Statements by U.S. Officials

Press Roundtable with Ambassador Laura Kennedy Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the Embassy

May 3, 2005

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Thank you for coming to see me today. This is, I think, my fourth trip to Turkey in a ten-month period. As always, I find that there is never enough time to do as many things and see as many people as I would like. Although we discussed a number of issues today, it was by no means a comprehensive discussion of all the things on our very rich agenda. Of course, I came in the wake of Undersecretary Ali Tuygan’s very good visit to the United States. While I was here, I took to the opportunity to have the second round of consultations on the Caucasus and Central Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In February, Director General Akinci had come to Washington for discussions, and we had decided to inaugurate regular exchanges between the United States and Turkey on these specific areas. Of course, there are many issues, as you know, that the United States and Turkey have strategic interests in and on which we regularly consult. When I saw Mr. Tuygan this morning with Ambassador Edelman, we suggested a number of specific consultations in a range of different areas that we would propose for the next year. I will leave it to the Foreign Ministry to comment on that, but I think we have similar views on the importance of having such consultations over the next year. I also had another meeting with Mr. Alpogan, whom I have met a number of times, including when he was formerly Ambassador to Athens. Also, we saw Mr. Apakan and his team to discuss Cyprus today. I had the opportunity to exchange views with various experts on Turkey in a private lunch. Then, most recently, I had a meeting with a group of parliamentarians this afternoon. Every time I have come to Turkey, I have met different parliamentarians from a range of parties. I always think that is one of the most useful exchanges that I can have. I have had the pleasure of meeting with a number of them in Washington as well. From Turkey, I will go on to Greece to again talk about some bilateral issues as well as Cyprus, to exchange views on the way ahead. Then I will go on to Cyprus, and meet with President Papadapolous and meet with Mr. Talat to congratulate him on his victory, as our Secretary of State did recently. I will also meet with UN officials on the island. Then I will go on to London – the UK, as you know, has been a guarantor party on Cyprus, and a country with which we have consulted very closely on the way ahead in Cyprus. Then I will finish up with a trip to Brussels to discuss Cyprus issues as well as some other issues with various EU folks. So I would be delighted to answer any of your questions.

QUESTION: Ambassador Kennedy, can we assume your trip was a preparation for a new round of talks for Cyprus?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Well, periodically we consult – we stay in regular consultation with the parties. Now, I think, was a particularly good time to go to, after the election of Mr. Talat, to again exchange views with the parties. We, as always, look to the Secretary General. The UN process is the framework in which efforts to find a solution should be continued. We support the Secretary General’s efforts. The Secretary General invested huge time and effort in the Annan plan, which of course went down to defeat in the referendum in the south. I think that he needs to know that there is the political will that would justify the resumption of the formal talks. In his Good Offices Mission report, he called on the Government of Cyprus to articulate its specific concerns. I think the Secretary General is still waiting to hear those concerns, and certainly we encourage President Papadopoulos to communicate those to the Secretary General.

QUESTION: The Greek Cypriots don’t look very willing to put those concerns into writing. Accordingly, do you think that the Secretary General must wait (inaudible), or do you think that he should launch the talks without waiting for these concerns (inaudible)?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Well, I will let the Secretary General speak for himself. Up to now, they have certainly indicated that, as we say in America, the ball is in the court of the Government of Cyprus to articulate those concerns. I will let the Secretary General and his team speak for themselves, but I frankly would not see any purpose in their reopening talks unless there is a clear indication of what the concerns are and to see if it makes sense to reopen those talks. But now is an appropriate time for us and other parties -- the UN -- to examine whether the time would be right to reopen the talks.

QUESTION: Is the US going to take further steps for the end of the isolation of northern Cyprus?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: I think we are very proud of our record here. We have taken these steps very much in line with the call of the Secretary General to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. I think we have done more than any other state to do this. We are implementing many of those measures. For example, our 30.5 million dollar Cyprus partnership fund for the Turkish Cypriots is designed specifically at that. We are training businessmen, entrepreneurs, the tourism industry, banks to do business with Europe and the United States. We will continue those efforts. We are trying to create as many business opportunities as we can. There was a trade delegation of American businessmen who visited this past year. We have sponsored a number of Turkish Cypriot business and trade delegations to other countries, including to our own. We have stayed in very close touch with Mr. Talat and other leaders. I look forward to my next meeting with him. We have taken a number of other steps and will continue to look for other opportunities. We think it is important to end their isolation, and we appreciate the policy in support of the reunification of the island that Mr. Talat has very consistently stood for. We have continued to encourage as vigorously as we can our friends in the European Union to implement their own aid and trade measures with regard to the Turkish Cypriots.

QUESTION: Concerning the direct flights to Ercan Airport?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Well as you know, we conducted an informal survey there some time ago. We are looking at the issue. No decisions have been made yet.

QUESTION: Ms. Kennedy, some political figures from the north have said that in any new process taking the Annan plan as a base, this should be the last try. If it fails again, then all the parties should look for different and new solutions. Do you agree with this?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: I would say that is a point that both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots probably agree with, as well as the Secretary General -- that renewed talks will have to be very carefully prepared. That is why the Secretary General had invited the Greek Cypriots to articulate their concerns very clearly. There is no purpose in reopening negotiations that could bog down and, as you say, lead to a failed effort and leave us with a bad situation. The UN, we believe, should remain the mediator, the responsible one for these talks. Obviously the European Union has an important role to play, but it is the UN that we look to and, I think, the parties continue to look to. But we are in a situation where we still need the Secretary General’s call to be answered.

QUESTION: Ambassador Kennedy, you have mentioned that you will talk to the Turkish side and the Greek side on the island. But you had talks here in Turkey as well. You have probably also heard that Mr. Erdogan has stated several times -- and Mr. Gul as well -- that Turkey will take no further steps concerning Cyprus until the EU passes or accepts the two regulations. So this is the main position, as we understand, of the Turkish Republic. Have you elaborated on this issue, and have you mentioned any kind of expectations concerning Cyprus to the Turkish side?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: In line with the Secretary General’s own judgment, which was giving credit to Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots for doing what we asked of them to promote a settlement before, that is our judgment as well. I would say that all of us need to think very hard and creatively about ways to get past this impasse. First and foremost, as I said, the Secretary General’s judgment has been that the Government of Cyprus should articulate with clarity and finality their concerns, and that has not yet been done. That said, I think Turkey has a good record there. We in the United States are very well aware of everything that Turkey has done. Some others may have forgotten. There is one area where Turkey has come in for some criticism, and that is the UNFICYP – there are certain restrictions. But I hope that’s something we could perhaps put behind us and make progress there.

QUESTION: Do you find it acceptable that Turkey will take no further steps until the EU moves forward concerning the regulations? Would you expect further steps?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Turkey is a sovereign state. I think it is best placed to decide how it wants to conduct its foreign policy. As I say, our emphasis has been on the Government of Cyprus answering the Secretary General’s call. That is where I think the burden should be.

QUESTION: Both the bureaucratic and political parts of the Turkish Government have made very positive remarks concerning the US-Turkish relationship very recently. I was wondering how you would evaluate their statements -- primarily Prime Minister Erdogan’s statements and Chief of General Staff General Ozkok’s statements. I was also wondering whether the US side is ready for an official visit by Prime Minister Erdogan to Washington.

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: I have been traveling for the last couple of days, so maybe I missed something. As far as I know, no date has been set. The White House, of course, is the one that is working on that. So I do not have any news on that. You mentioned the Prime Minister’s speech recently. As always, we welcome affirmations from your government on the importance that you attach to the relationship and, I believe, the mutual benefits that it can bring. For our part, I think we always made clear that this is an important relationship. As I mentioned earlier, there are many different areas in which we cooperate with Turkey. You know them all -- the Balkans, Afghanistan, the Broader Middle East initiative, the Caucasus and Central Asia, Cyprus. These are issues we worked and consulted on very closely. So although certainly there are areas of disagreement, it is an important relationship, and I think it will survive ups and downs. But I would say that we very much welcome these affirmations of the importance attached to the relationship.

QUESTION: Maybe you can assess this question as a follow up. You have said that there are some new lists of consultations on the table (inaudible). As I know, during Mr. Akinci’s visit to Washington in February, a new kind of process of dialogue was initiated. Why haven’t you been consulting up to now? What is the main motivation behind this new process of dialogue?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Good point, particularly on the Caucasus and Central Asia. I happen to have been the office director for Central Eurasia from 1995 to 1997. I remember going out to visit that area with my boss in the State Department interagency team. We stopped off in Turkey on our way, because we wanted to share thoughts. I remember being received by President Demirel at that time. I talk regularly with your Embassy, but this was simply a more formal exchange that we thought we would do on an interagency basis. We thought it would be useful to have a regular interagency look at these issues, but you are right -- this is not as if this was invented recently. We talk through many channels with your government, but the Caucasus and Central Asia consultations are just an opportunity to have a regular and more broadly-based exchange. There is a sort of schedule for 2005 for many of the issues that you can imagine -- so it was just an effort to set the calendar.

QUESTION: So what is the substance of this dialogue?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: I am sorry, which dialogue?

QUESTION: On the Caucasus and Central Asia.

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: We could spend days talking about this, but I would say that some of the particular areas we focused on were Kyrgyzstan, given the events there. Aside from these formal consultations we have had in Ankara in Washington, I certainly have made it a point to be in contact with your government comparing notes on the way ahead. Of course, your Foreign Minister is visiting there this coming week. So again, we both have efforts to support this new interim government in Kyrgyzstan. We both hope that forthcoming elections will meet OSCE expectations. We both talked about our respective efforts to provide assistance to the country. Another effort was on Georgia. There are a number of these so-called ‘frozen conflicts’ that we have exchanged views on. Abkhazia is one in which we both have a strong interest in seeing progress. Certainly we are very mindful of the fact that there are more Abkhaz who live in Turkey than in Abkhazia, so Turkey, as a neighbor, has a particularly useful role to play. So we are just consulting on the way forward. We certainly talked about Armenia. I discussed briefly the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations, although we have a special negotiator for that conflict who frequently briefs your government and will be only too happy to visit Turkey in the near future to exchange thoughts on the way ahead there. Those were the main topics that we discussed in these Caucasus-Central Asia consultations.

QUESTION: Did you talk about the so-called Armenian genocide issue and the recent developments -- the letters between the Armenian and Turkish governments?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Yes, we did. You may have read President Bush’s statement on April 24. If not, the Embassy can give you a copy. It is on the White House web page. President Bush specifically referred to Prime Minister Erdogan’s letter to President Kocharian. We certainly have a very strong interest in rapprochement and reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey. This has always been the focus of our efforts, so we were pleased to see Prime Minister Erdogan’s outreach. We read the Foreign Ministry spokesman’s statement that President Kocharian’s response was being studied comprehensively and positively. That was very much the sense I got from the various officials with whom I spoke today. We think this is a very promising exchange between President Kocharian and Prime Minister Erdogan, and we certainly hope that this will be followed up.

QUESTION: What do you think the next step should be? What about a meeting between Erdogan and Kocharian? Would that be possible?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: I think that would be a great thing. I am trying to think what meetings they might both be at -- Council of Europe in Warsaw? Certainly both governments have very competent representatives. President Kocharian responded with this notion of an intergovernmental committee. I think that certainly has merit. For our part, we very strongly encourage rapprochement between the two governments.

QUESTION: Do you think you have any roles to play in this (inaudible)?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: We encourage both sides constantly and, as I said, we noted positively Prime Minister Erdogan’s response to President Kocharian. We certainly will hope and encourage Armenia to respond. I think this is a very promising exchange, and we will certainly support efforts to find a way forward.

QUESTION: Ambassador, with the talks with the Armenian side, have you ever received a signal that Armenia might recognize Turkey’s borders? (inaudible)

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: I have never heard anything from the Government of Armenia to suggest they do not recognize the borders, just as Turkey does. I hear this often from Turks, so I have asked Armenians. I have seen speeches that Foreign Minister Oksanian has made in which he has specifically referred to the Treaty of Kars and the recognition of borders. So frankly I don’t think you have any cause for concern there. This is an issue that the two governments can consider, but I don’t think there is any reason to believe that Armenia does not recognize the borders with Turkey. I have heard this directly from a number of Armenian officials.

QUESTION: Linked to this issue, we know that US was expecting Turkey to open its borders to Armenia. Did you raise this issue at your talks? (inaudible)

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: This has always been our policy. This is routine US policy. What I focused on was asking your government’s views on this and encouraging both sides to build on what I see as a very promising exchange. That was certainly my focus, and that will continue. Now in terms of the Nagorno-Karabakh talks, I prefer not to get into that because we have a specialist who I hope will visit be visiting Turkey in due course. But I will say that these are very difficult, complex issues. So I don’t want to be overly optimistic. There are very tough issues that the sides need to work through. But I will say that I think this has been a very productive year. In what we call the Prague Process, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan have met jointly and separately in various meetings and in various locations with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, of which the United States is one. I think it is a very serious process that is underway. As always, we share our views with Turkey and encourage Turkey to do its part to encourage the parties on the way forward.

QUESTION: We understand that the Turkish Government has replied positively to some of the demands of your government regarding the use of the Incirlik base. (inaudible)

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: I probably should have mentioned that right off in my opening remarks, that indeed we are very appreciative of Turkey’s efforts. We welcome the understanding with the Government of Turkey to use Incirlik as a cargo hub. We very much appreciate Turkey’s ongoing support in the global war against terrorism. I mentioned earlier the many areas in which we cooperate. Looking further afield, we are very appreciative of Turkey’s taking over the leadership of ISAF in Afghanistan for the second time. This is a good development, and we are appreciative of Turkey’s role.

QUESTION: On Cyprus you said that the ball is in the Greek Cypriots court now, and that they have to answer the call from the UN Secretary General. But it seems like they are not in hurry. They have no reason to be in a hurry. So could you please tell us what could be done to convince them to answer the Secretary General? Because some Turkish diplomats say that if, for example, a direct flight from Washington to Ercan were to take place, this might help convince the Greek Cypriots to return to table for talks.

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: As I said, there has been no decision reached on that. Certainly, we are very, very intent on ending the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, showing support for Mr. Talat in recognition of his policies. We will encourage them directly to do this, because I think we all recognize that despite the many years this has going on, that the unresolved status is in no one’s interest. That goes for the North and South of Cyprus, for the area, and more broadly for Europe. It is an issue that really deserves a solution on a bi-zonal, bi-communal basis.

QUESTION: You said that you had a meeting with some Turkish parliamentarians before. (inaudible) all members of the ruling party or those who have resigned from the ruling party. Was it exclusively with these people? What issues did you discuss with them?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Every time I come, I always ask to meet with parliamentarians. I leave that up to the Embassy to arrange. But I always try to see a range of different parties. There were several parties, so I don’t think there is any significance in who was invited. Several of them I had met on a previous visit of theirs to the United States. In any country, we always like to stay in touch with a range of parties. So I did not pick who was going to come. I just expressed my interest in meeting with parliamentarians, so you’d have to ask the Embassy. Maybe they were the only ones who were free or who were willing to spend an afternoon coming to see me. I asked for their thoughts the concerns of parliament, the issues that they deal with as parties, as the parliament as a whole, their thoughts on US-Turkish relationships. I just said “I’m the guest, make me smarter, what are your thoughts?” So they shared a range of issues with me, and I commented on them. I would not characterize their views. I think it is up to them to share with you what their concerns were. But we talked about many of the same issues that you have asked about today. We had a good frank discussion.

QUESTION: Probably one of the main issues that they also raised was the struggle against the PKK. Would you like to share what you told them with us also?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Sure. The United States for decades has been a vigorous opponent of the PKK. We put them on our terrorist list many years ago. We have vigorously encouraged over the years many other states to follow through with similar actions. President Bush has said very explicitly that Iraq cannot be a haven for the PKK. That is absolutely our policy. We understand and appreciate Turkey’s concerns about terrorism. I would underline again the words of President Bush on this score. I would also note that Turkey had hosted trilateral talks with the US and Iraq earlier. This was an excellent opportunity to talk about ways the terrorist threat can be dealt with. These consultations continue. We certainly appreciate the words from the Government of Iraq in terms of their shared views that they do not want to tolerate any threats to their neighbor, Turkey. I know that Turkey just hosted the neighbors’ conference here in Istanbul. So this is a continuing subject for consultations between our governments, and very much a recognition of a desire to work with Turkey on this.

QUESTION: Ambassador Kennedy, which are the main fields or subjects which you think could enhance Turkish-US relations? Which steps do you think would contribute to both countries’ relations?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: There is a whole range of important areas that we work together on. Most recently, we appreciated Turkey’s step with regard to Incirlik. I would say that, again, an affirmation from Turkey of the importance of the relationship -- which is not to say that we do not have different views occasionally. But it is important to us that in our discourse when there are differences the dialogue be carried out as appropriate for long-term friends and allies. That is a very general statement, I suppose, but let me just leave it at that.

QUESTION: I am still a little confused on the Armenian issue. You said that you support Erdogan’s letter and all these initiatives. But there is a big difference. Erdogan says the genocide issue should be discussed by historians, but Kocharian says that all the issues can be discussed in an intergovernmental commission – that it is our responsibility, and we cannot delegate it to historians. So what is the position of the United States? Do you support an intergovernmental commission (inaudible)? Or do you think that it is an issue for historians?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Let me just say that we support, in general, rapprochement between your governments. We are not going to tell Turkey or Armenia what to do, because rapprochement and reconciliation means you are willing to deal with each other. That is central. So we support any of those efforts. I don’t see that these two proposals could not possibly be reconciled. Prime Minister Erdogan has proposed a commission of historians. Kocharian said “why don’t we consider diplomatic relations? How about an intergovernmental commission?” I don’t want to do the thinking of your government or the Armenians for them, but will I personally say that I don’t see why you cannot reconcile these two proposals. Why not have both? I think it is really important for this dialogue to continue. So what if initial proposals don’t mirror each other. Let’s built on the exchange and see if we can’t come out with a workable next step. I don’t see an antithesis between the proposals. I don’t see why you can’t proceed on both tracks.

QUESTION: Did you get the signal that Turkey might find it positive to (inaudible)?

AMBASSADOR KENNEDY: Obviously they are looking at it. I don’t want to get out ahead of your government. You’re a good journalist. You’ll get the story out of your government probably before any diplomat like me.

Thank you so much for coming today.