Ambassador's remarks and public events

Ambassador Ross Wilson Interview with Semih Idiz, Milliyet

September 22, 2006

QUESTION:  First of all, Mr. Ambassador, now Prime Minister Erdogan will be visiting Washington soon.  This is a visit that will obviously be followed very closely in Turkey.  Of course, the opposition has jumped in immediately saying this is only a photo opportunity for Erdogan with President Bush because he himself is going to run for President.  So it is already part of the domestic political debate.  What do you expect from this visit coming as it does now - there have been some developments in between in terms of the PKK coordinator and other issues?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  This is the first visit, the first direct contact between the two since June 2005.  So it has been a little bit over a year.  I think the reason why we are doing this is because Turkey is important to the United States, and the United States is important to Turkey, and it is, therefore, important that our two leaders have regular contacts, have frank and open discussions, and have a personal relationship that they and our governments can draw upon as we work through things.  I would expect that a major part of the discussion will be an exchange of views between the two leaders about the events going on in this region that are important to Turkey and the United States.  Obviously, Iraq and the matter of the PKK is going to be a topic.  Iran, issues related to Iran’s nuclear ambitions in particular is another, developments in the Middle East, Turkey’s progress with the European Union, and there are probably some other regional issues, regional energy issues, for example, some other things, but to kind of touch base and come together in reviewing these main regional and other issues that were reflected in the so-called Shared Vision and Structured Dialogue Paper that Secretary Rice and Foreign Minister Gul announced in July. 

QUESTION:  In fact that was my second question.  What is your assessment about ties today especially in view of the Vision Paper that you mentioned?  Are these ties moving along the lines spelled out in the paper or do you still need some work?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, what the paper does is –and you’ve seen it - it identifies a number of the topics on which our two countries pledge to, in the coming period, to work harder and more effectively on and to advance our common interests.  And in the second part of the paper, it identifies a number of ways, mechanisms that we are going to use to do that, in particular through high level dialogue.  In fulfillment of that we have had here our State Department Assistant Secretary for South Asia and Central Asia to talk about developments in that exchange of views, developments in Afghanistan and Central Asia and elsewhere that are of interest to our two countries.   Turkey’s Trade Minister was just recently in Washington.  Turkey’s Agriculture Minister was just in Washington.  We are looking to have a number of other things now in the fall that we will be able to announce as soon as they are ready to announce.  As I said in my remarks a couple of nights ago, one manifestation of our work in advancing the shared vision was the appointment of General Ralston to be our Envoy for countering PKK terrorism.  We recognize this is a major issue to a lot of -- obviously to Turkey as a whole and to a lot of people in this country that have been touched by PKK violence.  We wanted to work harder and more effectively on that.  It reflects our shared interest in that area.  Overall relations, you know, I think a lot of progress has been made since the President and the Prime Minister met last June.  We have had a whole long list of very, very senior discussions.  I think we have been coordinating effectively on Iraq, and in particular with issues related to the formation of government in Baghdad and trying to help that government to succeed.  We have been cooperating effectively on Iran, in particular the international diplomacy to try to persuade Iran to meet its obligations under the N.P.T. (Non-Proliferation Treaty).  We have been cooperating in a number of other areas and the two will reflect on that and talk where they want to go next. 

QUESTION:  You mentioned General Ralston, of course, and that kind of comes up automatically in my mind.  Now, there is still confusion in Turkey as to what General Ralston will actually be doing.  Because you know there is a simplistic thing that comes to mind.  I mean, these are supposed to be two strategic allies.  And strategic alliance almost seems to suggest that you already have these corridors and contacts established that you don’t need a coordinator over and above.  Why do we need a coordinator and in terms of explaining it to the Turkish public, what is he exactly going to do? 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  We don’t use the word “coordinator.”  I am not entirely sure where that came from, it may have been used in an offhand way by somebody, but it is not – if you look at the announcement that the State Department put out on his appointment, I don’t believe you’ll find the word “coordinator” there.  His role, his title is Special Envoy for Countering PKK Terrorism.  In this capacity, I see two main roles.  One is to serve as the United States lead representative to these…this trilateral US- Turkey-Iraq mechanism that has existed for some time, that has not produced the results that any of our countries wanted to achieve.  By putting in a more senior official in charge of the effort on our side we are trying to convey a different kind of seriousness, a purpose with respect to that trilateral effort. And frankly also with respect to the bilateral work now that the United States and Turkey may be able to do in this area as well.

General Ralston’s second purpose is to help the senior decision makers in our government, the President, the National Security Council, the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, Chairman  of our Joint Chiefs of Staff, more effectively pulled together the U.S. Government in terms of  what is going to be the U.S. Governments response, and what are going to be the instruments of United States power and influence that he can bring to bear with respect to the PKK presence in Northern Iraq.

QUESTION: So this is a proactive job rather than a reactive one or one designed to procrastinate or prevaricate or to buy time as it’s being portrayed in the media.

AMBASSADOR WILSON: If you ask around in this country. People who know general Ralston- and there are a lot of people who know General Ralston - the Turkish military and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and elsewhere from his experience as Vice Chairman of our Joint Chiefs and his experience as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe - they will tell you, and I will tell you, General Joe Ralston is not going to take a job just to mark time or be an excuse for other action. He’s a very serious, very action-oriented guy. This is a proactive job.

QUESTION: One thing that he did mention when he was in Turkey - and I think it is an accurate representation - he said that there is a need to recognize the need in the Turkish public to see something happen. I’m paraphrasing, I don’t know his exact words. Now, your average Turk, again, who is perhaps being guided a little by the political environment in Turkey - we have a very charged political environment and you know this of course - says, you know, there are journalists who can go to Northern Iraq, who can meet people like Osman Ocalan and whatever; who’s names are on a list given to the Americans vis-à-vis the people that we want apprehended in this context. How do you respond to such a criticism, and can we expect anything concrete or visible in the coming period? As even General Ralston suggested there appears to be a need.

AMBASSADOR WILSON: Well, General Ralston was very clear and very direct in his private meetings and also, in this context, with the media here about the need for actions that are effective and visible. When you are dealing with matters of terrorism there are a lot of things that governments do that almost by its very nature is not visible and can’t be visible. Because to the extent it becomes visible, it undermines our ability to do those things. And some of the most effective things we can do, we don’t really want to be visible. We want for them to produce results and they will produce results. And they have produced results. We can’t really talk about it too much. And so that effective part includes many things that are not going to be obvious or apparent by their very nature to the Turkish public. He also talked about the need for visible actions to show to the people of Turkey visibly that the United States is with the people of Turkey on this issue and that we’re taking steps that they can see, and they’re not just steps that they can’t see.

QUESTION: Again, another thing that is being bandied around in Turkey; America is trying to get some kind of a dialogue with the PKK or some of it’s proxies, perhaps the imagery is the ETA and the IRA imagery. Tony Blair has said ‘I’ll even talk to the devil if it brings peace.’ Is the American side seeking some kind of a dialogue with a view to perhaps amnesty for some PKK elements in the mountains, some kind of a peace initiative on both sides.  Are you in this business?

AMBASSADOR WILSON: Again, General Ralston could not possibly have been clearer or simpler when he said I will not negotiate with the PKK. I will not talk with the PKK.

QUESTION: So that’s it.  I don’t want to dwell on this topic too much, but you will acknowledge that it is the center of interest here. Just as a round up, do you think that there is some things that could be done on the civilian side vis-à-vis the Kurdish problem in this country which even Prime Minister Erdogan has acknowledged exists?

AMBASSADOR WILSON: Clearly, Turkey - like every country in the world - has got a number of internal issues that it needs to deal with -- the problems of poverty, of lack of economic development, particularly in the southeast of Turkey, although not exclusively, there are very serious ones. Prime Minister Erdogan when he was in Diyarbakir last August talked about the Kurdish issue, talked about the need and the opportunity to deal with it through Turkey’s constitutional, legal and democratic processes. Those are all important things and they are important things to work on along with the many other issues that the government and Turkish society have to try to deal with. It has…it is a separate conversation from the struggle against PKK terrorism.

QUESTON: Coming to Northern Iraq in terms, in general terms. Now, I understand that there is a bit of a stand-off between our President and Mr. Talabani. Mr. Talabani is the constitutional president of Iraq and yet our President has said openly on record this is why I’m not actually (inaudible) that he thinks it is premature to visit, to have a visit of Mr. Talabani to Turkey, and that he doesn’t like pressure being put on him for this visit, so that seems to suggest that there’s some pressure from other organs of state.  Do you think that for the sake of normalization of relations between Turkey and Iraq for the sake of a better image in that regard that this visit should take place?

AMBASSADOR WILSON: I’m not sure I want to address a specific person or a specific visit. I have -- and I have said it openly since I arrived here in last December -- talked with Turkish Government officials about the importance of high level contact between officials of Turkey and officials of Iraq. First, because there are a lot of issues on the plate that are important to both countries.  Second, those contacts are a way of showing support -- for Turkey to show support to the new democratic Government of Iraq.  So high level meeting whether it’s presidents or prime ministers, foreign ministers, defense ministers, interior ministers, all these things are important. We encourage them, and I have encouraged the Turkish Government to try to work in those directions.

QUESTION: Now, I notice a closer…a parity, a growing parity in views of the American and the Turkish side vis-à-vis Kirkuk.  This is the impression I get from various reports coming out of Washington – that Kirkuk is a tinderbox, you know, you have to manage it very carefully, that perhaps the Kurds are overstepping the mark in some respects. The International Crisis Group report puts this forward very precisely.  What is you position on Kirkuk, because I understand that Foreign Minister Gul mentioned this in his discussion with Secretary Rice, which was yesterday, the day before yesterday, I’m not quite sure. How do you view the situation as it develops in Kirkuk given that six bombs exploded this week?

AMBASSADOR WILSON: We recognize Kirkuk is a very sensitive issue in Iraqi politics, first. Second, it is an issue that needs to be dealt with and decided by the Iraqi people. It’s their country. Third, it should be dealt with in accordance with the constitution and with whatever changes that may be made to the constitution in accordance with this constitutional review procedure that was agreed upon late last year. I believe that there has been some discussion in Iraq about what kinds of changes might be contemplated with respect to the constitutional provisions for deciding Kirkuk’s future -- a lot of ideas out there. What we are encouraging is, first; Iraqis need to decide this, second, the way that they decide it or the conclusions that come out the other end need to be one that reflect a fair amount of consensus across the political spectrum.

QUESTION:  So, I gather from that it’s perhaps not too helpful for Mr. Barzani, who keeps coming up on saying Kirkuk is our natural capital, nobody can take it away from us. It seems to pre-empt a referendum.

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I’m not going to comment on Barzani’s remarks, including because I don’t know exactly what he said or in what context. I can only… I would only restate the things I said earlier.

QUESTION:  If we turn to Turkish-EU relations, I know this – much to the chagrin of the French perhaps -- but this is important for the United States also, in fact, it almost has a strategic value from the various remarks I get from Washington. How do you see these progressing?  Could Turkey be helping itself more in some respects, perhaps with less cases like the one we had yesterday? The minorities issues and Cyprus. How do you see the general picture?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  We have – as you know - we have long supported Turkey’s European Union aspirations going back decades.  We thought that a very important step was taken in October last year. Secretary Rice personally invested a certain amount of effort to try to help our Turkish friends and also our European Union friends to try to get to the right place. My understanding is that there’s a lot of good progress in the screening mechanisms, some good work at sort of the technical level, particularly as it pertains to economic issues and some standards, various other kind of items.

Clearly, there are a number of challenges. Public opinion - you mentioned France – public opinion in a number of European Union member states doesn’t currently support Turkey’s accession. Turkey has a number of important legal and policy changes and it is going to have to make, both to successfully conclude the EU accession process and probably, frankly, also to get there. It is not just something that’s going to pop out with a burst in 2010 or 12 or 15 or whenever these talks finish. It’s a steady step by step process. Some of those changes are important to convince European  publics that Turkey is serious, that Turkey is committed to the same kind of political standards, the same kind of economic standards that all the other EU members, all the other members share. And issues relate to freedom of expression, whether it relates to equal rights and equal opportunity for everybody, regardless of, say, religious faith or ethnic community, minority communities, there are a number of these issues. And how Turkey deals with them will be important to keeping these talks on track.

QUESTION:  Okay, well, let’s talk about Cyprus. There is the ports case advising the EU affair.  Now, from the Turkish perspective, the Turks have more or less done what the international community wanted them to do. So, it’s a bit unfair from the Turkish perspective to keep coming on to Turkey with Cyprus and saying that there’s a train crash on the way to the EU because of this issue. And, again, there is a bit of a disappointment with the United States. It could have been more forthcoming they say, because, after all, the Annan Plan was avidly supported by Washington (inaudible). How do you see the situation in terms of Cyprus?  Are we heading for a train crash because of this and has the United States done everything it can to show its support for the Turkish Cypriot community?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Clearly, Cyprus is one of those issues that is extremely important for Turkey’s EU accession progress. It, of course, has its own dynamics in the UN negotiating progress. You referred to the Annan Plan. I think that it is our view that Turkey has some obligations that it has made to the European Union with respect to the ten new member states that joined the European Union a year or so ago that includes Cyprus, first. Second, we are strongly of the view that matters related to Cyprus and, in particular, matters that really belong in the United Nations negotiating track should not be an undue impediment to progress, especially at this stage in the EU accession… Turkey’s EU accession negotiations. There are number of ideas that have been discussed quietly among governments about ways to…practical ways to try to help make sure that those Cyprus issues are not an undue impediment at this stage of the negotiations. We’ve been part of some of those discussions, we are trying to encourage or trying to encourage our EU friends and our Turkish friends to try to find a reasonable way to move forward.

QUESTION:  Finally anti-Americanism is still very much in the air. You were at the Union of Contractors the other night.  I couldn’t make it there myself. Even the questions there seem to reflect an attitude towards America, you know, rather then asking about possibilities of investment in Northern Iraq you were showered with PKK questions and whatever. The families of dead soldiers, they returned your donation.  I don’t know how you felt about that. What do you think the state of anti-Americanism in Turkey? Is it getting worse, is it getting better, does it need to be addressed more directly by the government and various organs?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I think that…here, I’ll be very honest. I think that a certain amount of sentiment in this country is…reflects public concern and public opposition to the war in Iraq. It reflects public concern over other aspects of this administration’s foreign policy. The most effective way to deal with those concerns, in my opinion, is to succeed. So to the extent that we are successful in dealing with the PKK, to the extent that we are successful in supporting and achieving a strong and unified democratic Iraq that’s an asset to the neighborhood rather then a drain on the neighborhood, I think and successful in other places I think there is…anti-American sentiment here in this country will dissipate quite significantly.

It is a topic, obviously, we are concerned about. And we try in various ways to reach out to the public here to explain our policies. Explain what we are trying to do, explain what America is. At the end of the day, as I say, in my opinion, the most effective way to deal with this in this country and in other countries is to be successful.

QUESTION:  So it means that General Ralston’s mission will have something to do with this also because, you know, PKK you mentioned so, there was an acknowledgement basically that as long as we have some improvement in the PKK dimension the Turkish –American relations may stand better in terms of the public.

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Well, certainly we understand -- and my predecessors here have understood very well -- how important this particular topic is for Turkish citizens generally. And the difficulty, quite correctly, that the government and the people have, the Government of Turkey and the people here have with these relentless attacks and this very significant increase in violence we’ve seen over the last six or seven months is just accepting them. And to that extent one of the main reasons why Secretary Rice and Secretary Rumsfeld have asked General Ralston to take this task on is to try to deal with the problem and thereby deal with the concern.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much.