THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release October 15, 1993
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT CLINTON
AND PRIME MINISTER CILLER OF TURKEY
IN PRESS AVAILABILITY
The East Room
1:48 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
It's a great honor for me to welcome Prime Minister Ciller to
Washington today. She knows our country well from her student days
and many subsequent visits. And we had a very good first meeting.
We agreed to work together to strengthen our relationship and to
develop an enhanced partnership between the United States and Turkey.
For centuries, Turkey has stood at the crossroads of
continents, cultures and historic eras. As the winds of change have
shaped both East and West, they have often blown across the Anatolian
Plateau. That is why Turkey has always offered the world such a rich
and fascinating mixture of peoples, religions, art and ideas.
Like our own nation, Turkey is a shining example to the
world of the virtues of cultural diversity. And our relationship
with Turkey proves that diverse peoples, East and West, Muslim,
Christian and Jew, can work closely together toward shared goals.
Since the time 40 years ago when we stood side by side
in Korea, Turkey has served the cause of freedom as NATO's southern
anchor, and has been a valued ally of the United States. Turkey was
a steadfast member of the worldwide coalition that drove Saddam
Hussein from Kuwait and instituted international sanctions against
Iraq. And for that, the United States remains very grateful.
We've all had to pay a price for enforcing the will of
the international community, and Turkey in that regard has certainly
done more than its share. And we are grateful for its contribution.
We discussed Turkey's role in helping to play a
stabilizing role in a host of regional trouble spots, ranging from
the former Yugoslavia, through the Caucuses, into Central Asia and,
of course, toward the Southeast where Iraq and Iran both continue to
pose problems for peace and stability in the world.
We also discussed the need to work for an end to the
tragic conflict in Cyprus, which is dividing too many people in too
many ways. I am committed to preserving and strengthening our
nation's long tradition of close cooperation with Turkey.
Our security ties must remain strong, our friendship and
mutual commitment as allies unswerving. But the focus of our
relationship can now shift from a Cold War emphasis on military
assistance to an emphasis on shared values and greater political and
economic cooperation, responsive to the needs of our own peoples and
the changing world.
Next month the U.S.-Turkish Joint Economic Commission
will convene to work on revitalizing our economic relationship. And
I look forward to the results of that effort and to supporting it.
The commission will guide a process in which private enterprise will
increasingly become the dynamic focus of our enhanced partnership.
As an economist, the Prime Minister is ideally suited to lead this
endeavor.
Today, Turkey is on the cutting edge of change once
again. It's commitment to democracy fulfills the ideals of Ataturk
as Turkey enters the 21st century. It's reaching out to the new
states of Central Asia, even as it strengthens its longstanding ties
to the West.
The Prime Minister represents a new generation of
leadership in Turkish politics at time when the world needs new
leadership for a new era. And a point when our relationship with
Turkey is evolving into a new enhanced partnership, it is reassuring
to me to know that someone is at the helm in Turkey who understands
the needs of the ordinary citizens of that country, their hopes,
their aspirations, and is pursuing policies that will give them a
chance to fulfill their dreams.
It is, therefore, a great pleasure, once again, to
welcome Prime Minister Ciller and to present her to you today.
Madame Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER CILLER: Thank you, Mr. President. I
appreciate your kind words about my country and about myself.
President Clinton and I had good talks. I believe there
was a meeting of minds. And I think it's natural, since we both
represent a generation -- the generation of change -- both of us want
to do things differently and better, I hope.
Turkey and the United States have a lot in common.
However, without losing my sense of dimension, since the United
States is a continent and Turkey is a country, I must say that both
are dynamic societies and, in some ways, both constitute a mosaic.
My visit takes place at a crucial juncture, when our
globe is witnessing sweeping and unprecedented changes. The collapse
of communism is a victory for democracy and human rights. As
representatives of a new generation of leadership, I know President
Clinton joins me in welcoming these changes. Yet we both understand
that they bring new uncertainties, challenges, responsibilities and
opportunities. Keeping peace is also a challenge. It is in this
spirit that we have sent a unit to Somalia.
During our talks, President Clinton and I discussed at
length our bilateral relations. I stressed to President Clinton that
my government is strongly determined to develop, diversify and
further strengthen our relations to our mutual benefit, in our mutual
interest. I am encouraged to see that the American side wishes to
reciprocate our political will.
We discussed issues of mutual interest, such as the
Middle East, the Gulf, the Russian situation, the Caucuses. And I
must say I am elated about the breakthrough in Arab-Israeli
reconciliation. The United States, over a number of years, has shown
steadfast leadership. The scene at the White House Lawn with
President Clinton, Mr. Arafat and Mr. Rabin gave hope to everyone who
have longed for peace in the region.
There is still substantial and difficult work ahead. On
the other hand, the tragic situation in Bosnia and the aggression in
Azerbaijan continue. Unilateral moves to keep peace, in particular
in the Caucases, are not acceptable.
Turkey, with geographic position, literally centers her
in the ring of fires blazing from the Caucases and the Balkans,
serves as a secular democratic model for her neighboring countries,
seeking to develop pluralistic political systems. Likewise, Turkey's
secularism acts to deflect the rising tide of fundamentalism. We
must consolidate the democratization process within the framework of
this new era.
Turkey is totally committed to this process from Central
Asia to the very heart of the European continent. And I am
confident, Mr. President, that you will agree that we have the
complete support of the United States to assist us in this endeavor.
In the long run, strengthening democracy in my region of the world
not only promotes peace and stability there, but also advances the
cause of global peace.
We in Turkey are naturally happy over the fact that Cold
War has ended. However, we didn't let ourselves be carried away by
the euphoria of the times, nor did we minimize the attendant risks.
Events have proved us right. The threat perception in and around
Europe has changed. But it has changed in different degrees and
manners for each of us. I believe the world is passing through a
truly transitory phase as recent events in the former Eastern Europe
and in the Caucuses have shown. During such times, it is important
for the allies to stick together.
The Atlantic Alliance continues to be valid. We attach
important to the transatlantic link and to continued American
engagement and leadership in global affairs. After all, in the words
of President Wilson, "America was best established not to create
wealth, but to realize a vision, an ideal, and maintain liberty among
men."
Turkey's founding father, Kemal Ataturk, shared that
vision. Way back in 1923, he explained it in the following words to
an American journalist: "The ideal of the United States is our
ideal. Our national pact, promulgated in January 1920, is precisely
like your Declaration of Independence." I believe that Turkey and
the United States can work together in many ways to the benefit of
not only our two countries, but to the benefit of all.
I would like to conclude by thanking President Clinton
for the hospitality shown to us during this visit and by expressing
my satisfaction with our comprehensive and very promising discussions
for a more peaceful world.
THE PRESIDENT: Helen.
Q Mr. President, aren't you breaching presidential
power by committing Congress to set a cutoff date on a foreign policy
mission, and also to cut off funding? I mean, doesn't this lead to
future problems?
THE PRESIDENT: In this case, I don't think so, because
it's clear that the United States' mission in Somalia -- when it was
announced by President Bush, the American people were told it might
well be over in January, just a matter of a couple of months. It's
gone on for a long time now. What I asked the Congress to do was to
express itself without unduly tying my hands. And I had set a
deadline of March the 31st.
The resolution adopted by the Senate last night
prescribes that date, but also says that if there are problems, the
President can come back and ask for an extension. So under these
circumstances, given the unique and traumatic events of the last
several days for America, I don't have a problem with the resolution.
I was gratified by the margin by which it passed.
I do caution the American people and the Congress from
becoming too isolationist on economic or political fronts. This is a
time period, as I have said to you before, I think that is something
like the time our country faced at the end of the Second World War --
when the country was weary, we had paid an enormous price and we
wanted to get back to the problems at home. Today we paid an
enormous prices, trillions of dollars, for the victory in the Cold
War. We know that as the threat of nuclear war recedes and we remain
the only country in the world with a major army, our immediate
physical security is not so much threatened by other nations, but we
have to have a sense of where our national interests are and where
our values take us.
And I strongly believe that the mission in Somalia helps
to build the notion that nations working together can promote peace
and freedom and can reach across religious and racial lines to build
the kind of common conditions of humanity that we should be
supporting.
Turkey has supported us in that. General Bir is the
United Nations Commander. The Prime Minister and I had -- perhaps I
won't embarrass her by saying this -- we had a very candid
conversation at lunch in which she said the Turkish people ask the
same questions of the Turkish -- why the Turkish soldiers are still
in Somalia that the American people ask, and we understand that. So
the answer to your question is, the exact wording of the resolution,
which was carefully worked out -- and I thank Senator Byrd and
Senator Dole and Senator Mitchell and Senator Warner, Senator Nunn
and all those who worked on it -- does not give me pause about the
erosion of executive authority. What would give me pause is sort of
a headlong rush into an isolationist position that the United States
might live to regret.
Yes, Brit.
Q Mr. President, may we take it from what you've said
and not said over the past week that there will be no consequences
for anyone in your military chain of command as a result of the
firefight that led ultimately to the loss of 17 American lives in
Mogadishu?
THE PRESIDENT: I think that when young Americans are in
peril, ultimately the President has to bear that responsibility .
The President is the Commander in Chief. And even if the decisions
are made down the line somewhere, if they are made in good faith
within a span of authority granted to a commander, when people are at
risk it sometimes doesn't work out. And I know of no reason why
anyone but me should bear the responsibility for that. If I were to
find out someone had disobeyed orders or displayed flagrant
incompetence, that would perhaps be a different thing. I have no
reason to believe that that occurred.
I have said to you many times -- I said before the
incident in Mogadishu that I thought the United Nations had erred and
the United States had not pushed them hard enough in resuming the
political process even while we were attempting to discover who was
responsible for killing the Pakistani soldiers. I still believe
that.
Anyone from the Turkish press -- we'll take a couple of
questions from you, too.
Q Mr. President, is the United States trying to help
Turkey for the losses suffered over the U.N. sanctions in Iraq, and
in what way?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, the Prime Minister and I discussed
that today because -- and I guess I should say for the benefit of the
American press something the press knows, but the American people
should be reminded of -- we could not have conducted the successful
operation in the Gulf War, and we certainly could not have conducted
Operation Provide Comfort to save the Kurds in northern Iraq had it
not been for the indispensable support of Turkey; and the support of
Turkey not only for Operation Provide Comfort, but for the embargo on
Iraq. They have paid a significant economic price.
We discussed today some ideas for helping Turkey in that
regard, some of which did not involved the direct outlay of tax
dollars or the transfer from one government to another. We agreed
there would be further discussions between our people today and
perhaps tomorrow. And I think if we reach an understanding, I should
let the Prime Minister announce it at the appropriate time, if we can
work it out. But we're going to have a very serious dialogue about
that in an attempt to recognize the significant price that Turkey has
paid for supporting not only the United States but the world's
policies in this regard.
Q Is the U.S. giving enough support to Turkey's
fights against international terrorism threatening its territorial
integrity? What is the joint policy toward countries supporting
PKK's terrorism?
THE PRESIDENT: To both of us, right? Well, that
question has become far more immediate and important to the United
States just in the last 24 hours as an American citizen has been
taken hostage by the PKK. I guess I should start by restating our
country's policies: We don't bargain or negotiate with terrorists.
And we intend to work with Turkey. It's not fair for us to do, as
we've done in the past, to urge Turkey to not only be a democratic
country, but to recognize human rights, and then not to help the
government of Turkey deal with terrorism within its own borders. And
so we discussed some ways today that we might cooperate further, and
I think you will see some more cooperation between our two nations on
this front.
Q Actually, I had a question for the Prime Minister.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. The more, the merrier.
Q As someone who has troops stationed in Somalia,
does it concern you at all that the United States is now so committed
to withdrawing on March 31st? Does it place you in a difficult
position?
PRIME MINISTER CILLER: Well, as Mr. President pointed
out, we had a very candid conversation on that. And I pointed out to
Mr. President that our people have concern over the issue as well.
But if peace is to be maintained, and if we will pursue the kind of
cooperation we have shown in history, we should be acting together.
And in that spirit and in the belief that this will help peace, we
sent troops to Somalia. And we intend to have a peaceful solution
there and we hope to support that with that belief.
It is true that my people are concerned over the issue
for one more reason. They feel that if our troops are in Somalia,
then why aren't they in Azerbaijan as well? Why aren't we acting
together in Azerbaijan where there is Armenian invasion? Of course,
these are things that we further discussed, and there are ways of
cooperation on this as well. And I feel that we should act together
on all grounds and try to have a peaceful solution for the world in
general.
Q Are you thinking about withdrawing your troops
around the same time as the U.S.?
PRIME MINISTER CILLER: We haven't discussed the details
on that during our conversation. As I said, the troops are there for
the making of peace. And the sooner we make peace, the sooner we
will be out of that. I know that the Congress has a firm date on
that, as of yesterday. But it is not something that we have taken up
in my country as of yet.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me also remind you of one thing
about this. The United States went there, as I said, with some
people representing that we might even be through within a couple of
months, on a humanitarian mission. The United Nations has decided to
adopt the humanitarian mission and to try to help keep peace alive to
avoid reverting to the conditions that existed before we went there.
That was inevitable and altogether laudable. But there
are many other things that have to be done in the world. And the
United States will have borne the great mass of that burden. And if
we stay through March -- we may be able to finish our mission before
then, but if we stay all the way, we will have stayed from December
of '92 through the end of March of '94 -- much, much longer than
anyone expected us to stay in the beginning, adopting a mission that
is somewhat broader than the one we undertook in the beginning. And
I think it will make it easier if there needs to be a smaller and
less militarily-oriented United Nations force continuing to work in a
peace process, I think it will be easier, not more difficult, to do.
So we have not -- this is not calling a halt to the
international operation itself or to the end of our involvement in
global affairs, but simply to say that to stay a year and three
months, four months, on a mission that was originally touted as
perhaps as short as two months is quite a long time and enough in
terms of the contribution that we have made in this area -- so that,
among other things, we'll be free to fulfill our responsibilities in
other parts of the world.
Q Mr. President, in the last couple of days President
Bush, Secretary Cheney, former Secretary Baker have all criticized
this administration's handling of the Somalia policy -- from a lot of
different angles, from naivete to mission creep; that they said we
just went there to feed people and that's what we should have done.
I'm curious, what is your reaction, a, to that criticism, and do you
draw the lesson from your own experience in Somalia that maybe there
really is no such thing as pure humanitarian intervention, that some
level of political authority building or nation building is almost by
definition necessary in any of these missions?
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, I think it would be
inappropriate for me to react to what they said. I will say this.
It may have been naive for anyone to seriously assert in the
beginning that you could go into a situation as politically and
militarily charged as that one, give people food, turn around and
leave and expect everything to be hunky dory.
We tried to limit our mission by turning it over to the
United Nations. We recognized that in turning it over to the United
Nations we would have to stay a little while longer while the United
Nations sought to bring in others to replace us, so that the feeding
and the calmness of life that does pervade almost all of Somalia
could continue. And what happened was, after the Pakistani soldiers
were killed and the U.N. passed the resolution saying that someone
ought to be held accountable, at the moment the United States was the
only country capable of serving the police function.
You can say, well, we should have simply refused to do
that and said that was someone else's problem. Then the question
would have become, well, what kind of a friend is the United States?
The Pakistanis were there shoulder to shoulder with us; they were
ready to put themselves in harm's way, just as we were. Should we
walk away just because it was them that got killed instead of us? I
want to -- this was not an easy question.
The error that was made -- for which I think all of the
parties must take responsibility, including the United States -- was
that when the police function was undertaken, the U.N. mission
lowered the political dialogue so that the people that were involved
over there in Mogadishu thought, this is not police officers -- to
use an American analogy, this is not police officers arresting
suspects in a crime; this is a military operation designed to take a
group out of a dialogue about the political future of Somalia. We
never intended that.
And that's where the U.N. mission went awry. And that's
where if there was a mission creep, it happened there, and we did not
contain it quickly enough. I thought I had done so at my speech to
the United Nations. I did my best there. So I think that -- if
we're going to analyze the error, it seems to me that was where the
error occurred.
And I think we learned a very valuable lesson there. If
the United States should avoid whenever possible being the police
officer because it raises all these superpower military, all these
other questions -- and in any case, we can't go into any sort of
situation like this ever and allow the political dialogue to
collapse, because in the end, all these folks, not just in Somalia
but everywhere else in the world, ultimately have to resolve their
own problems and take responsibility for their own destiny. So
that's the way I would characterize what has happened and what I
think we have learned.
And in fairness, I think we ought to give another
question or two to the Turkish journalists who are here.
Q To which extent, Mr. President -- to both of you --
did you discuss the Cyprus issue? To which extent?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we discussed the Cyprus issue, and
I would like to compliment the Prime Minister. I was encouraged --as
I think you probably know, this has been an important issue to me for
sometime. The Prime Minister expressed her strong support for having
the elections in Northern Cyprus by the end of November, and for
resuming a dialogue on confidence-building measures, and her hope
that she would have a constructive relationship with the new
government in Greece. And I think for a Turkish Prime Minister,
that's about all I could ask right now. I was very impressed with
what she said, and I look forward to our common efforts to trying to
resolve this in the near future.
Perhaps she would like to say something about it.
PRIME MINISTER CILLER: Would you want me to comment on
that further?
Q Yes, please.
PRIME MINISTER CILLER: Well, as I am having the 50th
government and as a new Prime Minister, I feel that a solution in
Cyprus should be found and as soon as possible. We feel that there
are two communities there that need to come together. Maybe a new
methodology can be searched for as well. But the fact remains that a
solution should be found there at a time when other crises are
emerging elsewhere in that part of the geography.
I was very happy to find out about what happened between
Israel and Palestine. And I have to congratulate the leadership that
was shown by the President and the United States throughout the
history for that. But we are dedicated to finding a solution in
Cyprus; very much so.
The only thing that might be of a retardance in that is
using of this in political -- using of this variable in domestic
politics. I think we should not let that happen. We should not let
that happen in Cyprus. We should not let that happen in Turkey. We
should not let that happen in Greece, as well.
Q Mr. President, on the way flying here, our Prime
Minister said she has some concerns about Russian advances in the
Caucasus, especially in Georgia and Azerbaijan, and that this could
lead to a trend of new Russian expansionism. Do you share this
concern?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think Russia is like most other
large countries with several million people, there are different
currents and different views there. But let me say this: I believe
that President Yeltsin does not want an imperialist Russia. I think
President Yeltsin wants a Russia that can rebuild itself from within,
economically.
I think that -- as you know, in the conflicts in Georgia
over the last year there was all sorts of ambivalence and mixed
signals from the Russian army stationed there, notwithstanding the
position of President Yeltsin at times when the span of control
seemed in question.
In terms of Azerbaijan, I think the Prime Minister has
made a very important point -- that the Russians should, of course,
be involved in the resolution of that crisis, but that for the people
to feel good about it within the country and Nagorno-Karabakh and
beyond, they can't do it alone. Someone else should be involved also
in some form or fashion. That's why the United States has strongly
supported the so-called Minsk process, in the hope that we won't have
an exclusive solution by anyone, but that there can be a shared sense
of responsibility there.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER CILLER: Thank you. And I have to thank
the President one more time for wearing the Turkish manufactured tie.
(Laughter). Good sign of cooperation. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: That's right. This is my gift from the
Prime Minister today, so I thought I should wear it. (Laughter.)
PRIME MINISTER CILLER: My people will be proud. Thank
you very much again.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.
END2:16 P.M. EDT
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