khaled Meshal left Turkey. In the aftermath of the visit, your reaction was different than the reactions of the Israeli Government and you said the message is much more important than the visit, at least you implied that.  Since that time, do you believe that Hamas got the message which they got in Turkey?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I should say at the outset that we learned of the visit to Turkey on February 15, the day before they came here.  We had earlier expressed some concerns to the government about the possibility that Hamas might come here.  I don’t want to get into the details of those discussions.  We had several discussions over a period of several days prior to their coming here.  From the readout of the meetings that I got from the Turkish officials who were involved in them, Turkey seems to have given a very clear message about what Hamas has got to do to deal with the realities that it faces, the realities that the Palestinian people face, the realities that the Palestinian people and Israel have to face together, in particular, if they wish to continue work on the so-called road map, the achieving through peaceful negotiations of both sides of a situation where two states, two democratic states, can live side by side in peace and in freedom.  That’s something we think the Palestinian people support.  That is something certainly that President Abbas supports, it’s something that the international community supports, and Turkey does.  So Turkey, I think, gave that clear message.  They conveyed, I believe, again, based on what I was told, that Hamas needs to renounce violence, that it needs to recognize the right of Israel to exist, and then it needs to commit itself to those undertakings that the elected officials of the Palestinian Authority have already made to Israel and to others.  The extent to which Hamas got the message, I am not sure I am the right person to judge that.  But I think time will tell what direction it is that Hamas chooses to take.

 

QUESTION:  The real reaction, which is similar to the reaction of the Israeli government, came from the Jewish lobby.  And the leader of the Jewish lobby, as far as I know, from the Democrat Party sent a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan criticizing the visit of the Hamas leader.  My question is how effective or how powerful is the Jewish lobby in Washington in defining Turkey policy?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  The letter that you refer to was sent to Prime Minister Erdogan by Representative Tom Lantos, who I would not describe as the leader of the Jewish lobby.  I would describe him as a prominent American legislator, a very articulate and eloquent defender of liberty and freedom all around the world, a great and a very long time supporter of Turkey and of US-Turkish friendship and cooperation.  His letter speaks for itself.  He expresses a number of concerns in there both about the imagery that is created by Turkey inviting this group or having this group come to this country, and concerns about the kind of messages that conveys both to Hamas, and to the people who live in the Palestinian territories.  The letter speaks for itself.  In the days following the Hamas visit here, I received a number of calls from prominent leaders of Jewish-American groups.  They expressed many of the same kinds of concerns that Congressman Lantos did.  Many of those were serious concerns that Turkey is going to have to address.  The American-Jewish community has been a strong supporter of our relationship with Turkey, and of US interests in this country.

 

QUESTION:  Then does it mean that they are very powerful in defining the Turkey policy?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  No.  I think the right answer is to say that there are many different American ethnic groups in American politics that have influence on this or that issue.  The American Jewish community is particularly influential on a number of issues related to foreign policy.  What their leaders say as well as what Congressman Lantos says is going to be taken seriously by a lot of people.

 

QUESTION:  Did you take care of the reactions on the Hamas visit coming from the Jewish lobby?  I mean did the administration take care of the reactions of  the Jewish lobby?  The representative of the Jewish lobby?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I am not sure I understand the question.

 

QUESTION:  Your reaction to the visit of Hamas was relatively warm and was not negative.  As you said the message is much more important than the visit.  But many members of the Jewish lobby declared their negative reactions to the visit itself.  Did the administration take care of the reaction of the lobby?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I think the right answer to your question is to say that we discussed our concerns about the visit of Hamas privately and directly with the Turkish Government in meetings in particular that I had with some of the relevant officials who participated in those meetings.  I don’t want to characterize what the nature of those diplomatic discussions was.  The American-Jewish community, Congressman Lantos, others who have spoken on this issue speak for themselves.  The administration’s policy is as I have stated it in public.

 

QUESTION:  Just a few days, maybe one week after the visit of the Hamas leader, Foreign Minister Gul made a statement in a TV program and accused certain Turkish journalists of being manipulated by foreign services.  Then he revised his statement.  Do you have any comments on this statement?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Not really.  I have yet to meet a Turkish journalist who was not vigorous, who wasn’t clearly independent, who didn’t think for himself.  The press here is very alive and quite able to take care of itself. 

 

QUESTION:  Actually he said his words were wrong.  Especially “service” was a wrong word, Foreign Minister Gul said.  But is it abnormal to see or hear that certain embassies or certain foreign services can find some journalists close to them, and they can support each other?  Is it something strange?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  That’s certainly not the kind of relationship that we have, that the United States has, or the American Embassy in Ankara has with the Turkish media, or really with media anywhere in the world.  We try to be open, we try to be honest, we try to be accessible, and answer the questions that are posed to us to the extent that we can and consistent with the guidance that is provided to us by the State Department by Secretary Rice.  We try to tell the truth.  And journalists have to judge for themselves how to evaluate that, and in what context to put it.

 

QUESTION:  Let’s talk a little bit more about the Turkish-American relationship, because it has been, I think, a few months since you came here to Ankara.  And you are a relatively new ambassador here in Ankara.  What will your priorities in the Turkish-American relationship be, because in the past, we had some difficult times?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  First I should say that I am delighted to be in this country.  It is a tremendous honor to able to serve as America’s ambassador in the Republic of Turkey.  And I’m looking forward to a very interesting and active several years here as America’s representative.  I think my overall priority in this country is to represent the interest of the United States of America.  That’s what ambassadors here are supposed to do.  To achieve that, I want very much, and I discussed this President Sezer, with Prime Minister Erdogan, with Foreign Minister Gul to improve the tone, and the content, and the substance of our relations.  There were some difficulties.  I think those difficulties are well known.  And I think at some point last year, both of our countries decided that we’d had enough of that, and that we wanted to work harder to try to restore relations reflecting the many common interests that our two countries share.  So we worked hard in the last half of 2005, in the first part of 2006 at arranging for high level visitors to go back and forth between our two countries, arranging for a resumption of a number of bilateral committees and commissions whose meetings have just not happened for several years.  And in working on some of the specific substantive issues which there are of course a number out there.  I think that we have accomplished a lot.  We have work to do, and that will be the focus of my efforts over the course of the coming months. 

 

QUESTION:  Do you have a mission to repair the relationship?  Just a few years ago, the Turkish-American relationship passed through difficult times.  Do you personally believe that you have a mission to repair the difficulties and the problems which we had in the past?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  For me the starting point to rebuild our relationship is the fact that the United States and Turkey are allies.  We are both democracies.  We are both market economies.  We share a certain amount of history together from fighting in Korea and working together on a whole large number of common issues over the course of the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, and the 90s.  In my own experience, in the 1990s we worked closely with Turkey in the Caucasus and the Central Asia to support the new independent states that emerged there after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  So allies, fellow democracies, fellow market economies, we share an interest in stability and peace and prosperity in this part of the world.  Turkey is on the frontlines on a number of important issues whether it is Iraq or Iran or Syria.  There is still a certain amount of instability in the Caucasus to Turkey’s immediate east.  There is an unresolved conflict over Cyprus to the west.  I believe that Turkey needs the help and support of the United States and I believe that our work to help and support Turkey advances our interest in peace and stability in this very complicated part of the world. 

 

QUESTION:  Since the AK Party Government Turkish foreign policy seems to have changed.  The new Turkish foreign policy says that we have our own interest and we have our own responsibilities and we have many things to do in our region with our own efforts.  But at the end this may be compatible with the interest of the US.  This has been a relatively radical change in the Turkish foreign policy.  They have their own policy with neighboring countries, with Syria, with Iran, with other neighboring countries.  Does it make a problem for the approach of the US Government to the Turkish policy?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I don’t think that international politics in general or US-Turkish relations in specific is some kind of zero sum game -- that if there is more attention to other problems it somehow means less attention to us or some lessening of the kind of relationship that we have had.  On the contrary, I think, we can gain a great deal from Turkey’s engagement and interaction with its neighbors.  Turkey has a kind of credibility, I think, with some of its neighbors, that may be a little bit different from the United States.  We are a long, long way away from this region.  Turkey has a particularly important role to play in Iraq.  And, as I have indicated earlier when we were talking about Iraq, we have worked closely together.  Turkey’s assistance to the Iraqi people and the leaders of that country to forge the necessary arrangements as so they can fully take over responsibility for their country and get it fully back on its feet.  That’s a role that is – it’s not clear to me somebody else can play.  That’s a role Turkey can play because of its unique position.  So there’s no zero-sum game here.  We are close allies, we have to work hard to collaborate, to cooperate, to be sure that we consult with one another very, very regularly on all of these regional issues and others elsewhere in the world. 

 

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, I would like to get your comments on some other regional problems.  We talked about Iraq, but we haven’t talked about Iran.  Let me ask you directly -- now military action is not on the table but at the end, if diplomatic efforts cannot solve the problem, are you going to attack Iran?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  President Bush and Secretary Rice have been very clear in stating publicly that no option is off the table.  Secretary Rice and the President have been very, very clear also that the path we are working on is the diplomatic path, and we want to achieve a negotiated settlement.  To do that, we want the broadest possible coalition or gathering of countries to speak with a common voice that Iran must suspend its enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, it must resume its cooperation with the IAEA and it must resume negotiations to find a way out of this problem.  That’s the path we’re on. We’re not planning on some other path.

 

QUESTION: Do you have any expectations from Turkey on Iran issues?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well we had very good consultations with Turkey about a week ago. Our Ambassador, the United States Ambassador to the IAEA was here for two days of talks. We met with a large group at the Foreign Ministry that included a number of different agencies and the military. We had a meeting at the Prime Ministry that included a number of agencies as well, some of the same, some different ones. Ambassador Schulte also met with some parliamentarians. He met with some academics. He met with others first to describe to Turkey what it is that we see, what it is that we believe, what we think the evidence shows about Iran’s nuclear development activities. And, second, to consult with Turkey about what’s the way forward.  Turkey is an ally; Turkey is a friend; Turkey is a neighbor of Iraq and therefore is going to be affected by some of the diplomacy, or if diplomacy is not successful, by some of the other events that could take place.  So Turkey has a special interest. For that reason we wanted very, very much – and I worked very hard to ensure that this happened – to consult with Turkey, to hear Turkey’s views. I expect that we will continue to consult with Turkey going forward.

 

QUESTION:  But a new proposal will not come to the table, right?  A new proposal to let the American soldiers enter Iran [through Turkey].

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON: We did not make any proposals of that sort to Turkey and I don’t think we intend to make any proposals of that sort to Turkey. The sole focus of these discussions was, first, what do we know about Iran’s nuclear weapons development efforts and, second, what is the world going to do about this? We presented some views; Turkey presented some views. There was a good discussion of that and I think both of our governments now have a clearer understanding of the way forward over the course of the next several months at the IAEA and at the UN Security Council. 

 

QUESTION:  Well, another problem in Turkish-American relations is the PKK problem. Actually before many things were talked about – the position of the US administration and the desire of the Turkish government -- but a certain part of the public, especially related to the PKK, believes that the US administration is promising many things to Turkey but doing nothing. And there is high sensitivity among the public over PKK attacks on Turkey. Do you have something new that you will give us on possible actions against the PKK, to destroy the base of the PKK? What is new?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  In two and a half months in Turkey, nothing has been made clearer to me by government officials, by military officials, by average citizens of this country than that Turkey views the PKK problem with acute sensitivity and wants very, very much to see some real progress made in the cooperative efforts that Turkey makes with us, with others, frankly, to get a handle on this problem and to eliminate it.  That’s my first point. Second point, our hearts go out and my heart goes out to those who have lost their loved ones. There are thousands of people here who have been victims of PKK violence.  That is a sickening state of affairs. It is something that needs to come to an end. Third, what we have worked to do over the course of the last five or six months or so is to try to develop with the government of Turkey a package of measures that would get at this problem -- and get at the problem once and for all.

 

It would be satisfying perhaps and perhaps provide some temporary benefit to take some military action that would whack the PKK on the head and set them back for a few months but then the problem is more likely than not going to come back to life. What we believe is necessary is a more comprehensive approach to the problem. One part of that comprehensive approach is the success of a strong unified and independent Iraq, that can control its own borders, that can control terrorist and insurgent activities that take place within its borders. Needless to say, as we were discussing earlier, there is a significant problem in Iraq in controlling all those activities. It’s going to take sustained effort over a long period of time so that the armed forces and the security forces of Iraq can do what is necessary throughout the country to stop that kind of insurgent and terrorist violence.

 

Second, we have been working with Turkey to develop measures to get at the PKK presence in Europe and to get at the problem of financing that comes from Europe, from Kurdish circles in Europe to the PKK. There are other information and intelligence exchange activities that we are carrying out. There are other activities that I’m not in a position to discuss. What we are trying to develop is a comprehensive package of measures to deal with this problem and help Turkey deal with this problem.

 

QUESTION: Mr. Ambassador, I would like to talk about the Cyprus problem. Two and a half years ago or maybe three years ago a referendum was done on Cyprus and in the north people said yes to the Annan Plan and in the south the Greek Cypriots said no to the Annan Plan.  Does it mean that the punishment is still going ahead with the Turkish Cypriots on the island?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON: We were deeply disappointed that the referendum failed. We thought that the Annan Plan offered a very promising way forward for the people of Cyprus on both sides of the island and we were disappointed that the Greek Cypriots turned it down. In the wake of that referendum, and actually as part of the overall plan, Secretary General Annan urged the international community to take steps to ease the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. Since then we have been engaged in precisely that kind of activity through a limited but not insignificant effort to provide some economic assistance to the people of northern Cyprus.  And we have tried through our diplomatic contacts to draw them out a little bit as well. The meeting that Secretary Rice had with Mr. Talat in her office, I believe, in October was a very significant step forward in that regard. We also welcomed the visit to Mr. Talat that British Foreign Secretary Straw paid a month or so ago. What we want for Cyprus is I think the same thing that the Turkish government wants for Cyprus which is a negotiated settlement that is supported on both sides of the island, that will establish a political framework in which they can live and prosper and be a country. That’s proven difficult. We still believe that that vision remains a valid one and want to try to work with Turkey, with Greece, with the two communities in Cyprus and with the United Nations, to try to facilitate progress.

 

QUESTION: Do you think that if the problem cannot be solved because in the Greek Cypriot administration there is a nationalist administration – Mr. Papadopoulos is refusing everything. My question is if the problem cannot be solved, at the end is it possible that northern Cyprus will be recognized as an independent state or something like that?

 

AMBASSADOR WILSON: I don’t want to speculate about what might or might not happen under different scenarios. What I think all of us need to try to do is to work to get a settlement and work to ensure that there is progress toward a settlement and in the relatively near future. Turkey, Foreign Minister Gul, put forward some very interesting and helpful proposals in January. The United States welcomed those proposals. We called on all parties to study those proposals, to look carefully at them, and to come forward with their own ideas about how to move things forward. I think that it is helpful that since then the Prime Minister has met with Kofi Annan when he was in Davos. President Papadopoulos is supposed to meet with Kofi Annan I believe today or tomorrow. Those are helpful steps. We would like to see the UN re-engage. Perhaps after the Cypriot parliamentary elections that take place in the spring would be an appropriate time to do so.

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.