noticias.info (press release), Spain
Feb 7 2005
SECRETARY RICE: Interview With Metehan Demir of Turkey’s Kanal-D TV
/noticias.info/ Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Ankara, Turkey
February 6, 2005
QUESTION: Welcome to Turkey again.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.
QUESTION: What do you think about the recent Kurdish statements about
breaking away from Iraq as an independent state? Can you declare
clearly that the US will not tolerate any division of Iraq and will
not allow any unilateral changes by the Kurds in the status of
Kirkuk? And do you believe that Turkey might intervene in Kirkuk if
such a decision is taken by the Kurds?
SECRETARY RICE: The United States has been absolutely clear that we
are committed to a united Iraq. That we are committed to an Iraq in
which all parties and all groups – whether Turkmen or Kurds or
Shiites or Sunnis – are all welcome, And other minorities too, all
welcomed, all represented, all respected within a unified Iraq. The
United States believes strongly in the territorial integrity of Iraq,
and we’ll work with the parties to make certain that is the outcome.
We also believe that Kirkuk needs to be a city in which all Iraqis
are welcome. And we know its history. We know that Saddam Hussein,
through his dictatorship and his methods, contributed to tensions
about Kirkuk. But it is a city that really must represent all Iraqis.
QUESTION: It shouldn’t have a special status?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, it’s going to be up to the Iraqis to decide in
their democratic state how Kirkuk is administered. But it really must
be a place where all Iraqis are welcome and respected.
QUESTION: Turkey has been very critical of Washington that the US is
not keeping its earlier promises in fighting the PKK, which is
already officially declared as terrorist by Washington. Do you plan
to take a concrete step against the PKK presence in northern Iraq or
is there any policy change by the US on the issue?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, the very fact that the PKK is declared as a
terrorist organization in the United States means that there are
certain things that the United States is obligated to do. For
instance, we are obligated to do what we can to deal with their
financing so that they don’t receive moneys in any way that the
United States can stop it from happening.
We of course understand and are thoroughly committed to the fact that
terrorism should not come from the territory of northern Iraq. And we
are in a trilateral arrangement, mechanism, with the Iraqis and with
Turkey to deal with the threat of the PKK. We will do everything that
we can. The security situation is difficult still in the country, and
there are at this point some limits on what we can do. But it is not
because of a lack of commitment to dealing with the PKK, and we will
do so because they are a terrorist organization and ought to be dealt
with as a terrorist organization.
QUESTION: Iran seems to be the number one issue on President’s Bush
agenda in his second term especially. How do you see neighboring
Turkey’s role in connection with developments in Iran?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, Iran will be one of many issues for the
President’s agenda and since the President’s agenda deals with a
broader Middle East and reform in the Middle East, part of the
problem is that Iran is out of step with that effort at reform in the
Middle East.
Turkey, on the other hand, is one of America’s strongest partners in
the broader Middle East reform, a functioning democracy, Islamic
people here who are faithful and devout, but devoted to democracy.
That is the hope for the Middle East more broadly. So Turkey has a
very important role to play in helping to create, helping to support
those in the Middle East who want a different kind of Middle East. In
terms of Iran, we all have to be very firm with Iran – that its
support for terrorism is unacceptable, that its efforts to build a
nuclear weapon under cover of civilian nuclear power is unacceptable.
I think Turkey will be a strong ally in that.
QUESTION: In an interview with Larry King, Secretary of Defense Don
Rumsfeld said recently that Turkey’s decision last year that did not
allow the transfer of American Fourth Infantry Division from Turkey
to Iraq was one source of problems today because, he said, he says,
exceptional number of Sunnis were captured or killed. That’s why he
says this is still fomenting the insurgency in Iraq. Does the U.S.
still have the negative impacts of last year’s Turkey’s decision?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, it was certainly a disappointing decision given
our long alliance and the need to transport American forces, and I
think we made no secret of that. I think whatever the relationship
was to what happened subsequently is really speculative but we are
moving on in our relationship. If we were not moving on, it would not
be the case that the United States has been so strongly supportive of
Turkish accession to the European Union or the support for the
Turkish economic reforms and its IMF program. We are moving on. We’ve
got a lot of work to do together and that’s what I am here to talk
about.
QUESTION: Maybe this could be a follow-up question. Both Turkey and
the US describe the relationship as a strategic partnership. What Dr.
Rice in your view makes this a strategic partnership?
SECRETARY RICE: What makes it a strategic partnership, first of all,
is a long history of having a relationship that is devoted to a more
secure, stable balance in the world. Turkey was an important fighter,
an important ally in the Cold War as we overcame the division of
Europe and brought down imperial communism. Turkey is of course a
member of NATO, the most important and most successful strategic
alliance. And it was NATO’s job in the past to prevent the spread of
Soviet power, to give cover to democratization in Europe. NATO is now
involved in trying to spread stability and democracy to others parts
of the world. So Turkey has been in control of the ISAF in
Afghanistan, for instance, turning Afghanistan – a place that was the
primary territorial source of Al-Qaeda terrorism – into a state that
will be peaceful and fighting terror. That’s really what it means to
be a strategic ally. It means cooperating around the world to make
the world more stable, to fight terrorism, and indeed to spread
liberty and democracy.
QUESTION: How do you see Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s
critical remarks on the United States regarding the ongoing
operations in Iraq?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, we’ve had a discussion of Iraq, and I think
that the Iraqi people and their election last Sunday gives us an
opportunity now to look ahead to how we are all going to support a
democratic Iraq, an Iraq that is unified and an Iraq that is at peace
with its neighbors.
And for all of us, we need to say to our publics, as I’m having an
opportunity, thanks to you, to say today, this is a fundamentally
strong and important relationship. It is critical to the security and
the future of both the United States and Turkey. We have to speak up
for the importance of this relationship. Friends will sometimes
disagree, but when we disagree, we have to do so from a basis that
still understands the vital importance of this relationship, that it
allows us to do things like support each other in places like
Afghanistan, to support Turkish accession to the European Union, to
support Turkish economic reform through the IMF. That’s what friends
do. And so even when we have our disagreements, we need to be very
clear that this relationship is very much worth it.
QUESTION: Does the Pentagon foresee, or does the United States
administration foresee, more of a role for Incirlik airbase, because
there has been a lot of speculation. Maybe from your position it
would be very useful to clarify what is the US idea on Incirlik
airbase?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, first of all since Incirlik is a Turkish
airbase, anything that we do we would, of course, have to do with
Turkey. We will have discussions, broad discussions about how the
changed circumstances change our needs. But some of the things that I
have seen about major basing of American aircraft and so forth, I
think that is really not on the table.
QUESTION: Do you think that further steps should be taken to reward
the Turks in Cyprus who said to yes last year to the referendum in
the name of a solution on the island while the Greek Cypriots said no
to this referendum. Many promised, many heavyweights in the world
promised — including the US and the EU — to take better steps to
make Turks’ position better, but nothing is specifically done so far.
Do you have more plans for the Turkish Cypriots?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, we are looking at what we can do to ease the
isolation of the Turkish Cypriots because we, like everyone else,
were disappointed that the Annan plan was not adopted. We have taken
some steps, direct aid for instance to the Turkish Cypriots, but
there are probably other things that we should look at doing. We
should get back to trying to find a way to unify the island.
QUESTION: One short question and the last one. What should be done
for solving the dispute between Turkey and Armenia? Does the U.S.
plan any special initiative this year to solve this problem?
SECRETARY STATE: Well, we would certainly hope that Turkey and
Armenia would find a way to bridge the differences. We know the very
difficult history here. And we recognize the difficult history. But
we are a long time now into the future. And on the basis of
democratic development and the economic development and the need for
stability, we would hope and encourage the parties to find ways to
bridge their differences.
QUESTION: How long will it take for Turkey to become a full member of
the European Union? In your opinion.
SECRETARY RICE: Well, unfortunately we are not members of the
European Union So we can’t say. We’ve been supporters of Turkey’s
accession and of that happening as quickly as possible. Obviously,
there are standards that Turkey needs to meet. And the European Union
is well within its rights to say that there are certain things that
need to be done in order to bring about Turkey’s accession. But I
think we’ve been a supportive as anyone for that accession to take
place. And given that we are not a member, it really is up to Turkey
and the European Union to find a way for it — with Turkey doing what
it needs to do and with Europe being welcoming of a Turkey that
really does have a rightful place in the world.
QUESTION: Secretary Rice, thank you very much for being with us. It
was a nice opportunity. Many thanks and enjoy your trip.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.
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