News On Turkey

Excerpts: State Dept. Briefing January 3: Tsunami, Turkey

Asia/tsunami relief efforts, Armitage's meetings in Turkey and Syria, Turkey/Middle East

State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli briefed the press January 3.

Following is the transcript of the State Department briefing:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 2005
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

 

Briefer: Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman

[....]

QUESTION: Secretary Powell, in Thailand this morning, said he doesn't think the United States Government needs to contribute more than the $350 million already pledged, and yet President Bush this morning has asked both his father and ex-President Bill Clinton to co-chair a nationwide fund drive. Are we seeing a public relations disaster in the making here between what Secretary Powell said and what has gone on since?

MR. ERELI: We're seeing a concerted commitment on behalf of the President and the leaders and people of the United States to help those who have suffered as a result of this disaster. The President announced the appointment of President Clinton and President Bush to oversee and spearhead private giving. The United States Government has already given $350 million. As you know, that's part of over $2 billion in international aid. That is a sign of significant international commitment to help those suffering from this.

I would not characterize Secretary Powell's comments the way you did. We, obviously, are in this for the long haul. This is a crisis that is going to take years of help to recover from. We are currently at the level of $350 million. We've always said we will do what is necessary to help the people in the region. That is why Secretary Powell and Governor Bush are there, at the President's direction, to express our support and condolence to the governments and people of the countries affected, as well as to assess what more the United States can do over the long term to meet their needs.

So I would look at where we are now as providing the aid that is needed, the aid that can be absorbed at the moment, with an eye towards the future and the long term and being there for the people who need us. And that is, I think, the message you should take away from the Secretary and Governor Bush's trip, as well as the announcement of Presidents Bush and Clinton spearheading private donations.

Yes, Adi.

QUESTION: You mentioned the $350 million pledge and I know you can't talk too much in terms of specifics because, obviously, that money is going to be allocated over the course of several months and maybe years, depending on the reconstruction needs of the people in the area. But would it be fair to say that all that is going to be money and not in-kind donations?

MR. ERELI: I believe it's money that's going to be spent on supplies and programs and infrastructure. I mean, one example would be something that Administrator Natsios announced today and -- when traveling with the Secretary and Governor Bush, as well as Assistant Administrator Kunder announced here in the briefing at the State Department, is work programs in the areas affected to generate economic activity, to act as a draw, to give the people a means of reestablishing their livelihoods. And this is $10 million we're giving right away. We would certainly expect that to expand in the areas affected.

So it's not all just -- how should I put it? It's money that is spent on a variety of different aspects of immediate humanitarian assistance and relief as well as longer-term recovery and rehabilitation. And the Secretary -- as the Secretary pointed out, we have already started disbursing some infusions of cash, but it will also be disbursed over an extended period.

QUESTION: If I could just ask a follow-up. Right now, is it true that ambassadors in the various embassies can only give $100,000 right off the bat? Is that true?

MR. ERELI: The ambassadors' special fund is intended to provide short, immediate -- to meet immediate cash needs. And that's -- it's 50- or $100,000 in disaster assistance monies that belongs to AID, and AID authorizes that money to be spent when an ambassador declares a disaster area. And again, it's for the first 24-48 hours to deal with immediate needs, and then, you know, follow-on money is provided in the way that you saw it here, by AID, USAID, or the White House identifying the needs, working with Office of Management and Budget to find the funds available and program them as the law requires.

QUESTION: Are there any -- is there a policy review, perhaps, to increase the ceiling that ambassadors can play with in terms of how much money they can give right off the bat, maybe to a million or something like that?

MR. ERELI: Not that I'm aware of because, as I said, this is money that is spent right away to meet immediate needs. And as we've learned -- I mean, as has, I think, been reiterated throughout the course of this crisis, throwing large sums of money in the first 24 and 48 hours is not always -- is not what's called for. It's giving the money the people need right away to make the immediate responses. And that's the way we've approached this, sort of methodically, systematically, rationally, and the $100,000 that the ambassadors have, I think, works well within that system. So I'm not aware that there's any policy review of how this system functions.

[....]

QUESTION: Do you have anything about the Secretary Armitage visits and meetings in Ankara today? What did they talk about -- new Cyprus initiative and northern Iraq, PKK and the security of Turkish drivers?

MR. ERELI: I would refer you, actually, to Secretary Armitage's remarks following his meetings in -- his meeting with Foreign Minister Gul in Ankara. He said in those remarks that he discussed a number of issues with his Turkish colleagues. He met -- in addition to Foreign Minister Gul, he met with Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, and Chief of the Defense General Hilmi Ozkok.

In those meetings, Deputy Secretary Armitage talked about Iraq, briefed his Turkish colleagues on his recent visit there, also thanked Turkey for its wonderful efforts in Afghanistan and made the point that the good start that Afghanistan has gotten off to in terms of elections and democracy taking root there is thanks, in considerable part, to the efforts and contributions of Turkey. He also discussed his visits to Damascus and Amman, and he congratulated the Foreign Minister on the triumph of Turkish diplomacy on the question of the EU.

QUESTION: Why don't you tell us about his talks in Syria, if you have anything? Remember, before he went, he was going to -- if raised, the question raised -- he was going to talk about how unhelpful Syria has been by giving haven to former Saddam Hussein people, relatives or something. Did he do that? Did the Syrians tell him that he's got the wrong names and addresses? What happened?

MR. ERELI: The Deputy Secretary, in Damascus, reviewed the full range of issues with the Government of Syria. These include, obviously, what's going on in Iraq, both in terms of the elections as well as the insurgency and our concerns regarding Syria's position on that issue. It also included the issue of terrorism, as well as Resolution 1559 and Lebanon.

On the issue of Syria and Iraq, the Deputy Secretary made the point that we have seen some improvement in foreign fighters -- or in Syria's acting to prevent its territory being used by foreign fighters to enter Iraq. But the Deputy Secretary stressed the point that former regime elements, there's still a problem with former regime elements using Syria to help the insurgency and that it was very important to have that stopped.

QUESTION: Anything about the response? Did he say, "ah, go on", or what?

MR. ERELI: Did he what?

QUESTION: What was the Syrian response?

MR. ERELI: I don't have anything for you on the Syrian response.

[....]

QUESTION: Turkish Foreign Minister Gul is visiting Israel and Palestine. What kind of role can Turkey play about Israel-Palestine dispute and peace process?

MR. ERELI: Turkey can play, I think, a positive and constructive role in encouraging the abandonment of terror by groups under control of the Palestinian Authority -- or, I'm sorry, under the -- activities by terrorist groups operating in territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority, and Turkey can play a positive role in supporting efforts by the Quartet and others to help promote engagement between Israelis and Palestinians in ways that enhance the security of Israel and meet the needs and the aspirations of the Palestinian people.