US Department of State
June 5 2009
Remarks With Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
June 5, 2009
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. Minister Davutoglu and I just had a
very productive, broad-ranging, comprehensive discussion. And it is a
great privilege to welcome him here to the State Department within the
very first weeks of his having been appointed foreign minister. Of
course, I was very honored to have gone to Turkey very early in my
term as Secretary of State, and President Obama had a wonderful visit
to Turkey.
And all of that is to confirm the strength and importance of our
partnership and alliance. We have a lot of work to do
together. Turkey, the United States, and the entire global community
certainly face a great number of challenges, but we also see
opportunities. So our message coming out of the meeting today and our
prior meetings is that we’re going to deepen and strengthen our
cooperation on an ongoing basis, because we believe that both Turkey
and the United States have unique roles to play.
Now, we obviously already collaborate. Not only are we both members of
NATO, but we are working with the G-20 to respond to the global
economic crisis, we’re exploring ways to enhance our trade and
commerce between our two countries, we’re working to develop new
energy sources, including resources from the Caucasus and Central
Asia. We’re partners in the fight against global terrorism. We share
the goal of a stable Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to deny al-Qaida
safe haven that can threaten our countries and many others. We support
Turkey in its fight against the terrorist activities of the PKK, which
has been a very important cooperation.
And I underscored again today the United States’ strong support for
Turkey’s bid to become a member of the European Union. Turkey has made
significant progress toward membership. It’s been in a process of
reform that is generated by its own internal decisions but which has
certainly responded to many of the concerns regarding the strength of
the bid that Turkey had. And so we applaud what Turkey has already
done and pledge our efforts to continue working with Turkey.
And so we ranged across a broad number of issues, and I want to just
make a special note. As President Obama said yesterday in Cairo, the
United States is committed to broad engagement with Muslims everywhere
across the globe based on mutual interests and mutual respect. We
believe strongly in the freedom of religion and expression, in vibrant
civil societies, and we know that those are values that Turkey shares.
And I want to thank the minister and his government for the role that
Turkey plays as a force for peace and stability. This is important,
and it’s already been demonstrated in the work that Turkey has done
for a number of years and continues with respect to comprehensive
peace in the Middle East. And we are strongly supportive of the
Turkish efforts to normalize relations with Armenia, and we are also
very strongly supportive of the efforts to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
We discussed Cyprus, which is an issue that the President also
addressed when he was in Turkey in April. The two Cypriot leaders have
an opportunity through their commitment to negotiations under the
United Nations Good Offices Missions, and the United States is willing
to help the parties. We want to work toward a settlement that
reunifies Cyprus into a bi-zonal and bi-communal federation.
We discussed many, many concerns, and I’m just grateful for the
commitment by the minister and by his government to play an active
role in our dynamic world. Our relationship is not just about
security; it is about seizing these opportunities, and I look forward
to working with you.
FOREIGN MINISTER DAVUTOGLU: Thank you very much, Secretary
Clinton. It’s a great honor and pleasure for me to meet with Secretary
Clinton today in a very historic time after the speech of President
Obama yesterday and the new commitment of United States for regional
and global peace everywhere. We know of her wisdom, her approach, and
we always appreciate and admire her approach to all the issues
regarding to our bilateral, regional, and global issues.
Basically, the purpose of my visit was to follow up her historic visit
to Turkey immediately after the new Administration in March and
President Obama’s historic visit in April. So these historic visits
showed the strength of our bilateral relations. So I came here in my
first month of my duty in this ` as minister to follow up all the
contents, all the issues regarding our relations. We had a very
constructive meeting. I am grateful for that. And we went through all
the issues regarding the depth and scope of our agenda. We decided to
have a much more broader comprehensive approach in our bilateral
relations, not only security issues but economy, energy security,
cultural issues. Also on the main regional issues like Middle East,
Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Caucasia, (inaudible) and all the
relevant issues we have as common agenda we went through. And I am
very happy to see that we have very identical, similar approaches to
many of these issues.
On global affairs also, we agreed together that our cooperation should
not be limited only by regional efforts, but there is a big potential
between Turkey and the United States to work together on global issues
like relations between civilizations, Alliance of Civilizations, like
G-20 and economic ` the situation after economic crisis, like our
cooperation in United Nations Security Council. As you know, Turkey
took over the presidency a few days ago. And I was in New York
yesterday for the first formal meeting of UN Security Council.
As Turkey ` as minister of foreign affairs of Turkey, and as the
Government of Turkey, we are ready to cooperate with the United States
in all these significant issues for achieving regional and global
peace. That is our contribution to the (inaudible). Thank you very
much.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Very well said, Minister.
MR. WOOD: The first question will be from Jill Dougherty of CNN.
QUESTION: Thank you. Madame Secretary, what is the U.S. doing to free
the journalists being held in North Korea? And how open are you to
using a special negotiator/envoy, perhaps former Vice President Gore?
And also, if I could, just one very quick question. Any update on the
situation of the Goldman boy in Brazil?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Jill, the concern that we feel for these two
young women who are in prison in North Korea has been driving our
efforts. We want to strike the right balance between expressing our
deep concerns, our belief that these two young women should be
released immediately. The trial which is going on right now we
consider to be a step toward the release and the return home of these
two young women.
I personally have spoken with a number of foreign officials who have
influence through various channels with the North Koreans. The State
Department has had direct contact with the North Koreans through the
channel by which we communicate. The Swedish ambassador has been
extremely helpful. He has actually met with the two young women on
three occasions. He’s helped to facilitate the delivery of materials
and the passing of messages. So we are incredibly concerned on both a
diplomatic and, on my behalf, a personal basis. I have met with their
families, and I share the grave anxiety that they feel about the
safety and security of these two young women.
We call again on the North Korean Government to release them and
enable them to come home as soon as possible. We have explored other
approaches, including the use of special representatives strictly for
this humanitarian mission. But as things stand now, we know that
they’re in the middle of a trial in Pyongyang, and we hope that the
trial is resolved quickly and that the young women are released.
With respect to Sean Goldman, we were very pleased when the Brazilian
courts reached the conclusion they reached earlier this week. And we
were very disappointed when a hold was placed on the release of this
young boy and his return with his father to the United States. We will
continue to support Mr. Goldman in his efforts to speak out on behalf
of the family relations that is at the core of this legal case, and to
urge the Brazilian Government and judiciary to release Sean and enable
him to return to his father now that the legal decision has been
rendered.
QUESTION: This is Umit Enginsoy with Turkish NTV television. Madame
Secretary, since the release in April of Turkish, Armenian, and Swiss
statements about joint intention for normalization of ties, have you
observed any progress toward that end, and also toward resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem? And are you hopeful that these could be
resolved in the not-too-distant future? Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I have been very encouraged by the progress
that has been made and by the commitment of the governments
involved. Certainly, Turkey and Armenia, with the assistance of the
Swiss Government, have committed themselves to a process of
normalization. We’re well aware that this is difficult. It requires
patience and perseverance. But we have seen no flagging of commitment.
The minister and I discussed this at length. He brought me up to date
on developments. And we are continuing to encourage the parties to
proceed on the path which they themselves have set. We are supportive,
but it is up to the Turkish and Armenian governments and people to
realize the great opportunity this poses. The normalization of
relations not only continues what I have seen from the Turkish
Government, which is a desire to actually solve problems, and I
applaud that, but we think it will bring great benefits to the region.
Similarly, with the ongoing negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh, the
Government of Azerbaijan and of Armenia are proceeding and working
together. They were just in a recent meeting in St. Petersburg. So we
believe that a lot of progress has been made in a relatively short
period of time to resolve issues that are of long standing.
What’s important is the commitment to get to a point of resolution of
these conflicts, and I see that commitment. Now are there problems
along the way? Of course. There is in any difficult undertaking. But I
do not doubt the commitment, and I certainly appreciate the very
strong position that the Turkish Government has taken. And perhaps,
Minister, you would like to add to that?
FOREIGN MINISTER DAVUTOGLU: I would like to express also my thanks to
Secretary Clinton because of her personal and American Government’s
support for these two processes. We are very optimistic. We want to
achieve a prosperous, peaceful Caucasia. And in that sense, we are
fully committed to our normalization process with Armenia, and also,
we are fully committed and we are ready to work together with United
States and other co-chairs of Minsk Group for the resolution of
Armenian-Azeri issues.
And I was very impressed and I want to repeat my thanks for the
commitment of Madame Secretary Clinton in this sense, and we will be
working together. There is a strong will politically by Turkish side
to continue all the efforts to achieve our common goal of creating a
prosperous, peaceful Caucasia together.
MR. WOOD: Next question will be from Arshad Mohammed of Reuters.
QUESTION: Secretary Clinton, how seriously is the United States
considering imposing either multilateral or unilateral financial
sanctions on North Korea and its banks? And what makes you confident
that such a step wouldn’t be counterproductive? When the sanctions
were imposed on BDA, it essentially froze the process for months on
end until the United States effectively removed them and returned the
money.
And a small ` well, a separate thing, maybe not small. Dov Weissglas,
the former Israeli chief of staff to former Prime Minister Sharon,
argues publicly this week that Israel had understandings with the Bush
Administration, under which it was permitted to continue so-called
natural growth under the Roadmap, that it could continue building
within the construction line. Do you believe that there were such
understandings or agreements between Israel and the Bush
Administration? Do you feel bound by them?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Arshad, let me start with North Korea. As you
know, the United States is working very hard in the Security Council,
now chaired by Turkey, to come up with a resolution that would
represent the will of the international community with respect to
North Korea’s actions that are viewed with considerable concern on the
part of not just the United States or South Korea or Japan, but also
China, Russia, and many other countries internationally.
We’ve made considerable progress in devising the kinds of actions that
would represent consequences imposed upon the North Koreans by the
international community. I have personally spoken with a number of the
foreign ministers, our ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and
her team are involved on a hour-by-hour basis, because we want to come
up with the strongest possible resolution.
And I think we’ve learned a lesson. One of the lessons we’ve learned
is that with the North Koreans, it’s never over till it’s over, that
if there are effective sanctions that we believe can be imposed, an
arms embargo and other steps to be taken, we need to see real
results. We, along with other neighbors in Northeast Asia as well as
the international community, stand ready to resume negotiations with
the North Koreans over their nuclear program. Our goal remains to have
a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. So I am quite heartened by the
progress that we’re seeing in the United Nation Security Council. And
when we believe we’ve gotten the strongest possible resolution we can
get, we will table it and then proceed.
With respect to the conditions regarding understandings between the
United States and the former Israeli government and the former
government of the United States, we have the negotiating record. That
is the official record that was turned over to the Obama
Administration by the outgoing Bush Administration. There is no
memorialization of any informal and oral agreements. If they did
occur, which, of course, people say they did, they did not become part
of the official position of the United States Government. And there
are contrary documents that suggest that they were not to be viewed as
in any way contradicting the obligations that Israel undertook
pursuant to the Roadmap. And those obligations are very clear.
QUESTION: Foreign Minister Davutoglu, how do you evaluate President
Obama’s speech to the Muslim world in Cairo? And Secretary Clinton,
after President Obama’s visit to Turkey, what is the state of
Turkish-American relations?
FOREIGN MINISTER DAVUTOGLU: Thank you very much. President Obama’s
speech yesterday in Cairo is a speech of wisdom, a speech of vision,
and a speech of peace. And we share the insight with Secretary Clinton
as well. We share this vision and we are ready to cooperate. I am sure
you remember President Obama’s visit and his speech in Turkish
parliament. And when you look at the substance of two speeches, you
can see an integrated approach, the continuation and follow-up of many
issues that are very important principles for regional issues as well
as global order in general. And it is a good message, clear message to
the Muslim world that the future relations between the United States
and the Muslim world, as well as between different cultures will be
bright, based on a mutual understanding of coexistence, living
together, sharing all human values in all fronts. And therefore, we
share that vision and we will continue to work to realize this vision
as a
program and project together.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I appreciate the minister’s perceptive
remarks about President Obama’s speech yesterday. Clearly, the
President is laying out a vision, and it is a vision that invites all
people of good faith to come together, to work together, to recognize
that we may have differences of experience, differences of background,
of religion and race, but that we are all part of common humanity. And
we have an opportunity in the 21st century to work toward realizing
that vision. And I applaud the Turkish Government for taking a
practical, hands-on approach to solving problems, to clear away the
obstacles that prevent people from living up to their own God-given
potential, of countries breaking the bounds of the past so that they
can have a better future.
And I think the relationship between Turkey and the United States is
extremely strong. We have a durable bond that goes back many decades,
but we’re exploring new ways of expanding and deepening that strong
relationship. And that was the purpose of our meeting today is to
begin to look at how we can take our shared vision of what Turkey and
the United States can do to further humanity’s quest for peace and
prosperity and progress, recognizing and respecting our legitimate
differences of culture and religion, but making it clear that we’re
going to share this increasingly interdependent world. And we can
either have positive or negative interdependence. And Turkey and the
United States believe in a positive future.
So I could not be happier and more optimistic about the relationships
and what we together can do for the future.
Thank you all very much.
FOREIGN MINISTER DAVUTOGLU: Thank you.
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