AMBASSADOR'S REMARKS AND PUBLIC EVENTS

Ambassador Ross Wilson Interview With James Naughtie, BBC Radio 4

August 29, 2006

REPORTER: We are joined now by the American Ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson.  Ambassador, good morning to you.

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Good morning.

REPORTER: What do you think is going to be the main purpose of the new Envoy [for Countering the PKK]?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, we have attached a lot of importance to establishing a US–Turkey–Iraq mechanism to try to deal cooperatively and collectively with the problem of the PKK in northern Iraq – a problem which Turkey, the United States and the government of Iraq all see more or less the same way. General Ralston will be our representative to those trilateral talks. He will also coordinate US efforts to counter the PKK and to eliminate the threat of the PKK operating out of northern Iraq and across the border into Turkey.

REPORTER:  But there is a formidable problem here. The Turks believe that they have a right to initiate cross-border actions to eliminate PKK camps. What is the United States view of that?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, of course the Turkish authorities have a right, indeed an obligation, to defend their people. We accept that and we understand it and in fact we support it as allies of Turkey.  Turkey is also an ally of the United States; it is a friend of Iraq. We all agree that there should be no use of northern Iraq as a sanctuary for the PKK or as a base of PKK attacks. So, our solution is to try to work together and cooperatively to deal with this.

REPORTER:  To be clear, what do you think about a policy of cross-border incursions into Iraq to deal with PKK camps, which is what the Turkish Government believes it could do

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, we have urged some caution with respect to cross-border attacks. And we have pointed instead to a cooperative effort that would help to support the sovereignty and the territorial integrity and, frankly, the success of the new government in Iraq, which is important to all of us.

REPORTER:  Well, you are using diplomatic language, Ambassador, but the truth is the United States is against any incursion by Turkey across the border into Iraq. Is that right or wrong?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  As I said, we have indicated that we have thought that would be unwise.

REPORTER:  Well, the Turks will no doubt know what that means. What is the chance of sorting this out?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I think that there are good prospects. President Bush had a good discussion about the PKK issue with the Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, when he was in Washington. Our Ambassador in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, has had a number of talks with President Talabani about this. The Iraqi authorities have started to take some steps. I think they certainly recognize, as I indicated earlier, that they do not want, as we do not want, for northern Iraq to be used as a base of attacks on Turkey.

REPORTER: You have a problem here because in the end this is the responsibility of the new Iraqi Government, a government which President Bush says is getting stronger by the day. And it is not going to do what Turkey wants. It is as simple as that.

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  We would not be pursuing this line of activity if we did not think that there was a reasonable prospect to succeed in helping Turkey to address this long-standing problem of PKK violence.

REPORTER: Ambassador Ross Wilson, thank you very much.