Ambassador's remarks & public events

Press Conference of Ambassador Ross Wilson at the Ambassador’s Residence

Ankara, December 16, 2005

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Thank you very much.  I am very pleased and happy to be able to welcome you here today, and welcome you into my living room.  I wanted very soon after arriving to introduce myself properly to you, and in a more polite way, I think, than was possible at the airport or on sidewalks after meetings, to have a conversation about what I see as my mission here and about the approach that I want to try to take with the authorities in this country, and also with the people of Turkey. 

Let me first say I am excited to be here in Turkey.  This is an extremely important country for the United States.  It is an historic country where there are so many, many things to explore and get to know.  My family, which will be arriving here at the end of the month, and I really very much look forward to getting around Turkey to the various cities and universities and other centers here to take in all of the wonderful things that this country has to offer. 

Jim has reviewed a little bit of what I have been doing here over the nearly two weeks since my arrival in Turkey.  Of course, the most important thing that I did was to present my credentials as ambassador to President Sezer on Thursday last week.  It was a big honor for me.  It is a big honor for the United States, and I very much appreciated his readiness to give so much time to me in his busy schedule and so early in my tenure here.  We had a friendly conversation.  We covered a wide variety of issues in our bilateral relations.  I told him I was excited to be here and wanted to work with him, with the government, and with the people of Turkey to further build on the strong partnership and cooperation that exist between our two countries to produce results for the people of our two countries. 

I was also pleased and honored to be able to lay a wreath at Anitkabir.  I of course know of the extremely important and historic role that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk played in this country’s development and history.  I know that he is, quite correctly, a source of pride for the citizens of Turkey and made Turkey an example to others who aspire to peace, who aspire to freedom, and who aspire to determine their own destinies. 

I had, as I think you all are aware, two important meetings yesterday, first with Foreign Minister Gul for about 90 minutes, where we covered almost all the main issues in US-Turkish relations.  As was my meeting with Mr. Sezer, this was an extremely helpful conversation, and I very much appreciated the warm reception that I received there.  Then at the end of the day, I had the honor of calling on Prime Minister Erdogan.  The meeting was particularly important and poignant for me, in that it came right after the Prime Minister’s meeting with leaders of organizations that represent and work with victims of terrorism in Turkey.  We talked, needless to say, about that meeting.  We talked about the problem of international terrorism.  And we talked, of course, specifically about the problem of PKK terrorism.  We talked about many other subjects as well.  I was very grateful for Mr. Erdogan’s making of time available for me so early in my time here to review with me his views, and to share with me the perception that we certainly have that US- Turkish relations are extremely important for what the United States and, I think, also what Turkey is trying to do in the world.  We want to work together constructively in the months and years ahead. 

You are also all quite familiar with the visitors that we have had following my meeting with President Sezer by FBI Director Robert Mueller, and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Porter Goss.  There has been a lot of speculation about what went on in those meetings.  I will try to be helpful in just setting a context here.  These meetings reflected a broader effort that both the US and Turkish governments have been engaged in to improve the tone of our relations and to expand the high level dialogue between our two countries.  You are familiar, I think, with other high level meetings that have taken place recently, perhaps most importantly Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit to Washington in June, preceded by Secretary Rice’s visit here early in 2005.  But then more recently, we have had visits by Steve Hadley, the President’s National Security Advisor, Undersecretary Karen Hughes from the State Department, General Jones from the US European Command, and others.  These visits most importantly were part of that pattern of reinvigorating high level dialogue between our two countries on issues of common interest.  Mr. Mueller and Mr. Goss were seeking to follow up those more general, political-level conversations by talking concretely about issues in their areas of responsibility on ways that the United States and Turkey can work more effectively together, and how we can use our bilateral cooperation in their areas of responsibility to produce results.  International terrorism was obviously a key focus for both of those visitors.  As Prime Minister Erdogan noted, I think as he came back from Australia, it is extremely important now that countries that are determined to fight against international terrorism share information fully and work together effectively.  This is especially true for the United States and Turkey, both of which have been victims of terrorism in the past and in the present.  The issue of PKK terrorism was one of the specific issues that was touched upon in every meeting that Mr. Goss and Mr. Mueller had.  It was very helpful for them, I thought, to hear directly from senior Turkish officials how these problems are viewed here.  They had very helpful and useful discussions about work that we can do further in the future.  Overall, the tone was very constructive.  It was very warm, as is appropriate among close allies. 

As I said, these visits were intended to reflect a broad pattern of increasing dialogue with Turkey that is aimed at improving our relations, strengthening our relations, and modernizing our relationship for the 21st century.  I had a clear sense from my meetings in Washington before coming here, in particular from Secretary Rice, but also from other Cabinet and sub-Cabinet officials that I met with, that Washington is deeply interested in what is taking place here, and is deeply interested in strengthening that partnership in the years to come.  My goals as I get started here in Ankara are to build on that progress that has been made and continue it, and as I have said a couple of times already, to build on that in 2006 in ways that produce results.  The purpose of having good relations is not to have good relations.  The purpose of having good relations is to accomplish things that will be to the benefit of our respective peoples, and to the benefit of the world around us.  Clearly, as part of that I want to see the United States and Turkey work closely together, consult closely together, collaborate together on issues related to the regional problems and issues that are in Turkey’s neighborhood -- in particular, Iraq. 

Iraq is the number one priority that the United States has in the world today, and ensuring its success as a strong, democratic, stable, unified country is extremely important to us, and it is extremely important, I believe and expect, to Turkey.  So I want to do everything I can to ensure that we consult closely, that we share information in every way we can, and that where we can, we act together to strengthen Iraq, to strengthen its ability to stand on its own two feet, and its ability to protect its borders and to secure areas within the country from terrorists and others who might use, and who have in the past used, Iraq as a base from which to launch attacks on others. 

In the same vein, I want for the United States and Turkey to work closely, and collaborate and consult closely, on subjects related to Iran and to Syria.  These are extremely important challenges that the world faces.  The comments that the President of Iran has made recently are of course outrageous, but maybe most importantly they highlight the dangers that all of us face, and that all of us will face, if Iran is successful in acquiring weapons of mass destruction.  Turkey, as a country that is on the front lines of peace and freedom -- whether it is Iraq, Iran or Syria -- obviously is in a very special position.  I will dedicate myself to working closely with Turkey on issues related to those two countries as well as to Iraq. 

I made a point in my discussions with Prime Minister Erdogan and Foreign Minister Gul to talk about Cyprus. That also is a problem in the region that needs to be dealt with, that needs to be addressed.  There are clearly many aspects to the Cyprus problem.  Generally speaking, I come with an appreciation that the United States and Turkey share the same basic goal at present, which is to achieve through peaceful negotiations a settlement that is acceptable to people on both sides of the island, and to do that through the United Nations negotiating process on the basis of the so-called Annan Plan. 

I made a point in several of my meetings also to highlight my interest in expanding our dialogue with Turkey on issues related to the Caucasus and Central Asia.  This is a dialogue that I was a part of with Turkey in the late 1990s when I was at the State Department.  I worked closely with the Turkish Ambassador in Baku on issues related to Azerbaijan, and to the Caucasus more generally.  It’s an area where I have a little bit of comparative advantage of past expertise, and I want to try to see if we can restore or resume the US-Turkish cooperation and collaboration on issues related to the Caucasus and Central Asia that we had a number of years ago. 

A third priority for me in Turkey is to help Turkey continue to strengthen itself.  Partly that is and will be reflected in our work with Turkish authorities on issues including those that were discussed when Mr. Goss and Mr. Mueller were here, on issues related to the fight against international terror, issues related to law enforcement, and improving some of the capabilities of institutions and organizations here.  But it also as reflected in the support that my mission will give to the continued opening of Turkish society, to the continued liberalization of the Turkish economy and opening of the Turkish economy to the outside world, and to the continued strengthening here of democratic institutions and respect for human rights, which are not only important values to the American people, but are also important for the future of this country. 

I will perhaps close at that point, and just say again that I am delighted to be here.  I regret that I did not get here earlier, but that of course was somewhat out of my hands.  The White House has a rather lengthy decision making process that they go through before any ambassador nominee is announced for a position.  I am extremely grateful to the United States Senate for acting on my nomination in about three weeks, which is extraordinarily fast.  That enabled me to get out here when I did.  Let me close at that point, and I will be happy to try to respond a few questions.

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, first of all, welcome to Turkey. 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Thank you.

QUESTION:  You put emphasis on the war on terror and cooperation on international terrorism with Turkey.  But the patterns of this war on international terrorism are so controversial, not only in Turkey but also in the United States and European Union, especially about CIA secret prisons, secret CIA flights.  I am aware that Abdullah Ocalan was also captured with such a flight.  But can you elaborate a bit on these operations?  I want to ask some concrete questions.  Are CIA agents taking Turkish citizens to question them?  Are there any CIA secret flights through Turkey?  And what can you say about CIA secret prisons?  Thank you.

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Thank you very much for the question.  This is a topic that Secretary Rice discussed extensively last week in her travels throughout Europe, and President Bush discussed briefly in some events that took place yesterday in Washington.  Secretary Rice was emphatic that the United States does not condone, does not practice, does not tolerate, and will not tolerate torture.  That is our policy.  She was emphatic that we have lived up to, are living up to, and will live up to the requirements of US law, and the international obligations that we have taken on in this area, including specifically the UN Convention on Torture.  She was emphatic that the United States respects the sovereignty of our friends, our partners, and of others around the world.  In particular, that is a point that I want to emphasize here.  The United States, in what we do in this field in Turkey and with Turkey, is done in collaboration with Turkey, and it is done in a way that fully respects Turkish sovereignty.  As to specifics, Secretary Rice was very careful not to discuss specifics.  I think she was quite eloquent on why, and I am not going to repeat her remarks here in full.  You can read those as well as I can.  But she did make the point that we face a dangerous threat to international peace and to the peoples of our countries.  This presents some unique and different issues.  What do you do with terrorists – people who in some respects are almost stateless?  They are very dangerous people.  Their goal, their mission, is nothing more than to blow something up, or kill large numbers of innocent people who have little of anything to do with the specific underlying grievance that those people may have in mind.  What do you do with those people?  You need to find a way to deal with them, and it’s a challenge that democratic societies have -- how to reconcile their values and their laws, and the need to lock up these people and make sure that they are not able to carry out these terrible acts of violence against thousands and even millions of people that they are bent on carrying out.  Now as to the specifics in Turkey, Foreign Minster Gul has spoken on this subject a couple of times.  I would refer you to his remarks.  I am not in a position any more than Secretary Rice was to discuss what may have ever happened here, what may happen at some point in the future there.  That is something we are not going to get into.  Foreign Minister Gul’s comments on this subject, I think, were helpful and instructive for you.

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, it seems that there is a new phase between Turkey and the United States in terms of the fight against the PKK.  Could you please tell us what is different now, and how can you convince the Turkish people that there will be some concrete measures against the PKK?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  First, as I said in my opening remarks, it was very moving and important for me that I was able to see Prime Minister Erdogan immediately after he met with people who represent the victims of PKK terrorism.  I deeply, deeply sympathize with the tens of thousands of families who have lost loved ones as a result of terrorist violence instigated by the PKK.  And I think the many people in the United States who care about Turkey, including at the very highest levels of our government sympathize very, very deeply.  We know that this is something that has been difficult for Turkey for 20 years, or maybe more, and our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones.  What we have been working to do over the last number of months is to try to develop, on our own and together with the Government of Turkey, a package of measures that can deal with the problem of PKK terrorism in many of its aspects.  You know as well as I do that this is a complex and multi-faceted problem.  There isn’t some magic bullet that you can fire at this problem and solve it.  If that were so, Turkey would have solved this problem 20 years ago.  It requires a complex of measures.  What we are trying to do now is to pursue activities in a variety of different areas, many of which, frankly, I am not prepared to discuss here, that can strike at this problem in a variety of different ways.  I will give you a couple of examples.  One that we have highlighted already in public remarks that Ms. McEldowney made as Charge here is to get at the problem of financial and other support that the PKK obtains in Europe.  Nobody really pretends or would pretend, I think, that the governments of Europe want to back the PKK or like the idea of PKK terrorism. But we all know with a reasonable degree of specificity that a lot of the financial support that comes to the PKK comes form Europe.  So we are trying now to develop, together with Turkey and by using our own resources as well, some measures and initiatives that will help to curb that financial support, and curb the activities or eliminate the activities of major PKK figures that are operating in Europe.  I hope that we are successful.  It is not easy, and it is not something where there is just one more thing we have got to do.  There a whole wide range of things we have to do.  Similarly, we have significantly expanded our information sharing with the government of Turkey.  There is not a lot more that I can say about that.  I believe it has been helpful.  I certainly have heard good things back from officials that I have talked to about that.  There are other activities, as I indicated, that I am not prepared to talk about.  It will take time.  It is an extremely high priority for the United States, and I intend for it to be a high priority for me and for my mission here.

QUESTION:  Mr. Ambassador, in your speech you mentioned with respect to Iran and Syria that Turkey and the United States should have cooperation.  But the two countries had a bad experience with respect to Iraq especially.  Starting from the Iraq example, what do you especially expect from Turkey with respect to Iran and Syria?  And since Turkey, as a neighbor of these countries, is a little bit sensitive and does not seem to be on the same line with Washington on Iran and Syria, what do you expect, and is there a cooperation mechanism that has been agreed on Iran and Syria?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I don’t entirely agree with part of the premise of your question.  I think with respect to Iran and Syria, the United States and Turkey fundamentally want the same thing.  In Iran, we both want a country that is not pursuing weapons of mass destruction and does not have weapons of mass destruction.  We both want to see an Iran that respects the rights of its own citizens and that does not interfere in the internal affairs of others, including by supporting international terrorists.  With regard to Syria, similarly, we are in agreement that we would like to see a Syria that is more democratic, that more clearly respects the rights of its people, and that more fully carries out its obligations under international law and practice to respect its neighbors, including by not carrying out the kinds activities that the Syrian Government apparently has carried out in Lebanon, or by tolerating the transit of international terrorists through Syrian territory to Iraq.  So I think fundamentally we want the same things.  On how we get there, there may be some differences, as there are differences with other countries that are allies of the United States.  Our approach has been, with respect to both of those countries, to try by diplomatic means and, frankly speaking, by a certain amount of isolation of these governments, to change their behavior.  Turkey would like to see their behavior changed as well.  I believe, based in part of what Foreign Minister Gul told me about the discussions that took place with the Iranians here a week or two ago, that the Turkish Government made some of these points to the Iranians about the need for change, and about the need for a change in their approach.  The Foreign Minister and the Government here could probably more fully characterized the nature of those discussions,  but that is certainly what they have told us.  And I think the same point applies with respect to Syria.  What I want to try to do while I am here is to ensure that we have the fullest possible consultation and discussion with the Government of Turkey about issues related to Iran and Syria, to ensure that we can act in tandem or in parallel as much as absolutely possible where we share the same goals, and where we share the same ideas about how to get to those goals.

QUESTION:  Ambassdor, you have talked about the measures envisaged, and have given a couple of examples for the measures envisaged against the PKK in northern Iraq.  However, what the Turkish public always wants to know is whether you are still ruling out military action against the PKK there.

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  One of the key criteria for us is what will be effective.  While I am not sure I want to respond to your question in a very direct way, we have consulted and will be consulting with the Government on steps that we believe will be effective -- in particular, steps that will be effective in dealing with the multi-faceted problem that we face, that Turkey faces, and that Iraq faces. 

QUESTION:  As a follow up to the question about Iran and Syria, you said that there is a need to change the behavior of these countries.  Do you think that there is a difference of view between Turkey and the United States about the way to convince these countries to change their behavior?  Because you also talked about the possibility of isolation of these governments, but as far as I understand the Turkish Government is not at a point to try to isolate these two governments because of the neighborly relations with these countries. 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I don’t think there is so much difference, based in particular on the conversations that I have had since I arrived here. I understand -- Turkey lives here.  Turkey has to deal with its neighbors.  That may be different than a country that doesn’t share a border with, say, Iran or Syria.  We understand that.  I know that Turkey shares the same concerns, as I indicated earlier, about Syrian policy and about Iranian policy.  I believe, based on what I have been told, that we are working and that we can continue to work in the same general directions to try to change the behavior of those two regimes. 

Let me just say, I look forward very much to getting to know you.  I recognize some familiar faces, although not as many as I would like to, and I hope over the course of the coming weeks and months to have more opportunities to get together.  I want both for myself and for my mission to be open and accessible to all of you.  I would encourage you, if you are writing a story about something that you think we might know something about or we might have a perspective to add, to please be in touch with us.  It is easy enough, and we might be able to just tell you that that information you have been given or the rumor that you have heard is not quite right, and we can perhaps steer you in some other directions.  It is not our job, and it will not be our job, to spread propaganda, or to try to mislead you in any way.  But it is our job, and it is my job, to be sure that you are well and accurately informed about US policy, and about how we see developments in the region and in the world.  I will do everything I can while I am here to be as open as I can with you, and as accessible as I can to help you do your jobs.  And hopefully that will help me do mine.  So thank you very much.