AMBASSADOR'S REMARKS AND PUBLIC EVENTS

Ambassador Ross Wilson Speaks to the Media Following a Meeting with TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu

Ankara, July 17, 2006

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Thank you very much, Mr. Hisarciklioglu.  I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet with you today and talk about this project.  During Foreign Minister Gul’s very important visit to Washington earlier this month, he and Secretary Rice finalized agreement on a document that talks about a shared vision and strategic partnership between the United States and Turkey.  The paper identifies many different areas in which the United States and Turkey pledged to cooperate and work together.  Among those is an effort to work together in promoting bilateral trade, investment and other economic ties between our two countries.  So the opening of this new initiative between the US Chamber of Commerce and TOBB with the support of the US Government is a very timely step forward that we think will help to expand trade investment ties.  As I think was indicated earlier, this program will target small and medium size Turkish firms, will work with them to help identify some of the issues involved in accessing the US market and attracting American investment, in exporting your products to the United States and in purchasing from the United States.  I am very grateful to the US Agency for International Development for making a funding available this.  I am also very, very grateful to TOBB, and to local chambers of commerce here in Turkey who have also helped to bring this project to a good conclusion that is beneficial to both our countries.  Thank you very much.

QUESTION:  Prime Minister Erdogan and the international community (inaudible).  He said Turkey could withdraw its support for the Greater Middle East Project. How do you evaluate that?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I am not really in a position to comment directly on what the Prime Minister said.  I can say couple of things about the situation in the Middle East.  First and most important, we, like everybody else, very much regret the violence that has taken place.  We think it is important to recognize how this started.  It started with rocket attacks on Israel from northern Gaza, the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Hamas military wing, rocket attacks and kidnapping of soldiers also along the Israeli-Lebanese border by militia associated with Hezbollah.  We certainly understand the right of Israel and of Israelis to protect themselves.  We have also been in touch at the highest levels with the Israeli authorities to urge restraint.  We have urged that the Israelis consider the consequences of the actions that they are carrying out, to try to avoid and minimize civilian casualties, to prevent undue damage to the civilian infrastructure, and to not weaken the democratically elected government of Lebanon.  We are urging countries that have influence in Syria, that have influence in Iran, that have influence among the Palestinians to use that influence to try to help bring about the release of Israeli soldiers who have been held captive, and to bring an end to these rocket attacks on civilian populations in Israel. 

And we also support the work of the UN Secretary General and of his people to try to help de-escalate the situation including in particular through the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 which calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and for Lebanon to take control of its border with Israel.  Our perspective is that the extremists in Hezbollah and the extremists in Hamas are dragging their people and their countries into a terrible situation.  They want to dial the clock back on freedom, on democracy; dial the clock back to terror and violence.  We want to continue to work with those who are for freedom, who are for peace, and for democracy in the region.  And I would include Turkey among those countries. 

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, the PKK has increased (inaudible), and again Prime Minister made a very harsh statement and said they can come up with new steps in the fight against terrorism. Will the US Government be much more helpful to Turkey?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  First, we have been, and I personally have been deeply saddened by the news reports that I have read in the course of the last several days.  I think it is in excess of a dozen Turkish security forces and others who have been killed in the last week or so by PKK violence.  When Secretary Rice was here in April, she talked about redoubling our efforts and our efforts together to deal with PKK violence.  The subject was discussed extensively when Foreign Minister Gul was in Washington ten days or so ago.  And I think the next step that we look forward to is the convening of these trilateral talks - Turkey, the United States and the Iraqi authorities - to see what we can do together, the three of us working together to address the problem.  There have been some contacts to get this organized.  I hope that those contacts bear fruit very soon. 

QUESTION:  (inaudible question on the fight against PKK terror)

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  As a general matter I think we all recognize that people have a right to defend themselves, and countries have a right to defend themselves.  The question generally is what is the best and most effective way to do so, and what is the way to do so that will have the right kinds of consequences and results, and will avoid the wrong kinds of consequences and results.  We have felt for a long time and I have said repeatedly that the right approach to the PKK problem is a complex approach that involves working on a number of different fronts, not just one.  We have been working with the Turkish authorities and supporting the efforts of the Turkish authorities to deal with PKK terrorists in Turkey.  We have been working with Turkey and with our European friends and partners to deal with the problem of the PKK in Europe, and with the financing that comes from those people into PKK activities wherever they are.  And clearly there is a northern Iraq piece.  The Iraqi authorities have indicated they want to work with and cooperate with Turkey to deal with that.  As Foreign Minister Zebari indicated here just two or three weeks ago.  And I would think that if there is a prospect for doing so -- Turkish, Iraq and the United States collaboration together to deal with this matter -- that is a much sounder and more sensible way to go forward than perhaps to try to deal with this unilaterally.  We all want Iraq to succeed.  The United States very much has appreciated and the Iraqi people, I think, have appreciated the help and assistance that Turkey has given toward Iraq’s success.  We think that that should be the primary direction of our activities.  That success will end the PKK problem.  It will end the problem of terrorist groups throughout that country. 

QUESTION:  (inaudible question on the Turkish-Palestinian investment project in Gaza)

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I would just add that we discussed this project a little bit in our brief conversation upstairs.  I noted there that the logic for this project was compelling, it is compelling, and it will be compelling in the future.  The project holds out the promise of jobs and of business opportunities and prosperity for many, many people of Gaza which will be an important underpinning for peace in that area.  And on that basis the United States Government supports it.  Clearly the conditions on the ground have to allow for it to go forward.  We hope that those conditions exist soon. 

Thank you.