Ambassador's remarks
Press Roundtable with Ambassador Ross Wilson
Ankara, September 21, 2006
AMBASSADOR WILSON: When I initially thought about trying to get together with you at this time of the year, my idea was, we have come back from a lot of summer vacations and we are back at work and it will be good to talk about the agenda ahead. Since I had that idea in the early summer, of course, we have scheduled Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit to Washington so that I think is a particular point to lead with.
Obviously this is an important visit for us. This is the first direct meeting between the two presidents since last June, June 8. There are a number of important issues in the region and on the US-Turkish agenda to talk about. In particular I think the two leaders will want to talk about the developments in the region, how each leader sees those developments and how we can work together. Whether this topic is Iraq, obviously a lot of ongoing issues there, uncertainty about where Iraq is headed. And I think also with respect to Iraq a certain amount of reflection off of the initiative of General Ralston -- how it is going and where it is headed.
I am sure that they will also want to consult one another on Iran. Here I expect that the Prime Minister will hear some appreciation for Turkey’s role in supporting international diplomacy to persuade the Iranians to abide by their international commitments, in particular the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, and how we can work together and what’s on the program for the coming number of months.
On the Middle East, I am sure that the Prime Minister will hear some appreciation for Turkey’s contribution to UNIFIL, and for the Prime Minister’s leadership in helping to make that happen, as well as thanks for Turkey’s role with respect to the evacuation of a couple of thousand American out of Lebanon earlier in the summer. And I would assume there would also be some talk about the way forward in Lebanon, the way forward in terms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
And then I think a fourth regional issue that I would expect that our President would be interested in is how Prime Minister Erdogan sees the EU accession process moving and how the United States can best be helpful to Turkey and also to our many friends in Europe.
Obviously the trip is a reflection of the importance that the United States attaches to this country and in particular to the personal relationship between the President and Prime Minister Erdogan.
Why don’t I leave it at that and respond your questions.
QUESTION: You said that one of the issues would be the efforts by General Ralston. When he was here he said there should be effective and urgent measures, but he also said visible measures, that the Turkish public opinion, American public opinion should be able to see these measures. I know that not very much time has gone by since but the Prime Minister of Iraq has apparently ordered the closure of the office of the PKK in that country. Should we see that as the first result of this effort?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: I am not sure I want to talk about what is a first result or approach the topic in quite that way. You are quiet correct. Both in his remarks to you, to the press, and also in what he said privately to the Turkish Government officials -- also said the same thing in Iraq -- was that there needs to be effective and efficient measures with respect to the PKK and that they need to be visible in particular so that the Turkish public sees something happening on what we certainly recognize as an extremely painful subject for millions of people in this country. In the remarks that I made yesterday, I talked a little bit about one step that has been taken in the wake of General Ralston’s visit to Iraq, and also in the wake of the Prime Minister’s correspondence with Prime Minister Maliki which was a clear statement by the Iraqi Government that the PKK presence should end, that the offices should be closed, will be closed, and that Iraq will prevent, decides to prevent its terrorist activities.
Now a statement is always a good thing, or can be a good thing, delivering on that is another task. But it was an initial step that we thought is important. The Iraqis have taken steps to close offices. I think what we and what Iraqi authorities and of course especially Turkish authorities would like to see that the offices actually stay closed that they don’t just move somewhere else or open under some new name but resume the functions that they would carry out before. So there too is a certain amount of monitoring and delivery that we have to work on. It think there are a number of other things and General Ralston will be working on developing other ideas, as he said here, over the course of the coming number of days.
QUESTION: Ambassador, on Iran you said that the two leaders might talk about the program on the coming months -- how the two countries can cooperate. What do you expect in the coming months concerning Iran and how can Turkey be helpful to the international community?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: The President’s remarks in New York the day before yesterday again highlighted the high priority that he attaches to international diplomacy to solve this problem of Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear technology and nuclear weapons. As I said we believe Turkey has played an important role in supporting international diplomacy in particular supporting the efforts of the EU 3, the so-called Perm5+1-- the five permanent members the Security Council plus Germany -- and I would expect that the President will want to, and that the Prime Minister will want to, review a common understanding of how each other understands the situation with respect to Iran and consult one another on what now should happen over the course of the next number of months in the Security Council vis-à-vis Iran, among the key countries that are leading this international effort and how we consult with one another. I don’t want to lay out a road map for you. I think that will be something the President will want to do with the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister will want to do with him, with others that he may meet with while he is in the United States.
QUESTION: Mr. Ambassador, I don’t know whether you mentioned this or not. We know that the United States totally supports the Turkish EU process. There are lots of discussions about the Cyprus issue especially. And somebody saying that there will be a train crash at the end of this year and the negotiations can be stopped. Maybe the two leaders will talk about the Cyprus issue. We know that there were some steps from the United States before. Maybe there can be another step after the visit and they can talk about how they can evaluate that issue.
AMBASSADOR WILSON: As I indicated before you stepped in, I think one thing that the President and the Prime Minister will want to talk about -- and that our President will be interested in -- is how Prime Minister Erdogan sees and how Turkey sees the accession process going. There are a number of issues, obviously quiet a few issues. Cyprus is clearly one of them and there are many aspects, of course, of the Cyprus issue, some which are not really part of the EU process. In the previous meetings that the Prime Minister and the President have had, they have talked about Cyprus. They have talked about steps that this Government has taken. Our President encouraged those steps, encouraged the Prime Minister when he said that Turkey will try to stay one step ahead, will keep itself one step ahead. I assume and expect that the President will approach this conversation in the same way. But I don’t want to tell, you know, he is going to present some bright new plan or idea. Overall I think I would expect him to continue to express our strong support for Turkey’s EU accession and our strong interest in working in ways that we can – we are not a party to those negotiations now -- to be helpful to Turkey and to our European friends and partners as they grapple with the issues later this year and then beyond.
QUESTION: Ambassador, in the western press, including the American press, there are some comments that this Government is going more and more Islamic, and there are some worries in many circles that Turkey is turning her face east rather than west day by day increasingly. Do you think this might also be an issue including the fourth article within the context of the EU accession process because these concerns are being voiced by also the Europeans. And how do you evaluate the Government’s performance?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: I think this is a subject on which, particularly for public purposes, I am not sure that we have a position that I want to articulate here. We regard Turkey as a democratic secular country that has been unusually successful in modernizing itself, in developing its own democratic institutions, in strengthening and developing those institutions and in a part of the world where that’s hard, certainly hard for a lot of your neighbors. And in a society that is predominantly Muslim which is, at this time in the world history, is an example to other predominantly Muslim societies in the region that Islam and democracy are somehow at odds with one another. On the specifics of developments here, those are basically internal Turkish affairs. Of course there are American commentators that have this or that view. I think, again, for the public purposes this is not something that we want to comment on too much.
QUESTION: We know the importance of freedom of expression in the road to the European Union process and it is a case which the United States views as very important. How do you evaluate the results of Elif Safak’s case?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: Frankly, I was relieved when I heard the news today. These cases have raised a lot of concern here in Turkey and abroad about implications in terms of freedom of speech and freedom of expression in a country where those have been well respected values for many years. My country holds few principles higher or attaches greater importance to fewer human rights issues than freedom of speech and freedom of expression and so, of course, we associate ourselves here with those who have expressed concern and those who have called for stronger efforts to protect freedom of expression and freedom of speech. What those efforts are, that is something that Turkey through its elected leaders is going to have to figure out. We hope and expected it will be done in a way that is consistent with the commitment here, that has existed for some time, to freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
QUESTION: So you wouldn’t say that Turkey should either change or remove all together this article?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: Again, I think the specific steps that Turkey takes to further safeguard and strengthen freedom of speech or freedom of expression or something for people here to figure out. There have been a number of prominent individuals here in this country -- Turkish citizens -- who have called for section 301 and a couple of the others to be dropped. There are others that have talked about changes in the language. It’s not necessarily for me to say, here is what you need to do or change this word to that or drop this word or that word out of a law.
The effect of the actions that I think that we would like to see, and many would like to see, many Turkish citizens would like to see, is a further strengthening of freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
And I think that the dismissal of these charges today, I heard the press report about that, that’s a good step, it’s a good precedent. We hope that it can be followed in the future, that can be one step that will further strengthen freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
QUESTION: You didn’t mention it but during the visit could the U.S. side ask for troops from Turkey to fight in Afghanistan?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: You’re right, I didn’t mention Afghanistan and I probably should. There are a range of other topics that I think may well be on the agenda. I would also hasten to add the broader global war on terrorism which obviously is very important to us. And I think it is also very important to Turkey for reasons I referred to earlier. As I think has been reported, there was some discussion among NATO Defense Chiefs in Warsaw about 10 days ago, about the strong interest in NATO’s commanders in seeing an increase -- not a large increase but a modest increase -- in the overall number of NATO troops that are committed to Afghanistan. And it comes in the context of increased fighting with the Taliban over the course of the last several weeks.
Whether the President will take this specific issue up or not, I don’t know. There have been a number of discussions since before Warsaw; there have been discussions since Warsaw. Turkey will have to make its own decisions and I think we will respect those decisions. We hope and expect that all member countries of NATO will try to look very hard at what further troops they may be able to provide to insure the success of this mission. Afghanistan is one of our success stories, where we got rid of the Taliban. We got rid of Al-Qaeda and put that country for the first time in almost 30 years in a much better direction. We need to not let that slip.
QUESTION: On BBC, the day before yesterday I think, there was a news program more or less confirming that in Northern Iraq, the Peshmerge was being trained by Israelis. I would like you to comment on that first. And secondly, Turkey has been stressing in the past few weeks especially the fact that before a referendum on Kirkuk there should be consensus, there should be a compromise between the sides. I also would like you to comment on that.
AMBASSADOR WILSON: On the first issue it is actually easy to answer. Everything I know is what I’ve read in press reports based on the BBC report. I have no further information or insight to give you or much less how true it may be. On Kirkuk, Turkey and a number of other Governments as well as many political figures within Iraq itself have been discussing concerns about Kirkuk, about the provision in the Iraqi Constitution concerning Kirkuk and about what will be the right approach to implementing that and or whether it should be looked at further and changed.
There was some discussion early this year of this matter in the context of the negotiations to form a new government. The Constitution provides for a constitutional review period that was to have begun within several months, I believe, of the formation of the government. I believe that process may get started now in the next number of weeks and one of the things that Iraqi leaders expect that they will need to look at is whether the arrangements on Kirkuk are sufficient, will they, should some modifications be considered that will help to ensure our and the Iraqis own larger goals of supporting the unity and success of democratic Iraq. What the specific things are, I do not want to get too far into that.
It’s a topical issue; it’s of great concern to us. We know it is of concern to Turkey. And it’s of concern to a whole lot of people in Iraq.
QUESTION: If they do not make the expected changes like Turkey signed, what might happen?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: Well I do not want to speculate too much about what might happen. The Iraqi authorities have lots of problems that they’ll be juggling. At some point they are going to have to come to some conclusion about Kirkuk. It’s their decision to make. At the end of the day this is an Iraqi affair. It is one of which other countries have some concerns and will express those concerns. I’m sure the Iraqis will take them under consideration.
QUESTION: Ambassador, some members of the U.N. Security Council are against sanctions on Iran. It seems that diplomacy does not give any reason for them. So, is your government planning some sort of a voluntary coalition of counties for sanctions and would you like Turkey to be in this coalition?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: Let’s say two things. First, as I mentioned earlier, the President’s remarks two days ago in New York, I think, were, among other things, very clearly designed to reflect his continued commitment to pursuing through diplomatic channels a solution to this problem of Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. As to specific “what ifs”-- if those diplomatic efforts are not successful, there has been for some time general discussion, not specific or operational in nature, among members of the Security Council and the Perm 5 about steps that could be taken if Iran did not respond to the proposal that the P5+1 put forward I think at the beginning of June.
That’s never become a specific conversation for a whole variety of reasons including the commitment of the P5+1 to try to continue to resolve this through diplomatic means.
We have appreciated the statements that Turkish officials have made that if the U.N. Security Council makes decisions with respect to Iran, whether it’s sanctions or whatever, that Turkey will be part of that, will abide by its obligations. As to other steps, voluntary steps, you’ve seen some press reports about alleged conversations that have been taking place; I don’t have a lot to add to that. The thrust of our activity continues to be to try to persuade the Iranians to say yes to the proposal that was put forward in the beginning of June and then move to the negotiating table.
QUESTION: Turkey wants to buy 30 F-16s. What is your evaluation? Could there be a problem in the Congress?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: It’s always hard to predict or speak for the United States Congress. There has been long standing and strong support for many, many years for the provision of defense articles to Turkey. It’s a subject that I personally have spent a lot of time on -- defense procurement issues in this country. If at some point this possible purchase becomes formalized and is (inaudible) to Congress I would expect that there would be strong support for it. Not much more I could say than that.
QUESTION: Mr. Ambassador, the Black Sea is getting more important for NATO after the entrance of Bulgaria and Romania. Could this be discussed during the Prime Minister’s visit?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: Sure, they can talk about anything. I’m sure that they’ll talk about a number of things that I didn’t identify earlier. The Black Sea is an area where I think we believe the United States and Turkey have been cooperating well for a number of time. Operation Active Endeavour, Operation Black Sea Harmony, the so-called Blackseafor, not all of these include the United States. They do reflect a shared commitment to security in the Black Sea, to monitoring and seeking to prevent illicit weapons trafficking and drug trafficking and human trafficking and so forth. There’s a significant amount of information sharing that goes on between those operations in the Black Sea that Turkey is more directly involved in, with Operation Active Endeavour that carries out activities in the Mediterranean.
This is an area of cooperation for us. And to the extent that this gets discussed I would anticipate it would be in that spirit.
QUESTION: After the Iraqi issue the American image has been destroyed in the Middle East countries, including Turkey. In the strategic partnership document it says Turkey and the United States will work together. Will there be any new package to bolster the image of the United States in Middle East countries and what kind of expectations are there from Turkey?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: Maybe the best way to talk about the issue you raise is to say that I would not be surprised if Prime Minister Erdogan wanted to talk about this issue of the United States and the West in the Middle East. And what I believe is the shared interest we have in promoting the same kinds of values, working together more effectively and how that image may affect that cooperation.
There is not for this visit some big deliverable. The two leaders are not going to walk out and sign some new piece of paper or announce some big new U.S. – Turkish bilateral initiative or regional initiative. It’s not that kind of a visit. This is a normal consultation among leaders of two countries that are very, very important to one another.
QUESTION: In your speech the other evening and also in your response to another question you expressed the importance of the Iraq Government statement. I was going to ask what the Turkish Government could do to encourage Iraqis. I mean do you think meeting with their leaders including Talabani and Barzani, would be helpful for this? We feel that there are some concerns in the Turkish officials’ minds whether to meet or not. How would you comment on this? Would it be helpful for our own purposes in order to deal with PKK?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: I have encouraged, since I arrived here, the Turkish Government to reach out, meet with, talk with and support the leaders of the Iraqi Government. When it was the old Government, and especially since the new Government that was formed in the course of this spring. For whatever reasons, maybe partly even because we encouraged it, Turkey in fact has done that. There have been a number of meetings at very senior levels here, particularly here and in Istanbul. I think there has been less movement in the other direction, but probably not zero movement in the other direction, in Iraq. I know that one of the Iraqi Vice Presidents was in Istanbul maybe three or four weeks ago and had good meetings with the Prime Minister. Maybe it was in early July, I think, about the time that I met with the Prime Minister in Istanbul. Bahram Salah came out here. There have been a number of conversations. We encourage more of those to support the Iraqi Government, so that Turkey can work directly with the Iraqi authorities on the issues that are of interest to it, whether it’s trade matters and issues that arise at the Habur Gate, where both countries have been working well and sorting through a number of matters, or the PKK or Kirkuk or any whole variety of other things. Direct conversations are always a pretty good idea; we’ve encouraged them. I expect that there will be continued high level meetings.
QUESTION: How do you consider the Iraqi PKK coordinator?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: I don’t like the word "coordinator." The matter is "Iraq’s counterpart to General Ralston and General Baser." I kind of lost track of this in the last 24 hours or so. Well I read that the Iraqis were going to name somebody and then I read one report that they had named someone and then I read another report they named somebody else. I’m here, not in Baghdad. As we have indicated for a long time, including when Secretary Rice was here in April, we attach a lot of importance to this trilateral process of cooperation among our three countries. To make that work, there’s obviously got to be somebody on the Iraqi side. Both the United States and Turkey took the step of naming very senior and prominent people to head up their respect of efforts. We expect that the Iraqis will want to do likewise. That’s a subject that General Ralston talked with the Iraqi authorities about when he was there. If they haven’t made this official yet, maybe they have and I just lost track of it, I’m sure that they will in the very, very near future.
QUESTION: Do you have a date for the trilateral meeting at the technical level?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: No.
QUESTION: The program of the Prime Minister. Who is he going to meet?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: The only thing that I can really tell you is that he meets with the President. I’m pretty sure it’s 10:00 in the morning on the 2nd. Other parts of his program the Turkish Embassy in Washington is arranging. I think he is in New York on Saturday at some point on Sunday he travels down to Washington, what exactly he is doing those days, that is basically his program -- we are not involved in it. Somebody told me he would be meeting with the Turkish-America groups in New York on Saturday, but whether that was actually set up or not I don’t know.
QUESTION: Would there be a joint press briefing, or conference or some sort? It’s being speculated as you know in some columns that they might not go in front of the press together.
AMBASSADOR WILSON: I don’t know that what I say speaks for the final decisions. The normal thing in meetings like this is either at the beginning of the meeting or maybe more likely at the end of the meeting, especially since this is an hour that the two of them are together, and not half an hour or twenty minutes, that the press would come in and be able to ask a couple of questions. The two leaders will be able to say a little bit about their meeting and the press can ask a couple of question, but that’s up to the White House people.
QUESTION: I’m confused. Is it an hour -- I mean the duration?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: My understanding is that the meeting, the Prime Minister’s meeting with the President, is 10 to 11:00.
QUESTION: Any lunch?
AMBASSADOR WILSON: No. 11:00 is a little early to have lunch in Washington.
And I understand that he is going to London and after that I’m not sure what comes next.
Thank you.