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18 April 2000

Transcript: Iraq Coordinator Ricciardone's Press Briefing in Ankara

(First direct funding to Iraqi National Opposition expected soon)
(3640)
The United States expects to provide the first tranche of direct
funding to the Iraqi National Opposition very soon says Francis
Ricciardone, Special Coordinator for Transition in Iraq.
"The first bit of that money is going to be about a quarter million
dollars, which they plan to use to build their organization, make it
more effective as a political organization that can better advocate
the interests of the Iraqi people in a free future, in a country that
stays together as a whole, where all Iraqis are first-class citizens,
where they live in peace, not only with each other, but with their
neighbors," Ricciardone said April 14 at a press briefing in Ankara,
Turkey.
The U.S. has spent some money through contractors to help organize
conferences and on humanitarian relief projects but has not given any
money directly to the Iraqi opposition, he said.
Ricciardone also reported that the Iraqi National Opposition will be
eligible for non-lethal types of training as part of the drawdown
authority of the U.S. Department of Defense. That training, he said,
could be useful in rebuilding the country when there is a change, and
in making the Iraqi opposition itself more effective as an
organization. He added that for the moment he does not anticipate arms
flowing to them.
The current government in Iraq promotes "anti-unifying tendencies ...
setting brother against brother," Ricciardone said. The U.S. approach
in working with the Iraqi National Opposition is to try to bring all
of the different elements of Iraq together and "stand together as
Iraqis, whether they be Kurds or Turkomans or Sunni Arabs or Shiite
Arabs."
Ricciardone said it is not the purpose of the United States to keep
sanctions on Iraq forever. "On the contrary, it is our purpose and
desire to see Saddam Hussein's government comply with what he promised
to comply with (U.N. Security Council resolutions) and see the
sanctions totally lifted when he totally complies." However, he said,
"we don't believe he ever will, which is why we think he ultimately
has to go."
Asked about Turkey's response to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) in
Northern Iraq, Ricciardone said the United States supports Turkey's
right to defend itself against terrorism by terrorists who are
harbored in neighboring states.
"We've said repeatedly that we expected the Turkish Armed Forces in
defending the country will use the most limited force necessary and be
scrupulous in protecting the rights of civilians. The Turkish Armed
Forces have done so. So we have no complaints with the government of
Turkey's national self-defense against terrorism on that score."
Following is the transcript of the press briefing:
(begin transcript)
ON-THE-RECORD PRESS BRIEFING BY FRANCIS RICCIARDONE
SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR TRANSITION IN IRAQ
ANKARA, APRIL 14, 2000.
RICCIARDONE: It really is a pleasure for me to be here. I feel like
I'm back home among friends.
Just a couple of words at the outset and then I'll be glad to respond
to your questions. I'm here, because not only my government, but
personally as an American diplomat who's worked in Turkey, I believe
what Turkey thinks matters. I'm here to participate in the
conversations that Assistant Secretary Ned Walker has come to conduct
with the government of Turkey. As you probably know, we carry out
consultations at that level twice a year. And it was my privilege to
join this conversation, as I have in the past several times.
When I say consultations I mean that. It isn't just to brief the
government of Turkey on what we're doing. That's important. We don't
want there to be any surprises. But we're here also to hear the
Turkish insights, points of view and advice, frankly, on how to manage
some of the most difficult problems we face together. And the area
that I deal with is among the most tricky and complex problems that we
have to manage together. So I had particularly useful conversations
today with my colleagues in the Foreign Ministry.
As you know, I deal with Iraq and, I guess the ground rules here have
already been explained to you, I'd like to keep the conversation on
Iraq, the future of Iraq, working with the Iraqi opposition, and so
forth. The other issues, I think, Ambassador Walker addressed briefly
with the press that were at the Foreign Ministry today. With that
said, please go ahead and ask questions.
Q: It seems that the U.S. bombing of Iraq has been increasing lately.
Do you have any...(inaudible)?
RICCIARDONE: I'm not aware that there has been an escalation of the
bombing there. On that question though, I would only say that the
rules of engagement are clear and they're set with the Turkish side.
We have Turkish people and Turkish military working very closely on
everything that Northern Watch does. That's important to us. It's
important to the government of Turkey.
Very clearly, if Saddam Hussein's forces stop shooting at our
airplanes, we stop shooting back. Every time we hit a target up there
it's because we have been fired at. And if Saddam Hussein stops
shooting at us, or his forces stop shooting at us tomorrow, we stop
hitting back tomorrow. And every day he doesn't shoot at us is a day
we don't shoot at them.
Q: ...Iraqi opposition....(inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: As to the Turkish government's position, I wouldn't
presume to speak for the government of Turkey, of course. So it was my
purpose to explain very clearly what we are about and let the
government of Turkey decide for itself whether that makes sense in
Turkish terms. And also again to ask for the advice of the government
of Turkey on how we proceed in this very sensitive endeavor.
As to where we are with the opposition and where they are going in the
next phase, they could best themselves articulate their plans and
programs, but we are reaching a new point with them. Many people don't
understand that we have not given one dollar to the Iraqi opposition
heretofore. We have spent some money through contractors to help them
organize conferences. We have spent some money on humanitarian relief
projects, but we have not given any money directly to the Iraqi
opposition.
We will begin doing that soon, however, as Assistant Secretary Walker
informed the Senate a couple of weeks ago. Very soon we expect to
provide the first tranche of direct funding in a very overt and
accountable way against a program that they must specify and put in
writing for us.
The first bit of that money is going to be about a quarter million
dollars, which they plan to use to build their organization, make it
more effective as a political organization that can better advocate
the interests of the Iraqi people in a free future, in a country that
stays together as a whole, where all Iraqis are first-class citizens,
where they live in peace, not only with each other, but with their
neighbors. We think that is important. Some Iraqis should be saying
that. We don't hear that kind of thing coming from the government in
Baghdad. So they'll be using the first bit of money to work on those
sorts of things.
They will be eligible for training as part of the drawdown authority
of the American Department of Defense. Our only plans along those
lines are for non-lethal sorts of training that could be useful in
rebuilding the country when there is a change, and in making the Iraqi
opposition itself more effective as an organization. That's the kind
of training I anticipate with them.
I do not anticipate, for the moment, that any arms will be flowing to
them. That's some way down the road, at best.
Q:  (inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: One specific area of advice that I personally asked for
from your experts was exactly on this question of what can we do now
to help support the unifying tendencies among the Iraqi people against
the anti-unifying tendencies which are being promoted by the current
government in Iraq.
We see the current government in Iraq as setting brother against
brother. And I don't mean just the Kurds against the Arabs. I mean
Arabs against Arabs. Muslims against Christians. Arabs against
Turkomans. We think this is very destabilizing, not just for the short
run, but for the long run. And we worry about that.
Our approach in working with an Iraqi national opposition is try to
bring all the different elements of Iraq together and stand together
as Iraqis, whether they be Kurds or Turkomans or Sunni Arabs or Shiite
Arabs. We tell them, "the United States government looks upon you
first as Iraqis. You might have your own other identities as well.
Many humans do -- multiple identities on different levels, communal
levels or more national levels. That's up to you. But what matters to
the United States is that you identity yourselves as Iraqis who wish
to keep your country together." That's the United States approach.
That's why we support an Iraqi opposition.
So we value how Turkey looks on this. It's a real problem. There
really are people inside Iraq who never ever want to live under a
Baghdad that drops gas on them. That's--we think--a fairly normal
human reaction. We want all Iraqis to feel that they are first class
citizens under a future government, where they don't have to fear that
that government is going to repress them, but where, instead, they
will take part in the future government--in the cabinets, in the
national assembly, in the national economy, in the national education
system, etc. So we talked about that a lot.
Q:  What was the advice that they gave you?
RICCIARDONE: The advice has to be very sensitive. And we are. It's a
question of problem management for now. There is no easy answer. There
is no immediate solution. But we are not going to do anything in
Turkey's backyard up there without staying in very close contact with
the government of Turkey. And the people who live there, of course.
That's why we are in touch with the free people of Iraq, whether they
are living in London or in the Arab world or in the north of Iraq.
Q:  ... reaction to a KDP Nevruz reception (inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: Nevruz and KDP. You know, I guess that's an issue between
the government or Turkey and the KDP. There's really little I can say
about that to advance the question.
Q: ...meeting in Washington, D.C. April 17-18 about Kurdish identity.
... (inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: Well, of course, I'll let the government of Turkey again
speak for itself. But it goes back to the question that you raised of
actions by people in Iraq that seem to suggest they want to head
toward a separate solution instead of a national solution.
The reason I said yes to the invitation from this prestigious, private
American institution, a leader in the conversation on foreign affairs
that my government has with the American people, is to make very clear
what our policy is and is not. The first thing I did before saying
yes, despite their prestige and the access they would give me to
important audiences, is to assure myself and the organizers that this
had nothing to do with the PKK. Nothing. Nothing to do with
Turkey-bashing or analyzing Turkey, putting Turkey on trial. They made
that very clear.
The terms of reference are that it is a privilege for me to be able to
address these academics, mostly Americans, on American policy toward
Iraq, and how we deal with the Iraqi Kurds as Iraqis. It's an
important opportunity for me to make clear what we are doing. People
naturally have questions. People misunderstand the policy.
We start from the premise, as I will say on Monday, that we want to
see an Iraq free and whole -- it's national unity, it's territorial
integrity preserved. And we work with the Kurds of Iraq, the
Turkomans, the Assyrians, the Arabs, the Sunnis, the Shiites, all on
that basis, as Iraqis who want to keep their country together and
civilize it.
Q:  ...status of Kurds in Turkey....(inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: That could be. I don't know. All I know is what I intend
to speak to there. And people understand at these conferences --
American diplomats speak with American academic institutions all the
time -- that when we speak it is to give the U.S. government position
on the questions at hand. And our presence does not endorse nor does
it limit what other people can say. In my country, as in yours, people
are free to say what they want.
You just had a conference on minorities, I understand, down in
Antalya. This is the OSCE conference, isn't it? You had Max Vander
Stohl come and speak in Antalya. He is a specialist on the minorities
in Iraq. It's in that sort of context -- what Max said down there
didn't endorse what others said.
What I will say, in my being there on Monday at American University,
does not imply in any way endorsement for what others will say. I
expect a lot of criticism of my government there. I'm certainly not
going to endorse that by being there. But I have to respond to it.
That's the way it works in a free society.
Q:  ...Turkey's operation in northern Iraq. ... (inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: On terrorism, our two governments work closely together
across the board, whether it's PKK or anyone else. This situation in
northern Iraq and Turkey's response to it is not new. I recall that
Turkey's dealing with this problem goes back to the 1980's, long
before the Gulf War, long before the no-fly zones and all of that. At
that time, we supported Turkey's right to defend itself. We've been
consistent in supporting Turkey's right to defend itself against
terrorism by terrorists who are harbored in neighboring states. I use
the word "state" because that's what Iraq is, that's what it was in
the '80's when Saddam Hussein was in charge of it.
So we support Turkey's right to defend itself against terrorism. We do
it. Turkey does it. We are allies. No question. We've said repeatedly
that we expected the Turkish Armed Forces in defending the country
will use the most limited force necessary and be scrupulous in
protecting the rights of civilians. The Turkish Armed Forces have done
so. So we have no complaints with the government of Turkey's national
self-defense against terrorism on that score.
On the question of federalism. That's an undefined term as far as the
Iraqi's are concerned. So it's difficult. But I can be clear on one
point. If anyone using that term implies that they mean federation or
separate states, we're against it. We do not support, in fact we
oppose, any breakup of Iraq into separate states. If that's what
federalism means, we are certainly against it.
It's for all people to decide, however, what kind of national
administrative and political organization they want to have. Some
countries are more centralized in their politics and administration;
some are less centralized.
My country is the United States of America. We decentralize a lot. We
have 50 local assemblies, not counting the municipalities, some of
which have their own assemblies. We have 50 locally elected governors.
We have local taxation authority, etc.
The people of Iraq will decide all together, all of them, how they
will live with each other in the future. But our consistent advice to
them is, "your best future is in living together with a single
Constitution that protects you all. And with you all participating in
the national government. But that's just our advice to you."
For America's interests, as that of your neighbors, there is no
country in the world that thinks Iraq will be better off, or that our
interests will be better off, if there is no longer one Iraq but
instead little pieces of Iraq. So we are very clear on that point.
Q:  ...next steps in dealing with the PKK....(inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: I wouldn't presume to tell Turkey how to handle its
internal issues, if that's what you are asking me.
On the PKK, we wish Turkey nothing but success. As far as I know, we
are the only other government in the world that has in law naming the
PKK as a terrorist organization. We are not romantic about them. We
don't confuse the PKK for anything but what it is -- a terrorist
organization. We know the difference between terrorism and legitimate
political advocacy. So all we can do is wish Turkey success in dealing
with the terrorism problem, and then in dealing with the larger
problems that are associated with it.
We are here to support Turkish democracy. That's what we want to see
succeed. We won't tell you how to do it. We can't. It's not our job.
Q: ....increased ethnic schism...(inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: I'm not sure whether I accept your thesis about
increasing racism. I have said very clearly, including to the Iraqi
opposition gathered in New York last fall, that the idea of forming
governments and political parties on ethnic, racial and religious
grounds really bothers Americans. We think that is divisive. It
doesn't bring people together. We don't support that at all.
We deal with the parties in northern Iraq as just that -- political
parties, a very anomalous and temporary regional administration, under
a situation that no one would have designed as ideal. We encourage
them to work together -- not to try to advance the interests of one
ethnic group over another. We would like to see the Arabs up there,
the Kurds, the Turkomans, the Assyrians work on a basis that is above
sectarianism. So that's why we stay in touch with all of them.
Again, we try to deal with them through the umbrella of the Iraqi
National Congress, a name chosen deliberately. We don't deal with the
Kurds as just Kurds. We deal with Kurds, Turkomans, Assyrians and the
others as Iraqis. That's the best we think we can do to try to fight
any tendencies toward separatism in northern Iraq.
Q:  ...embargo issue...(inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: Let me take issue with your last point. We've never been
keen on continuing the embargo. On the contrary, when the sanctions
regime was set up in August of 1990 and codified in 687 and subsequent
resolutions after the Gulf War, it was our hope and our belief, as for
all members on the Security Council, I think, that Saddam Hussein
would comply very quickly and the sanctions would be over. So we don't
look forward to the sanctions staying forever. It is not our purpose
to keep the sanctions on.
On the contrary, it is our purpose and desire to see Saddam Hussein's
government comply with what he promised to comply with. And see the
sanctions totally lifted when he totally complies. But we are not
fools. We don't believe he ever will, which is why we think he
ultimately has to go.
Now, the other part about the sanctions debate is, people often don't
have a good database. They don't know the facts. We have some copies
here of the web site, operated by the State Department, where we put
out the facts and the figures on the amount of food, medicine, other
supplies that have been delivered over the past many years under the
Oil-for-Food Program. We want the Oil-for-Food Program to stay in
place. On Resolution 1284, we try to make it even more clear how
sanctions can be suspended, precisely because we want to get more help
to the Iraqi people despite a government that is keeping relief away
from them.
In the north where the government cannot interfere, all the
measurements of human well-being have improved to pre-Gulf War levels.
In the south, where the government gets in the way and prevents UN
monitors and prevents international NGOs from overseeing the
distribution of food and medicine, that's where people are suffering.
The food and medicine is there in the warehouses, you can read the
UN's own reporting on that.
So, we have a very different view of the sanctions, I think, than
Saddam Hussein portrays to the world. We know that the sanctions
regime has caused a special hardship for Turkey. And a good part of
Ambassador Walker's discussions with the Foreign Ministry have been on
how we can work together to try to ease the burden, not just on the
Iraqi people, but to meet Turkish interests as well.
Q:  ...PUK and KDP fighting each other.... (inaudible)
RICCIARDONE: It's a consistently fluid situation, it seems to me. All
we can do, through the Ankara process in fact working hand-in-glove
with your government, is encourage those two parties to come to terms,
live in peace not only with each other, but with all the other people
who live in northern Iraq. We shouldn't be under the illusion that
there's only two kinds of people in northern Iraq -- KDP Kurds and PUK
Kurds.
There are many others. Many other Kurds. There are Assyrians with
their many parties. There are Turkomans with their many parties. There
are Arabs. And through the Ankara process we are encouraging the two
major Kurdish parties to come to terms with each other and live in
peace. We, through working with the Iraqi opposition, are going beyond
that to encourage them all to show the world and show the rest of Iraq
that Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Communist, religious parties can all work
together in a civilized, democratic way in the future. We think
they've actually made some progress toward doing that, but it's
difficult.
Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)