AMBASSADOR'S REMARKS AND PUBLIC EVENTS

Ambassador Ross Wilson Interview with Yeni Safak Editors

Istanbul, June 9, 2006

QUESTION: How do you look at recent developments here?

AMBASSADOR: One of the most important things that I see going on in Turkey is the preparation for a very important political year here, in 2007: the presidential elections and parliamentary elections.  And Turkey is doing what democracies do.  The political parties and political forces in this country are doing what political parties and forces do in the run-up to an election.

And for me that’s the most important part of the backdrop in how people have viewed, as a domestic event, the turmoil in the financial markets, the response to this terrible tragic shooting in the Danistay and other recent domestic events here over the course of the last several months. 

There was, in a sense, a little bit less in terms of normal Turkish politics in the first several years of a strong single party government.  As we head toward the election, we are seeing a resurgence of normal Turkish party politics.  That, of course, creates some problems for the government.  It is something that Turkey should be pleased about and happy about because it is what democracies do. 

QUESTION:  Do you mean some kind of populism?

AMBASSADOR:  No, I wasn’t referring specifically to populism.  There are populist voices that one hears here.  There are nationalist voices, there are other voices.  I am not passing judgment and it is not for me, as a foreign diplomat here, to pass judgment on what those voices are, or what they are saying, or what they are advocating.  Rather, the important thing to me is that this is the democratic process of debate, of discussion, of different elements, politically fighting it out, what kind of future Turkey is going to have. 

QUESTION: Do you believe it is possible for Turkey to become more unstable, or can we overcome this instability problem?

AMBASSADOR: I think that Turkey has largely, if not entirely, overcome the instability problem, to use your phrase, especially in a sense that it may have been more of an issue here years and years ago.  And Turkey’s democratic institutions are strong.  Public support for the fundamental directions that this country has pursued over the last four or five years I think remains strong.  People I talk to appreciate the immense economic progress that has taken place here over the last several years.  And people appreciate the opening up of the political system, opening up of political life, to greater participation of greater democracy.

QUESTION:  When do you think our Prime Minister will be able to visit the U.S.?

AMBASSADOR:  Well, we are certainly aware of the Prime Minister’s interest.  He has discussed it with me several times.  Washington wants to see the visit happen.  We believe we have a range of important subjects to discuss with him and he has to discuss with us.  And you only need to look at the important role that Turkey is playing with us and with many others in trying to convince Iran to give its nuclear weapons program.  Or the important role that Turkey is playing in helping to stand up a strong unified and independent Iraq that can take care of itself.  There is always an issue of scheduling when we deal with the White House.  The President will be doing a significant amount of travel over the course of the next two months, and that is a serious constraint on our ability to find time with him.  But we are working hard on it and when we have a specific time frame, we will of course let everybody know. 

QUESTION:  We have had many delegations from the U.S. from various circles recently.  Does this have a special reason?  Are these just working visits?

AMBASSADOR:  Broadly speaking, what we have been working on since the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington a year ago, has been to restore a healthy dialogue at the policy level and among experts between our two countries.  Obviously, the biggest and most important of those visits was Secretary Rice’s discussions here on April 25th.

Since then we have had two or maybe three different groups of American congressmen. Those visits, I think, were designed to educate those Members on what is going on in Turkey and the ways in which our two countries are working together or could work better together in the future.  So, some of those are working level visits, but they are all aimed at enhancing understanding and consulting with Turkey on the important issues that are of concern to both our governments. 

QUESTION: This many visits also creates, among some, the perception that there is a problem and that this problem has to be solved.

AMBASSADOR:  I would say that is an incorrect assessment of what is going on.  It certainly doesn’t reflect our assessment of the state of affairs.  Of course, there were some difficulties in our relations in the two years before the Prime Minister went to the United States.  And the substantive issues were made more serious because senior people and even many experts in my country were very busy focused on something else, like Iraq.  And they didn’t have the time, or maybe didn’t take the time to invest in discussions with Turkey as much as they needed to.  But in talking about what we have been doing over the last several months, the important thing is that we have two countries that have many interests in common.  The way we are going to work on those issues is by talking with one another.  And so that’s basically what has motivated most of the Americans who have come here. 

QUESTION:  After the strategic vision document was discussed during Secretary Rice’s visit, we heard that it would be concluded in a short period of time.  What stage is it at now?

AMBASSADOR:  If it’s not finished it is almost finished.  I have been traveling now again, and so I am not one hundred percent sure where it stands.  But we are almost finished.  And one of the topics that I’ll take up next week when I am in Ankara for five days, is to discuss with the government what’s the next step with this and how we will release it.

QUESTION:  I think the public also expects that the specific statements in the document might also help overcome this perception that there is something wrong between the countries as a result of such a large number of visits.

AMBASSADOR: The intention of the document is to make clear that the United States and Turkey intend to work together towards some general ends, and on about eight or ten or twelve specific issues.  The second thing it does is it talks about how we are going to do that.  I think it would be an engine for more intensified discussions among our experts, among our policy makers, among our planners on this wide range of political issues that we agreed of to work more closely together on. 

QUESTION:  Will some one come from the U.S. to announce the content of this document or is it going to be you and a minister?

AMBASSADOR:  That is one of the subjects I‘ll take up in Ankara next week.  I can’t answer that question.

QUESTION:  During Secretary Rice’s visit to Ankara it was stated that the cooperation between the U.S. and Turkey as far as the PKK is concerned would be increased.  The details of that were not announced. What kind of an increase is it?  Is it military, is it intelligence or is it something else?

AMBASSADOR:  I think there are two parts to the answer.  What Secretary Rice indicated is two things: first, that we will aim to increase our bilateral cooperation with the Government of Turkey on issues related to the PKK: that’s information sharing, it’s our collaboration on the PKK in Europe, and there are some other things that I can’t really talk about. 

The second thing she talked about was reviving an existing U.S.- Turkey-Iraq mechanism or forum to discuss common interests, including in particular the PKK in Northern Iraq.  She talked about doing this as soon as there is a new government in Iraq.  I understand that yesterday ministers of defense and interior were finally announced and approved by the parliament.  I assume that that is the last step now in getting the government formed, and so I would expect in the coming weeks, if not days, that we would move to get this meeting set up and to get it prepared to ensure that the effort starts to produce results. 

And there I think yesterday’s events in Iraq, the neutralization of Al-Zarqawi, is a big step forward that is very helpful for us.

QUESTION:  The resistance was always seen as the biggest problem in Iraq, and one of the leading names of the resistance in Iraq as of yesterday was killed.  Do you think the instability will continue in Iraq or will it be a step toward stability?

AMBASSADOR:  I certainly hope that this is a big step toward stability.  And I believe that the completion of the formation of a government now is another big step forward.  There is still a lot of work to do in Iraq. 

QUESTION:  What kind of an impression did you have during your visit to the South East? Was there anything that changed your mind or views?

AMBASSADOR:  This was my first visit to that part of the country, and the first detailed conversations I have had with political leaders, with civic leaders and so forth.  One impression I came away with is how dynamic that region is economically.  I see a lot of construction, a lot of commercial activity here of course and in Ankara.  But I was impressed by what I saw in Sanliurfa, Mardin and even Diyarbakir.  People are making a lot of money, and there is a lot of commercial activity.  From everything I hear, it is a far better and more promising economic picture than it was five years ago, ten years ago or twenty years ago. 

A second impression that I got is that the political leaders down there are trying to grapple with some real hard problems.  I was very impressed by several of them, and in particular by the governor of Diyarbakir.

QUESTION: Could you mean the Mayor?

AMBASSADOR:  No, Governor. Governor Ala was quite successful in Batman province at reducing some of the tensions and dealing with some of the problems, and of promoting economic growth and development. 

It appeared to me that he is trying to apply some of the same lessons in Diyarbakir, including by having a sustained dialogue to the extent that it’s possible and appropriate to do so with the municipal authorities, with the business groups, some of the non- governmental organizations and others.  As a newcomer to Turkey and a first-time visitor of that region and therefore somebody that doesn’t know everything he should, that strikes me as the right approach.  Although clearly there was a certain amount of tension below the surface when I was there -- I think as a result of the rioting that took place in late March, early April -- my colleagues who had traveled to Diyarbakir and the region ten years ago were very clear that the atmosphere there has changed and it has changed very significantly for the better.  So clearly there is a lot to do, but I saw some signs of promise.