Statements by U.S. Officials
Admiral Michael G. Mullen
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Ankara, Turkey
September 15, 2008
Moderator: Ladies and gentlemen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Michael Mullen.
Admiral Mullen: Good afternoon, it’s delightful to be with you this afternoon. This is my first visit to Turkey as Chairman for myself and the first visit that General Basbug has hosted and I’m honored to be here and visit him. I knew him in prior years and I’m delighted to be with him to reaffirm a very strong military to military relationship. This is a vital part of the world, a vital region, our relationship with Turkey is one that we all cherish. We discussed a broad range of military issues with General Basbug to include a very important one which is continued support for the mission against the terrorist organization, PKK, many other things as well, that continues to be a priority and will be in the future. I also met with the Prime Minister and had a good meeting with the President. We share many common interests and I am confident we will continue to do so in the future. With that I’ll take a few questions.
Question: American ships have been carrying humanitarian and public opinion is debating whether this is violating the Montreux Convention. Can please elaborate a little bit about this issue. Do you have any plan for asking any change in the Montreux for the near future?
Admiral Mullen: We have no plans to ask for any change in the Montreux. All of the American ships have complied with Montreux and will continue to do so, and with respect to visits that we, the United States navy ships, have made to Georgia, those have all been humanitarian assistance and aid visits.
Question: Why did you prefer using military ships and not civilian ships to carry humanitarian aid to Georgia?
Admiral Mullen: There was a sense of urgency associated with the crisis and the availability of ships and the military ships, United States navy ships, were used. We’ve also used United States navy ships as other countries have used their navy ships for humanitarian assistance around the world. The tsunami in 2004 in Indonesia is an example. So we’ve done this routinely, we’ve done this in our own country for our own relief. So, it is a very common mission for us.
Question: The Turkish Grand National Assembly authorized the Government for cross border operations one year ago and the mandate is coming to an end. And it is being planned to give one more mandate to the Government for cross border operation. First, do you have some question marks regarding cross border operations after one year and for the next one year and will the American intelligence sharing process, will it continue as it is happening until now? And another question regarding the American troops withdrawal from Iraq. Do you have any expectations or requests during your visit today from the Turkish Government during this withdrawal process? Thank you.
Admiral Mullen: I’ll answer the second question first which is, we certainly discussed Iraq, but there are no specific requests that I made for Turkey in that regard. It was more an exchange of ideas. And with respect to the cross border operations, it’s obviously up to the Turkish Government to make decisions about how the Government proceeds from a policy perspective. I think, I know, that the operations which the United States has supported have been very effective over the last year.
Question: Adm. Mullen, there is a rising tension between the U.S. and Pakistan on how to tackle the al Qaeda militants in the Pakistani soil, and today there was a report saying that two U.S. helicopters were forced to leave Pakistan after the Pakistani troops firing. So, can you confirm that and my colleague’s question on the intelligence sharing was not answered, so, would you please elaborate on that too? The intelligence sharing on the PKK?
Admiral Mullen: Okay I’ll answer that first, the intelligence sharing on the PKK. As I indicated in my opening statement the PKK terrorists and the terror that they bring forward need to addressed continuously and we will continue to support, as it is requested, the Turkish military in that regard. With respect to Pakistan, I won’t speak to any specifics in terms of operations, except to say that’s a very dangerous border, it’s a safe haven. We know that al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists are there and it needs to be addressed.
Question: Did you bring any specific request with respect to Afghanistan from the Turkish military? Is there any need that Turkish military men in ISAF should be increased? Is there any logistic request from U.S. with respect to Afghanistan operation?
Admiral Mullen: Like Iraq, we spoke about Afghanistan at great length, and Turkey is participating there now, and we greatly appreciate that. In the long run, in Afghanistan we are going to have to continue to work together. It’s a country in great need, not just militarily, but economically in terms of its development. We talked about working into the future together across a full spectrum of requirements.
Question: Admiral, was there any special reason, what was your main aim of your visit to Turkey? And the northern Iraq authorities can not give their full effort to Turkey and the United States strategically towards the fighting against the PKK on the northern side. How do you see their attitudes in this concept. Turkey and United States is still working together, but they didn’t yet the northern Iraqis (inaudible). What will happen, how do you elaborate this?
Admiral Mullen: The main purpose of my visit was the military to military relationship. I was invited by General Basbug, and I said earlier I am honored to be here and to be his first counterpart visitor since he has taken over. And I look forward to continuing strong relationship with him. Without going into any kind of military details in terms of the northern border, we did talk about the borderw we talked about the challenges on both sides of it and the need to continue to address it. And I won’t go into the specifics of what we think needs to be done to do that.
Question: Mr. Admiral, another question regarding the Georgia’s membership to NATO. The Russian administration is very clear regarding the NATO membership of Georgia and even they are ready to attack Georgia even if it is a member of the organization. And under such kind of circumstances Turkey will be the NATO member who needs to defend Georgia from land, from sea and from air. Do you think still Georgia can be a member under such circumstances? Thank you.
Admiral Mullen: Georgia is proceeding down a path to become a member. In terms of its path versus other countries who have become, recently become members of NATO, that can be a very long path. That said, that commitment is there and should Georgia become a member of NATO, NATO is committed to collective defense if anybody is attacked. So my expectation would be certainly, if that happened, if and when they become members - and that’s to be determined - when that happens, that NATO would respond in accordance with the alliance requirement.
I would only add one other thing, that all of us are concerned with what Russia did with the invasion and that as we look to the future, we need to figure out a future that doesn’t involve that kind of incursion on the part of Russia on any country.
Moderator: Actually we have time for two more quick questions. I see Zeynep’s hand up.
Question: Do you think that NATO should also be involved in the Black Sea after this Georgia crisis?
Admiral Mullen: The operations in the Black Sea have been long standing, NATO has operated there. Obviously the countries that live around the Black Sea operate there as well as the United States and other international navies. It is an international body of water. We talked about Montreux, compliance with Montreux, we expect to be able to continue to do that, to operate there, and certainly comply with the requirements that Montreux lays out.
Question: Admiral, how did you discuss the situation of Kirkuk now? And do you have a mutual understanding of Kirkuk’s future and do you have any certain plan?
Admiral Mullen: We discussed the importance of Kirkuk, the importance of peace and stability in northern Iraq. We recognize that resolving issues there is a real challenge. Those are political issues to be resolved, and I know that the politicians in Iraq, and that politicians in my country as well as politicians in Turkey and other countries, are very concerned about this. And we need to address it in a way where it resolved peacefully in a proper way for the future, and the stability and the unity in Iraq which is so important. Thank you.
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