Ambassador's Remarks and Public events
Ambassador James Jeffrey’s Interview with Murat Yetkin, Radikal
Ambassador’s Residence, Ankara
March 11, 2009
Murat Yetkin: There is a classical question I ask to every ambassador coming to Ankara if I have time and opportunity to interview them, as you granted to me. What is your mission here? I know it sound like a very stupid question, but it helps a lot.
Ambassador Jeffrey: The mission of every ambassador is to promote the national interests of his or her country, but ambassador’s are special because their specific job is to promote that in a context of relations with another foreign country. Almost always, and certainly in the case with Turkey, that means doing all in his or her power to improve the relationship, to find ways to work together to solve problems that we both consider problems, and to contribute to a more peaceful, a more prosperous and a more democratic and free world. So I would say that that’s my mission.
Murat Yetkin: The files that you are going to cover here as importance? Could you make a rank order?
Ambassador Jeffrey: At the center of our relationship with Turkey, as the Secretary pointed out, is our shared values. Turkey is an ally; it is a friend and it is a partner. It is a strong, democratic country. It has a very successful economy - I mean we are all impacted by the economic crisis, but Turkey’s economy has done remarkable job in the past several decades, and it is a partner in contributing to peace in the region and around the world.
Murat Yetkin: And particular subjects…
Ambassador Jeffrey: So, that’s the first thing is the center of our relationship is shared values, particularly the democratic, the freedoms that we both support. The second area of particular focus is regional security. Turkey is a strong, stable, powerful nation anchored in the western alliance in a region that is filed as stable, where most individual countries are not as militarily or politically secure, where internal conflicts ravage many countries. And, therefore, Turkey - as the United States has an interest in strengthening those countries and working with our friends in resolving conflicts and in containing and deterring violence. The third area of cooperation is in the area of counter-terrorism. This includes, as we said in our joint statement, in particular,r the PKK and al Qaida, which are our common enemies. We put a great deal of emphasis on the fight against the PKK. Secretary Clinton, echoing President Obama’s policy, has stressed that we will continue this cooperation, including military cooperation. I have just been with our military personnel at our office of defense cooperation to review what we are doing to help Turkey this morning, and have underlined that we are committed not only to continuing this, but as the joint statement says: we will continue its intelligence support and is reviewing ways to be more supportive. So we are reviewing how we can be more supportive in general terms to Turkey in this struggle. A fourth area is economic cooperation.
Murat Yetkin: And on the third, on the struggle against al Qaida, would you like to say something?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Turkey is…given its many borders, its location in the Middle East, its superb transportation and communications network and its relatively open borders, from time to time sees people associated with al Qaida or other terrorist movements attempt to move across it; and we have very good cooperation with the Turkish law enforcement officials to stem that flow. In addition, in the U.N. Security Council and the U.N. more generally, in NATO and other fora Turkey is a close friend in the struggle against terrorism, and frankly Turkey’s very significant contributions in Afghanistan have to been seen at least partially through the focus of counter- terrorism against al Qaida and against the Taliban terror there. So, it’s a very broad agenda, the counter terrorism agenda.
A fourth area that’s very important to us is economic development. We along with the IMF and the World Bank played a key role in the 2001 crisis. I was here as Deputy Chief of Mission at the time, I know the role we played. And I know what a magnificent job Turkey has done in responding to that crisis, and in stabilizing and strengthening its financial sector. This is one reason why almost alone in the world Turkey has faired quite well in the financial aspect of the international economic crisis we see. To be sure, Turkey is impacted by the overall crisis now that it’s gotten into what we call the real sector because Turkey is an export-led economy and the markets are not just there to the same degree. Nonetheless, we think that the underlying health of the Turkish economy is significant, and we think that there is a good basis for long term cooperation. Our exports are up significantly to Turkey, we are particularly proud of white collar exports such as pharmaceuticals, such as high tech, such as media. There are some issues, one is intellectual property rights, we would like to see more greenfield investment, we would like to see more Turkish exports to the United States. The Turkish focus has been on Europe; where you have done an extraordinary job over about a hundred billion dollars a year, but you are only exporting 5 billion to the United States. So, there are ways that both of us can work together to improve that.
Another area in the economic realm, but it also has geostrategic significance, and it was also described in the joint statement is, of course, is the east-west energy corridor. We think this is vital. It’s vital in three senses. First of all, it’s vital for the supplier nation, the nations of the Caspian Basin and the Middle East to provide a secure and friendly route for their natural gas and oil to flow to international markets. Secondly, it’s important for transit countries. We’ve seen the benefits to Turkey of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipelines and then later the Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the gas pipeline. It’s one of the reasons that it supported your economic growth given our interest in Turkey’s overall development. We think it is important that Turkey be looked at very closely as a transit country. We also think that Turkey provides the security, the infrastructure, the management, and the capabilities to do that. Thirdly, east-west energy corridors provide a diversification of gas supplies that tend to make gas in particular more an economic commodity and not a political tool. This is important for the energy, and to some degree political, independence of the nations that are the consumers. We’re particularly concerned about the economic dependence of Western Europe.
Murat Yetkin: That stress on political, too, I think it implies Russia’s attempts a few times to use its gas a political tool?
Ambassador Jeffrey: I would simply - rather than point fingers at Russia or anybody else - simply say that it is our experience in many years of importing oil from the Middle East and elsewhere, from Venezuela, that a variety of markets and a variety of choices always makes sense. It leads to more competition, better pricing and the avoidance of unnecessary dependence on one source which can be affected by political developments.
Murat Yetkin: So after Secretary Clinton’s visit what we can we say about the new United States policy regarding Turkey?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Any foreign policy has elements of both continuity and change. If you look at the joint statement, you will see that many of our policies that we have pursued in the past we’re continuing, because these are policies that have proven themselves, they are good for Turkey, they are good for the United States and they are good for the region. But, several things have changed and these are important things. First of all, there is the attention that this administration is giving to Turkey as a friend and partner and as an important player in the region. When you consider the options for Secretary Clinton on her first visit to the Middle East and Europe, in terms of countries to visit, the fact that she has only made two bilateral visits in that region, to Israel and to Turkey, speaks volumes. The fact that President Obama on his first overseas trip -technically Canada was not an overseas trip – will be doing his bilateral focus here in Turkey that speaks…
Murat Yetkin: Is this only a bilateral focus here?
Ambassador Jeffrey: The details of this visit are not yet fully worked out, but it certainly will have a bilateral component. So, I think that has changed. The second thing that has changed is the tone of the Clinton Administration. We saw this not only in the Secretary’s visit, but in that of Senator Mitchell on the Middle East several weeks ago. The senator, who of course is an expert in the Middle East, nevertheless, spent most of his time listening to Turkey. Dick Holbrooke did the same thing in Munich, listening to the Turks on Afghanistan. We are doing this not just with Turkey, but Turkey is an important partner in this because we believe that countries that are closer to the source of trouble are often countries that have good ideas. We’ve seen, for example, the Turkish engagement with several other countries to resolve the Lebanon crisis that led to the Doha Agreement and the election of General Suleiman as President of Lebanon, is a good example. Another was Turkey’s role as an intermediary in the talks between Syria and Israel which came very close to a breakthrough. Opinions at times in America were different than those of Turkey on those issues, but in the end, we decided that it was worth trying, that Turkey had good ideas. And we threw our support behind both of these, and the Secretary in particular recommended Turkey for its efforts in the past on the Israeli-Syrian track, so I think that that has changed as well.
And the third thing is the Obama Administration is serious about reaching out without conditions and talking to countries like Syria and Iran. It’s important to note that when we say without conditions, we mean without conditions to talking. We have conditions for better relations because we have many concerns with both Syria and Iran. In fact, they are pretty much the same concerns that the last Administration had. But, what is different is willingness to reach out and talk. This parallels very closely Turkey’s approach to these countries and for many issues in the foreign affairs field in the region, and so we see a possible synergy of Turkey and the United States in cooperating. You see this in President Gul’s visit to Iran today where he has raised some of the questions and issues that we discussed with Secretary Clinton.
Murat Yetkin: Did you have any feedback?
Ambassador Jeffrey: So far, we have only heard from the news reports, but certainly we hope that the Iranian’s will listen to President Gul.
Murat Yetkin: What is the message that you would like to have delivered to Iranian’s?
Ambassador Jeffrey: The message is, first of all, that we are serious about wanting to engage with the Iranians on areas of mutual concern such as the Afghanistan meeting coming up. There are also other issues where, in fact, we have talked with them in the past such as Iraq. Secondly, we are serious about – as the Administration has said - a new offer of support for integration of Iran into international economic institutions such as the WTO, our own investment and economic cooperation with Iran, eventual steps towards recognition in return for Iran recognizing and acting on not just our, but the international community’s concerns: first, on nuclear issues, on its barbaric threats to U.N. member states and its general support for terrorist groups.
One thing that the Secretary emphasized with her Turkish interlocutors - and I think it is something that could receive more attention here - is the grave concern all of the countries in the region with Iran’s behavior and particularly its pursuit of nuclear weapons and the combination of a nuclear weapons capability or actual possession and a continuation of its threatening hegemonic intentions. We hear this all of the time. These countries speak about it publicly. This is not a secret. They are very concerned about…
Murat Yetkin: Meaning hegemonic intentions, threats against Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Gulf,
Ambassador Jeffrey: The entire Sunni Arab system feels itself threatened by Iran, and its role in Iraq and you can go on and on. And the point is that for we have close relations with these countries. They are not as embedded in Western security institutions nor are they, quite frankly, as militarily strong as Turkey. Turkey can look at Iran, look at the border which has been the same for 360 some odd years, and look at its own co-relation of forces with Iran and not yet too worried. Although we do believe, and we’ve heard many times that the Turks are very concerned about Iranian nuclear weapons as a problem, but the sense of existential threat that other countries have is not felt here to the same degree, and we understand that it isn’t. But we’re asking for is understanding on the part of Turkey that our common friends in the region do feel threatened by Iran, and expect the international community to live up to the commitments and the requirements of the IAEA and the UN Security Council. If these…these are not American policies, these are policies by the most serious senior and credible institutions for international security in the world. And if Iran continues to defy them and gets away with it, then there will be grave questions about the overall security of this region.
Murat Yetkin: So, I understand from what you…or can I understand that after President Gul’s visit to Iran, and between Obama’s visit to Turkey, such issues are going to be discussed, I mean the feedback from Iran.
Ambassador Jeffrey: We, first of all, we have one of the broadest diplomatic, military and economic exchanges at the highest levels here in Turkey, of any diplomatic exchange in the world. We have extraordinary support and cooperation from Turkish officials in the Foreign Ministry, in the office of the Presidency, the Prime Minister and elsewhere. And, it is a daily exchange of information. This always has been the case. It’s been going on before and, of course, if anything, it’ll be heightened in the period before the President’s arrival. And certainly we will talk about the situation with Iran and listen carefully to any reports we receive from the Turkish government.
Murat Yetkin: These are very important things that you mentioned, and this is really a change from Bush Administration’s general approach. I remember during Iraq war. There was a lot of criticism from within Turkish government that they would like to see Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense here to discuss issues but they were disillusioned that they didn’t come, but now first Sec of State and now President Obama himself is coming to Ankara. This is certainly a change. And Bush Administration is affiliated with this moderate Islam policy - so called -regarding Turkey that Turkey should be a model to the regional countries etc. But Sec Clinton gave an outright ‘No’ to them, to those answers. Is this a policy change? What is the political approach to Turkey? I mean-
Ambassador Jeffrey: You know, it’s…
Murat Yetkin: What we see is a stress on the secular administration and Muslim society of Turkey. Is this an illusion or is this a reality?
Ambassador Jeffrey: The reality is that countries…it’s generally wise for countries not to be characterizing in a commentary sort of way what another country’s role in the world or describing in almost philosophical terms that country. Because frankly, that country has to work those issues out itself internally which is happening everyday here in Turkey. And so, rather what she tried to do was to describe things that are facts. It is a fact that Turkey is a democratic country. It is a fact that Turkey still needs further reforms and is engaged in these reforms to fully mature as a democratic country. It is a fact that Turkey is a secular state (inaudible) in the constitution and it is apparent in everything we see and hear in Turkey. It is a fact that Turkey is also a majority Islamic-population state. But those are facts, and those facts convey messages and they convey insights, but by and large, we want to stick with the facts.
Murat Yetkin: So you’re trying to accept as it is?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Right, and we see…Turkey can be a model to the extent Turkey wants to be a model. It’s not our place to use Turkey as a model, but to advance Turkey as a model. And Turkey can be a model to countries anywhere in the world. The road to democracy, the integration with Western and global values, economic development, security, its role as a partner in regional peace, these are all things that countries around the world, not simply one part of the world need to look at.
Murat Yetkin: Regarding relations with Iran, Syria and that geography: when Turkey has had started first to get into contact with these regimes after the change of government in Turkey. There was much criticism from in general the Western world not only the US, but some parts of Europe as well that why Turkey’s getting in contact with the Syrian government, why is it so close with Iranians. Regarding Hamas, why there was a contact with Hamas, and the Lebanese groups, and now I understand that Turkey’s role in Lebanese crisis is appreciated by the US. So can you evaluate on that? I mean…
Ambassador Jeffrey: Certainly, the approach of the Obama administration is to try dialogue both bilateral, multilateral, both direct and through various intermediaries with those countries that we and the rest of the international community seem to have major security problems with. That’s what’s new. What is not new - and this is very important - is that we are…we remain concerned with what these countries are doing. The Secretary greeted, for example, NATO’s decision to begin its high-level liaison relationship with Russia. But at the same time she pointed out that this did not mean that we had changed our policy towards non-recognition of Abkhazia or South Ossetia. It did not mean we had changed our policy towards spheres of influence - we don’t believe in them. It does not mean that we‘ve changed our policy towards allowing any country to choose which organizations, which alliances it wants to be part of freely and without outside influence. With Syria, at the same time as we sent our diplomats to Syria, we let people know that we remain equally concerned with Syria’s behavior in pursuing weapons of mass destruction - to wit its cooperation with North Korea at the al Kibar site, still under investigation by the IAEA. Its role in Lebanon, they still have not provided an ambassador for example. Its support for terrorist groups and continued - albeit at a lower rate - use of Syrian territory for foreign fighters to pass into Iraq. These are… as well as its own human rights record. Same thing with Iran, as I mentioned earlier, there are several things about Iran that this administration as with the past is very concerned about.
So the change, it’s very important, this change is one of modalities and approaches. Our concerns with these countries remain. It is not simply that we find Syrian behavior acceptable. What we’re hoping is - and this is where it does go beyond modalities - and the Secretary spoke about this specifically in her press conference in Brussels when people said ‘Well, this is just modalities.’ She said ‘No, because to some degree some of their actions could well be in response to our refusal to talk to them and what they misperceive as American threats to them.’ So therefore, by changing the tone by approaching this through more diplomatic avenues it is possible that that in and of itself can reduce tension and that this tension to some degree has contributed to some of the policies that these countries are pursuing that none of us like. That is what we will try. Put that to the test.
Murat Yetkin: Right. Then coming to issues bilateral, you mentioned that bilateral issues with Turkey. Can you name one of those? These are regional issues, are they?
Ambassador Jeffrey: In bilateral…
Murat Yetkin: You said President Obama’s visit will partly bilateral and partly international.
Ambassador Jeffrey: Well, I mean…
Murat Yetkin: These are bilateral parts or international parts?
Ambassador Jeffrey: There are…as to be expected in a country which shares our values which is- has a long term and very close relationship with us, and is a NATO ally of ours, there are not bilateral disputes per se. The Turkish side has raised the Armenian genocide issue.
Murat Yetkin: There are no pure bilateral…
Ambassador Jeffrey: Right. That’s probably the only bilateral issue, for example, that came up in the discussions with Secretary Clinton. What we have is regional security issues and regional cooperation, be it as I said for areas of crisis or threat, be it against terrorism and, for example, the East-West energy corridor. That is not a bilateral issue; that is a multilateral issue with Turkey is an important player, but only one player.
Of course, we do have bilateral economic issues which are worked primarily at the technical level with a variety of annual meetings of the TIFA, Trade and Investment Forum, we have a very robust bilateral economic agenda. But by and large, our work with Turkey is not on issues that divide Turkey and the US, but rather possibilities for joint action and cooperation to solve problems that are regional in nature. And of course these are all listed in the joint statement, they include from Armenia to Cyprus to Afghanistan to Iraq, you name it.
Murat Yetkin: Let’s name it. With Armenia, Turkey’s relations with Armenia is getting better as the statements from both countries are coming. How they’re going to be affected if the resolution has passed in the US Congress on this genocide?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Well, I don’t want to speculate on that because that’s an issue for Armenia and Turkey to decide, both how fast to go, where to go, and what to have influenced. But let me be clear. We support this rapprochement between the two countries. We think particularly after the crisis in the Caucasus this summer, there is a need to move forward, not just on the Armenian-Turkey track, although that’s very important, but also on Nagorno-Karabakh through the Minsk group.
Murat Yetkin: And do we, can we expect anytime soon a development in this conflict?
Ambassador Jeffrey: In which conflict? In the Minsk group?
Murat Yetkin: Karabakh and well…
Ambassador Jeffrey: In the Minsk group, we’re co-chairs of the Minsk group. There’s been more activity of late, including a direct engagement by another co-chair, Russia, including the Moscow meeting. There has been close consultations both during President Gul’s meetings in Moscow and during the Secretary’s meeting with Lavrov on Caucasus issues. So that’s one area where we hope to see progress because Russia is an important player. But…and on the Armenian-Turkish track, that of course, is a bilateral negotiation. It’s not a multilateral, international one, such as the Minsk group is under the auspices of the OSCE. But we are very supportive of that, we are encouraged with what we’ve heard and we hope to see further developments.
Murat Yetkin: How will that be affected? Sorry to repeat my question, but if the resolution is approved by the Congress?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Well, I think the answer to that question has to be given by the two sides.
Murat Yetkin: Do you see it as a possibility?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Do I see what as a possibility?
Murat Yetkin: The resolution.
Ambassador Jeffrey: We have not taken a final decision. It’s not unusual in past administrations at this point on the specific way we’ll commemorate the 24th of April or the administration’s position on various draft resolutions that are floating around in Congress.
Murat Yetkin: But that is going to be discussed during President Obama’s visit to Turkey.
Ambassador Jeffrey: Of course, I’m sure it is. It was discussed during the Secretary’s visit. One purpose is we believe that we want to hear the Turkish views on this.
Murat Yetkin: And what do they say?
Ambassador Jeffrey: What the Turks say is that this will be…have an extraordinarily bad impact on the bilateral relationship and will cause great concern and pain in the Turkish population.
Murat Yetkin: So, if the US expect so much from Turkey in the region, isn’t that a contradiction, wouldn’t it be a contradiction for the administration to be in ambiguity on this so long?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Well, it’s not unusual for any administration to continue to review what position it will take on important issues. A part of that review, if it is done correctly, is to listen at very high levels to the views of others. That’s the phase we’re in now.
Murat Yetkin: Listening phase. Cyprus is a problem in Turkish-EU relations, and now EU-NATO relations because of Turkey’s position. I understand…
Ambassador Jeffrey: Well, not just because of Turkey’s position, in defense of the Turks, it is, I would stop right there and say ‘It is a problem in Turkey-EU relations and it is a problem in NATO-EU command and control and related military issues.
Murat Yetkin: How big a problem is it in the US position in the region?
Ambassador Jeffrey: First of all, we want a solution. I’ll give - and I usually don’t do this, but I’ll give my personal view that a successful negotiation in Cyprus would be a game changer in Turkey’s relations with its NATO and EU friends and allies. Because it would free up, first of all, a major frozen conflict, and we see few of those fixed in the world, and it’s important to do that, particularly when it involves people who are in similar in organizations to one or another degree. Secondly, it would further improve what is already a good news story of relations between Turkey and Greece. Thirdly, it would help smooth the way for Turkey’s accession to the European Union and remove several specific problems in that accession process. Fourthly, it would resolve certain seemingly technical, but very bothersome issues between the EU and particularly its ESDP and common foreign security policy programs and NATO’s Berlin plus and other arrangements that Turkey has expressed concern about.
Murat Yetkin: Command structure…
Ambassador Jeffrey: Right, and fifthly, the success of such a policy, I think, could serve as a catalyst for further progress on other frozen conflicts.
Murat Yetkin: Such as?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Well, you basically take Iraq and throw it about, you know 400 to 800 miles from Ankara in any direction and you will land on one or another frozen conflict, and so in all of them Turkey is a player in to the extent that it has influence and it has interests and the more we have success in dealing with one issue, the more likely it will be that we would have success in dealing with others. There would be a momentum.
Murat Yetkin: Secretary Clinton was criticized by the Washington Post because of behaving too mildly to Turks, especially regarding this Department’s Human Rights Report in media freedom articles. Is it a reflection of perhaps a discrepancy between administration and the State Department or how should you read that?
Ambassador Jeffrey: I don’t understand that… discrepancy
Murat Yetkin: There was a criticism in the Washington Post saying that Secretary Clinton actually was…did not criticize Turkish government enough, taking the reference of Department’s Human Rights Report, particularly on human rights violations and media freedom issues.
Ambassador Jeffrey: I think she took exactly the right tone.
Murat Yetkin: And this report is not important?
Ambassador Jeffrey: The Human Rights Reports are important. They reflect the views of the Department of State and the Secretary of State. And she indicated a number of times, certainly in her sets of interviews and in her conversations, that at the end of the day, freedom of the press is an important value, it’s a part of the set of shared values.
Murat Yetkin: President Gul in Iran also said that besides saying Obama’s visit is a message itself, he touched on the Kurdish issue and said in a few days time, in a very short period of time, we could expect some important developments on this issue. There is a good cooperation against the PKK between Turkey and US. Is there any coordination on that between Turkey and the US about new possible states? If so, what would you expect the government to do?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Right, right. There’s two separate issues that may have relations. One is the role of human rights and individual freedoms in a democratic modern country and EU candidate state. That’s an ongoing issue, it doesn’t only involve the Kurdish minority, it involves…we just talked about another issue related to, it involves journalists, it can involve religious groups, it can involve others. There are many areas where this is being worked and it is being worked effectively by the Turkish government. A good example is the reforms to Article 301, and there are actions before several international judicial bodies. There are EU reports, one just came out yesterday. And so, that’s an ongoing thing where Turkey is making considerable progress. We support that progress. It’s primarily with European institutions, but it’s a good thing. It affects, among the many other groups in Turkey, it affects everybody in Turkey; that includes the Kurdish minority.
The second issue is the PKK terrorist activity. There is broad understanding in Turkey which we support and encourage that this requires a comprehensive strategy just as our fight against al Qaeda terrorists in Anbar province did, just as our struggle against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan requires an approach. That approach must include military security and thus, military operations which is where most of our cooperation with Turkey is right now. But it also requires diplomatic activity because it has an international aspect with Iraq, it requires economic and political reforms and activities, be it the GAP project, be it things such as TRT 6 that basically rob the PKK of much of its propaganda. Now, that second track designed to defeat a terrorist group, in some respects can come close to or be parallel with the first track which is an ever freer society for all Turks.
Murat Yetkin: Which parts are those-
Ambassador Jeffrey: Well, a good example is linguistic rights. A good example is freedom of expression, a good example is participation in the political process, even for groups that we find, in terms of some of their policies, abhorrent.
Murat Yetkin: Participation of political process, can you open it up?
Ambassador Jeffrey: I would just leave it at that.
Murat Yetkin: Cause…I mean DTP is there acting like a front organization, Siri Sakik told me on Sunday in a TV show that ‘We’re the front guard of the PKK’, so it’s, he didn’t say the PKK but the thing, the movement, so what else are we talking about?
Ambassador Jeffrey: I think that’s…those are good examples of the climate that Turkey is encouraging and that will help it in the struggle against the PKK.
Murat Yetkin: Does it involve in security terms, since we have security cooperation bringing down people from mountains, taking them to Turkish political and social-
Ambassador Jeffrey: This is something that Turkey has to decide. This is a very sensitive question.
Murat Yetkin: It’s happening in Iraq as well.
Ambassador Jeffrey: It’s a very sensitive question. It’s something that we’ve looked at in different ways in Iraq. We looked at it in Afghanistan and elsewhere and on that one, I think, the Turks are in the lead.
Murat Yetkin: So, is there certain coordination in this effort?
Ambassador Jeffrey: The coordination is…the specific coordination is primarily in the military area, and secondly, in the diplomatic efforts to ensure that northern Iraq is not a safe haven for the PKK groups. And that involves direct American involvement in trilateral talks and bilateral talks and in other things. Those are where we are specifically involved. We follow closely, and from time to time, we share information on Turkish reforms which can include reforms that involve the Southeast, but there is no specific coordination sort of plan or formal exchange that is something that the Turkish government is pursuing on its own. We support it.
Murat Yetkin: On the military to military cooperation, particularly on PKK, can we expect some new changes as well?
Ambassador Jeffrey: The Secretary pointed out that we are specifically reviewing ways to be more supportive. There are certain Turkish requests-
Murat Yetkin: What does that mean?
Ambassador Jeffrey: That’s…it’s more of a technical nature involving the military operations but-
Murat Yetkin: Any physical…
Ambassador Jeffrey: I wouldn’t want to get into it. I would just say it’s technical cooperation, military cooperation. And we’re of course open to Turkish requests across the border. But that’s the area that we’re working in right now.
Murat Yetkin: I asked this question because Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul told us two days ago that Ankara was working on a new military support program for Afghanistan.
Ambassador Jeffrey: I saw his comments yesterday.
Murat Yetkin: Yes, was that issue discussed during Secretary Clinton’s visit?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Yes, not the details of it. But she did raise the request we’ve put out to all NATO countries.
Murat Yetkin: Combatant forces?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Combatant forces but also support for the training of the Afghanistan National Army, economic support, governance and capacity building. You know, as you know, Turkey has both (inaudible) which of these training teams and PRT in Wardak. We want to see more of that generally. We want to see obviously more troops, more involvement. And that’s not a request specifically to Turkey. Although as she pointed out several times, Turkey has made major contributions to Afghanistan where we’re very appreciative of. But frankly we do this to everybody including the British and the Canadian who have made huge contributions as well. So everybody is on the receiving end of these requests.
Murat Yetkin: I asked the question because in Turkey, in Turkish public opinion this issue was linked with, after some general’s statements, linked with Turkish anti-terror struggle against the PKK.
Ambassador Jeffrey: I would have…
Murat Yetkin: That’s why…
Ambassador Jeffrey: I would have to say that there is, in the various issues where we cooperate, we don’t see specific linkages. In a general sense, as I said early crisis with Cyprus, progress on one issue tends to promote a spirit of cooperation and risk taking and enthusiasm that can lead to progress in others but I would not…there’s been no talk of ‘if you do this, we’ll do that. If you don’t do this, we won’t do that.’
Murat Yetkin: Alright, linked two questions.
Ambassador Jeffrey: It was like the four questions to the Secretary (laughter)
Murat Yetkin: It’s a very good interview so, President Obama is going to take part in Istanbul conference as we understand this..
Ambassador Jeffrey: We’re trying to get the details on that,Murat. I cannot confirm that at this time and so…
Murat Yetkin: But this will going to be in that conference, it’s not certain yet?
Ambassador Jeffrey: I am…it is quite possible he’ll be in Istanbul at that time, but I cannot confirm… the only thing I can confirm is the general time period and the fact that this would be a bilateral-- this visit will have a bilateral component. I can’t confirm the rest, but that’s because we’ve just learned about it Friday night.
Murat Yetkin: I was going to ask how big a part that conference played a role in his decision to go to Turkey.
Ambassador Jeffrey: I think he wants to come to Turkey because he wants to come to Turkey because he thinks Turkey is an important country. I think there were other factors-
Murat Yetkin: Not because of that conference
Ambassador Jeffrey: I think there are other factors that influence this, including the fact he would be in the region but I don’t want to lay out, you know 20% this, 20% that.
Murat Yetkin: Then the second part of the question, if you list the priorities of President Obama’s issues in Turkey, how would you do that? I know there’re lots of issues that we discussed, but if you would rank them in priority, what could we expect out of this visit, but what would be his priorities?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Certainly, we have a very broad cooperation and very strong interests in resolving conflicts in securing the peace in the mediate region around Turkey. I think we have a great opportunity. One of those is in the Caucasus, the Armenian track, there’s also Cyprus. There is cooperation to get Iran to change its ways, there is the Middle East peace process. There’s Afghanistan.
Murat Yetkin: Five priorities?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Those are, those are not priorities…
Murat Yetkin: But…
Ambassador Jeffrey: Those are certainly areas that we talk about a lot among many others. We talk about NATO. We talk about the Balkans. We talk about the resolution of,..we talk about working with Pakistan both directly and in the context of Afghanistan. So it’s a very broad agenda.
Murat Yetkin: Iraq, we can say?
Ambassador Jeffrey: And Iraq. I’m sorry. I should have included Iraq in the list of priorities. The reason that I didn’t is perhaps because on Iraq that is a single area where we have the broadest cooperation and perhaps the closest alignment of tactics. The Turkish role in stabilizing Iraq has been extraordinary, has been very helpful. Its relations with both the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan regional government have been very positive and very productive and it’s a…I can’t use the word model so I’d have to say, it’s a good example
Murat Yetkin: Say what you really want to say, (laughter
Ambassador Jeffrey: It’s a good example for the other neighbors of Iraq to follow. President Obama emphasized that you’ll remember in his withdrawal announcement that we’re going to be redoubling our efforts for regional diplomacy to ensure that Iraq is fully accepted and fully embedded in the regional cultural, political, diplomatic, security architecture. And nobody has done more up to now to do just that than Turkey.
Murat Yetkin: Can I conclude in one sentence? Can I conclude that, I don’t know whether it’s to correct word to use, but Turkey’s place regarding, in the US foreign policies promoted, upgraded?
Ambassador Jeffrey: Turkey always had a very important place…
Murat Yetkin: Yeah, but I mean we haven’t had this treatment before…
Ambassador Jeffrey: I would say that the attention being given to Turkey certainly is...I won’t say it’s unusual for Turkey, it certainly is unusual for any country.
Murat Yetkin: What does that mean?
Ambassador Jeffrey: I think that’s all I would say. I mean, certainly there is a great deal of attention, a great deal of coordination of the highest levels with Turkey at the very beginning of this administration, rather than describing Turkey…
Murat Yetkin: I’d like to compare with Bush administration,
Ambassador Jeffrey: Yeah, but…
Murat Yetkin: There’s a huge difference.
Ambassador Jeffrey: I’m not going to do that. What I’m going to say is, I’m going to sight facts. This is an extraordinary level of coordination and consultation and attention.
Murat Yetkin: Thank you very much.