AMBASSADOR'S REMARKS AND PUBLIC EVENTS

Comments by Ambassador Ross Wilson to the Media Following a Meeting with Diyarbakir Governor Efkan Ala

Diyarbakir, May 26, 2006

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I am delighted to be paying my first visit to Diyarbakir after arriving in Turkey about six months ago.  This is my first visit to this part of southeastern Turkey.  I was in Adana and Gaziantep in March.  I think it is very important to get out around the country to talk to people, to see how this country lives in areas outside of Ankara and Istanbul.  I have come here to look, to listen and to learn from the people that I am able to talk with about the conditions here, about the issues that are on people’s minds, about how some of the national issues that Turkey faces are viewed from this region, about how the United States is viewed, and how United States-Turkish relations are looked at.  In the couple of days that I am in this region I will be meeting with governors, with mayors, with other political leaders, with business leaders, people from the universities and other walks of life.  I have gotten off to a good start here in a very interesting and helpful meeting with Governor Ala, and just prior to that with Mayor Baydemir.  I’ll be happy to answer a couple of questions. 

QUESTION:  PKK activities in the region have been increasing in recent months.  This creates a reaction in the minds of the people against the United States, because the US is not interfering in this.  How do you evaluate this situation?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  The United States strongly opposes and condemns PKK terrorism.  We consider the PKK to be a terrorist organization, and for that reason we are undertaking a number of measures in cooperation with the Government of Turkey to deal with it.  The most important thing we have been doing, with Turkey’s support, has been to help bring about a strong national unity government in Baghdad -- it has just been formed in the last several days -- that can take effective measures to control that country’s borders, and to deal with terrorists and insurgents throughout the country, including in northern Iraq.  We are working with our European friends and allies together with Turkey to convince them to shut down PKK front groups and turn off the flow of money that comes from Europe to the PKK.  There are other activities that I am not in a position to talk about.  We are determined to do all we can to help Turkey deal with this terrorist problem, just as we appreciate the support that Turkey provides to us and to others in the global war against terrorism.  We think that the terrorism that the PKK represents is a dead end.  It is a dead end for those who advocate it and support it, and on that basis we are determined to work with Turkey to help curb it and ultimately eliminate it. 

QUESTION:  How do you evaluate Mr. Bush’s sacking the Ambassador to Yerevan?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I am not sure I have a particular evaluation of it.  I think that the spokesman of the State Department has discussed this.  The most important thing that he said is that all of us appointed by the President serve at the pleasure of the President.  President Bush has nominated a successor for Ambassador Evans. He is a friend.  He is a distinguished diplomat.  And I am sure that the President and the President’s nominee look forward to his consideration by the Senate. 

QUESTION:  Regarding your remarks about Iraq and the PKK, last weekend the Prime Minister said that the three-party alliance -- meaning Turkey, Iraq, and the United States -- should get activated against the PKK.

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  This is something that Secretary Rice discussed when she was here in April with the Prime Minister, with the Foreign Minister and the President.  We established a mechanism last year -- a trilateral mechanism including the United States, Turkey and Iraq -- to discuss issues of common interest, including the PKK.  Frankly speaking, for a variety of reasons that mechanism did not produce the results that I think we had hoped that it might.  Among those reasons is the fact that we were dealing with an interim government in Baghdad that was overwhelmed with other problems.  We now have a new, and I think a stronger, broader government in Baghdad.  We believe that can provide a good basis for us to work more effectively together.  And although formal trilateral meetings have not yet taken place, we have already been discussing with the Iraqi authorities our strong concerns about the PKK and the need for effective action to deal with its presence in northern Iraq.  Let me just say to close that I am delighted to be here.  This is a very historic city.  It is a very interesting place.  And I look forward now to seeing a little bit of that history.  Thank you very much.