03 March 2003
Discussions with Turkey on Troop Deployment to Continue
(Excerpts from March 3 State Department Daily Press Briefing) (2660) The United States is keeping "in close touch with the Turkish Government as they decide how they wish to proceed" given the March 1 vote in the Turkish parliament that narrowly rejected a measure to permit U.S. combat troops to use Turkey as a base in a possible war against Iraq, says State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher. Boucher, responding to a journalist's question during the March 3 State Department press briefing, acknowledged that the U.S. Government is "a bit disappointed" that Turkey's parliament didn't approve the troop deployment measure. "But we'll continue to discuss this with the Turkish Government in the spirit of strong friendship and the strategic partnership between our two countries. We appreciate the efforts that the Turkish Government has made in this regard. We appreciate the cooperation and always remember that Turkey remains a very important NATO ally and we have all kinds of cooperation with them in a variety of fields." Asked the long-term effect of the vote on U.S.-Turkish relations, he replied: "Our fundamental view of Turkey as an ally, as an important nation, as an important part of Europe, is unchanged and we'll continue to work with Turkey in a variety of ways -- economic, military, political -- as befits our cooperation with an important ally." Concerning the status of the U.S. economic package for Turkey, however, Boucher said "most of it was predicated on helping Turkey meet the costs of involvement, the direct costs or the consequences, and therefore I guess I'd have to say much of that would not occur if there's not direct involvement by Turkey." Following are excerpts from the March 3 State Department briefing: (begin excerpt) U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing Index Monday, March 3, 2003 12:55 p.m. EST BRIEFER: Richard Boucher, Spokesman TURKEY -- Turkish Parliament's Vote on Troop Deployment -- U.S.-Turkey Relations -- Status of U.S. Economic Package -- Turkish Troops and Northern Iraq -- UN Security Council Demands for Disarmament of Iraq -- Secretary Powell's Conversation with Prime Minister Gul U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2003 (ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED) 12:55 p.m. EST [...] QUESTION: Would you bring us up to date on Turkey and what you're hearing about the possibility of a second parliamentary vote, what the U.S. is doing with respect to that? [...] MR. BOUCHER: We're keeping in close touch with the Turkish Government as they decide how they wish to proceed, how they will proceed. In terms of the parliamentary vote over the weekend, obviously we're a bit disappointed that parliament didn't approve it over the weekend. But we'll continue to discuss this with the Turkish Government in the spirit of strong friendship and the strategic partnership between our two countries. We appreciate the efforts that the Turkish Government has made in this regard. We appreciate the cooperation and always remember that Turkey remains a very important NATO ally and we have all kinds of cooperation with them in a variety of fields. We also note in particular the statements that Prime Minister Gul made today about his government's intention to implement strong economic policies, and that's always been an important aspect of our relationship. We applaud him for that. QUESTION: Does that mean that you don't have any assurance from the Turkish Government that they will put it to a second vote? MR. BOUCHER: I think we have always said in our work with the Turkish Government, in our work with the Turkish Prime Minister, for example, when the Secretary met him in Davos about a month ago, or when the Secretary talked with Prime Minister Gul on the phone over the weekend, we've always made clear that the parliamentary handling of this, the internal politics of Turkey, is a matter for the Turkish Government to decide, what they could do and how they would seek the appropriate approval in their system. So we've stayed in touch with them. Obviously, we're interested in how they can proceed and intend to proceed. But at this point, we'll see what they decide. QUESTION: And does this, assuming that there is no change in the position, does this have any long-term effect on relations between the United States and Turkey? Will you, for example, continue to press European countries to take Turkey into the European Union and so on? MR. BOUCHER: Our fundamental view of Turkey as an ally, as an important nation, as an important part of Europe, is unchanged and we'll continue to work with Turkey in a variety of ways -- economic, military, political -- as befits our cooperation with an important ally. QUESTION: On that point, so what is the status of the aid, the assistance program that you guys had been considering? Is that tied at all to their -- to a parliamentary vote the other way? MR. BOUCHER: We'll continue to work with Turkey on economic matters, as we have in the past. We do have a strong interest in Turkey's economic stability. We'll continue to support the Turkish economic program and Turkey's cooperation with international financial institutions. As far as this particular package, most of it was predicated on helping Turkey meet the costs of involvement, the direct costs or the consequences, and therefore I guess I'd have to say much of that would not occur if there's not direct involvement by Turkey. QUESTION: You said earlier that time is of the essence with this situation. How -- can you comment on that with the latest development? How has it hurt the United States situation and what sort of time frame, will the aid package still be viable? MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I can give you a precise time frame. As I said, it's -- the aid package was predicated on the costs of involvement, the economic consequences, the direct costs of deployments and support. If that involvement, if that kind of effort, doesn't occur, then the costs don't -- won't be incurred. I think as the Turks consider what their alternatives are in terms of the handling of the situation, the cooperation and the political situation, we, including our military, will have to consider our alternatives as well. And I'm sure people -- well, people are looking at those things now. Whatever happens, I think we have full confidence in the American military's ability to prosecute a successful military operation if that's what the President decides needs to be done. QUESTION: Are the negotiations over this particular package finished, done with, or is there a possibility that the pot could be further sweetened? MR. BOUCHER: I wouldn't speculate at this point. The negotiations over this package were concluded. As I said, they were predicated on a certain kind of involvement, certain costs that would be incurred for involvement, and the package was done. Teri. QUESTION: A follow-up, if I could. What is the American policy now in light of the Turkish parliament's vote on allowing Turkish troops into Northern Iraq in the event of a war? MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything new on that. Teri. QUESTION: Well, that's my question. I hope that's not my answer, though. (Laughter.) Prime Minister Gul of Turkey has said that it was important for the United States to tell the Iraqi opposition leaders that they -- that it would not be advisable to view incoming Turkish troops as enemies and that they were asking the U.S. to reinforce that with the Iraqi opposition. Are there talks like that going on? MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I'd have to check and see. QUESTION: But it's important -- that was part of the deal with Turkey was that Turkish troops would enter Northern Iraq and -- MR. BOUCHER: There was an economic portion of it; there was a political portion of it that talked about how our countries both wanted to see the situation in Iraq should it come to military conflict, and third, there was a military cooperation package. But as I said, as they consider their alternatives, we have to consider ours as well. How some of that stuff may end up in the end, I don't know. Elise. QUESTION: There was a report today out of Turkey that suggested that it wasn't necessarily that the Turks didn't want to support the U.S. request, that it was the style and manner and timing in which the administration went about asking Turkey for its request, that they felt that it was a little bit insensitive, the timing. And there have been similar reports about -- from other Security Council countries, out of their capitals, that suggest that they just don't want to be bullied by the U.S., that they don't like the style in which the United States has gone about asking for support. Can you talk to that, and do you think that perhaps using a little bit more humility, as President Bush promised to in his campaign, might have worked a little bit better? MR. BOUCHER: I'd have to say let's look at the facts, look at the facts of how long it's been since Iraq was first given a 45-day deadline to comply with the UN Security Council demands for disarmament. That was back in 1991, 4,200 days ago. People thought somehow last summer that we were rushing off to war. Instead, the President laid it before the Security Council on September 12th. People thought we were going to give up on the Security Council after a couple weeks of negotiation. Instead, we pursued seven and a half weeks of negotiation to arrive at a resolution that the Council could agree upon, as 15. People thought we were going to rush off to war when the Iraqis presented a bad declaration, which everybody agreed and still agrees was an awful product and no attempt to clarify. But that didn't happen, either. And then some networks were even running little things on the bottom of their screens in January as we approached January 27th, with "Countdown to War" and such things. And yet, in the end, here we are, four to six weeks later, which is what many people were asking for at the time. We have heard from the inspectors not once, not twice, but half a dozen times, including the latest report by Dr. Blix that came over the weekend. And he asked the question: Has Iraq made the fundamental choices of cooperation? And his answer was, cooperation has been very, very limited. And so I think the United States has worked with other governments. We have worked this patiently. It's the facts of the matter. It's the facts that are becoming clearer and clearer every day, that Iraq's cooperation has been token at best, that when faced with the prospect of military conflict they dribble out small pieces of cooperation, but that there are thousands of munitions, thousands of liters of biological and chemical weapons, hundreds of munitions filled with biological and chemical weapons that remain in Iraq's arsenal that have never been properly accounted for. And that's a danger that we need to face up to. So I think we've been led to where we are by the facts. We've been led to where we are by the repeated reports of the inspectors, by the repeated observations that we and others have made of Iraq's actual behavior, by the facts that the Secretary laid out February 5th, a month ago now, to the Security Council. And that's why we're here where we are today, and we've called on others, invited others and talked to others about facing those facts and being willing to make the tough decisions that ensue. [...] QUESTION: On Turkey, I don't know if you were asked this completely directly. Since Secretary Powell spoke with Prime Minister Gul, was it his understanding after that phone call that there will certainly be a new resolution in Turkey, and whether that will be dependent on whether the UN passes one in the near future? MR. BOUCHER: As -- the timing of this -- when the Secretary talked to Prime Minister Gul it was while the Turkish party, I think, was still meeting, and was still discussing. QUESTION: It was not after the decision was announced and revoked? MR. BOUCHER: It was after the parliament was announced and revoked -- QUESTION: Right. MR. BOUCHER: -- but then the party leaders themselves were meeting and having discussions, as I suppose they still are, in terms of how they want to proceed. So it wasn't a moment for any final news. QUESTION: Was that the message he was giving then, by -- MR. BOUCHER: He was just comparing notes at that point. QUESTION: He wasn't, was he pressing then that this -- MR. BOUCHER: No, as I said, we've always left the politics of this in the hands of the Turkish Government from the very -- from the moment the Secretary met with Prime Minister Gul and Party Leader Erdogan in Davos, a month or so ago, through our discussions and including the discussion yesterday, we've always said to the Turkish Government, you have to decide on the cooperation you can provide, and you have to decide on the politics of that. QUESTION: Two things on that. One, did Prime Minister Gul give the Secretary any indication that there was some nervousness about the election this coming Sunday, (inaudible) election in which the party leader is running and may get into parliament, may become prime minister. Is that -- MR. BOUCHER: I'm not going to put myself in the position of reporting on what a foreign leader said in a conversation about his own political attitudes, so -- QUESTION: Is that something that you guys would -- MR. BOUCHER: We're aware of that coming up, but I'm not going to offer any political commentary. QUESTION: And the initial, I think the initial reaction from the embassy in Ankara to the rejection was that this is a democratic vote, we respect it. Does the United States consider closed parliamentary votes to be, you know, ones that are not taken in public, to be democratic, part of the democratic process? MR. BOUCHER: Each country has a different sort of democratic process. I don't think we are in the position of quibbling with Turkish democracy at this point. QUESTION: Let me go back to that (inaudible). You said it was widely known that there was a plan for Turkish troops to enter northern Iraq. You said nothing has -- we have nothing new on that. Does that mean that such a plan still exists and could go ahead? MR. BOUCHER: Are you asking about Turkish military matters? One, I don't talk about military matters, and two, I don't talk about foreign governments' military matters. QUESTION: No, you said that your understanding was the Turkish Government on -- MR. BOUCHER: It amounts to the same thing. QUESTION: Well, no. MR. BOUCHER: Elise. QUESTION: There was, or do you want to finish Jonathan? QUESTION: Well, yeah, you know -- MR. BOUCHER: This is another one of what-have-they-told-you questions, isn't it? QUESTION: No, because you'll be running Iraq as far as we understand it, so it's up to you to decide whether Turkish troops go into northern Iraq. Are you now in favor of Turkish troops, are you still in favor of Turkish troops going into northern Iraq or not? MR. BOUCHER: I will check and see if we have any views on the prospects. QUESTION: Zalami Khalil Zad said today, he was quoted saying, that if any troops, any Turkish troops will enter northern Iraq, it will be part of the American forces. That's, can you confirm that? MR. BOUCHER: I'm sorry, who said that? QUESTION: Zalami Khalil Zad. MR. BOUCHER: Oh, Zal. I'll check and see. [...] (end excerpt) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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