02 February 1998
TRANSCRIPT: ASST. SEC. GROSSMAN, GEN. RALSTON INTERVIEW IN ISTANBUL
(Feb. 2 interview on Turkish television, on Iraq) (1170) Istanbul -- Assistant Secretary of State Marc Grossman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Ralston spoke with senior Turkish government and military officials about the situation in Iraq and were also interviewed briefly on Turkish television February 2, following their meeting with Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem in Istanbul. "We are here because we wanted to explain to our Turkish friends U.S. views and to hear Turkish ideas," said Grossman, who heads up the State Department's Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs. He said "the situation between Iraq and the United Nations is grave. I believe that the world is united in believing that Saddam Hussein must comply with United Nations' resolutions. And I believe that is the message of the Turkish government's statement of yesterday." General Ralston stressed that "we all hope for a diplomatic solution to force compliance on the part of Iraq with the United Nations' resolutions. But we have reached the point where we must have options for force, if that becomes necessary. I must emphasize that no decision has been made to use force. We have made no new requests to the Turkish military or the Turkish government." Following is the transcript of the interview, provided by USIS Ankara: (Begin text) A/S GROSSMAN: I thought I'd make a very short statement, and we'll be glad to take a few questions. First, I want to tell you exactly what we've done today. We arrived here late last night from the United States. And we had the opportunity this morning to have breakfast with General Bir and some of his senior staff. We then called on the MFA Under Secretary Ambassador Haktanir. And then we had the good fortune, General Ralston and I paid a call on General Karadayi. Let me say that we are here because Turkey is important to the United States. And we are here because we wanted to explain to our Turkish friends U.S. views and to hear Turkish ideas. And I want to say that there has been a lot of conversation about the confrontation between Iraq and United Nations over these past few days, with Turkey. Ambassador [Mark] Parris has been in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and senior members of your government. Under Secretary Pickering has been in touch with Under Secretary Haktanir. And yesterday Secretary Albright had the chance to have a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Yilmaz. And of course then we've just had a meeting with the Foreign Minister. And I can tell you that there will be other high level communications as well. I have just come from accompanying Secretary Albright to Paris, London, and Madrid. And as she had said on these occasions, the situation between Iraq and the United Nations is grave. I believe that the world is united in believing that Saddam Hussein must comply with United Nations' resolutions. And I believe that is the message of the Turkish government's statement of yesterday. Why should Saddam Hussein comply? Because it is the will of the international community to thwart his efforts to create weapons of mass destruction. And to threaten his neighbours. This is very much in the security interest of Turkey and the United States. That is why we want Saddam Hussein to comply with the United Nations resolutions. As Secretary Albright and President Clinton have said, we want a diplomatic solution to this problem. But we must have this problem solved. And that is why we say, at this stage of the crisis, all options remain open. And I'd like to introduce the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General [Joseph] Ralston. GENERAL RALSTON: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. First of all, President Clinton asked that I travel to Turkey to discuss with the Turkish senior military as well as your senior government officials. The purpose is to explain our views on the situation and also to hear the views of the senior leadership of Turkey. As Secretary Grossman said, we all hope for a diplomatic solution to force compliance on the part of Iraq with the United Nations' resolutions. But we have reached the point where we must have options for force, if that becomes necessary. I must emphasize that no decision has been made to use force. We have made no new requests to the Turkish military or the Turkish government. Turkish military and U.S. military have been involved in Operation Northern Watch for some time. And Operation Northern Watch is continuing very well. A/S GROSSMAN: Time for a couple of questions. Q: Mr. Ambassador, could you please tell us what concrete support United States expects from Turkey. Was it an issue in your meeting with [Foreign] Minister Cem, the issue of Incirlik base? AMBASSADOR GROSSMAN: Well, I think General Ralston has just answered that question very fully and very eloquently. And that is that we made no new requests of Turkey. We did not have to seek the support of Turkey on the most important issue here, which is that Saddam Hussein should comply with the resolutions of the United Nations. As I said in my opening statement, I would refer you to the statement of the Turkish government yesterday, in which the Turkish government very clearly says that it is the job of Saddam Hussein to live up to the United Nations' Security Council resolutions. Q: (inaudible) A/S GROSSMAN: Let me try to answer both questions. I'll answer the second question first, since it's a repeat really of the question before. First, as General Ralston made absolutely clear, number one, we wish to see a diplomatic solution to this problem. Number two, no decision has been made by anyone, (inaudible due to NTV voice-over translation) to use force. And number three, as General Ralston said today, (inaudible) asked nothing new from the government of Turkey (inaudible). So the question of how Turkey (inaudible). On your second question, (inaudible) of coming here today, having the chance to meet with Foreign Minister Cem was for him to tell us about the possibilities of his mission, and I certainly would like him to speak for himself in that regard. I would say three things: first, the Foreign Minister agrees, he did not ask me for my support in his mission; second, as I said, we support a diplomatic solution to this problem. And so those people who are going to see the Iraqis, whether they be Turkish, or French or Russian, if they can produce a result, we would welcome that. But I must say that we are skeptical, given the past Iraqi behavior. Foreign Minister Cem and I did agree -- and I think a very important point he made to me -- is that his mission to Baghdad would be to focus their minds on the need to comply with the resolutions of the United Nations. (End text)
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