Topic: std
Subject: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING (March 31, 1995)
From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)
 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

MARCH 31, 1995

                         U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

                           DAILY PRESS BRIEFING


                               I N D E X


                         Friday, March 31, 1995



                                       Briefer: Richard Holbrooke

                                                Christine Shelly



EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

TURKEY

   Conclusion of U.S./Turkish Joint Economic Commission ...1-9

   --Initialing of Globe Agreement; Signing of ............1-2

       Cooperative Finance Agreement; Taxation Treaty .....1-2

   --Oil Pipeline Issue ...................................2-3,8

   U.S./EUR Strategic Interests in Turkey/U.S. Support ....2-3

   Recent/Upcoming U.S./Turkish/European Contacts .........4-5,7

   --Military Operation in Northern Iraq ..................3,17

   --Scope and Duration ...................................4-5

   --Work of Joint Economic Commission ....................4-5

   --Human Rights Issues ..................................3

   --Turkish/Greek Differences re: Cyprus Issue ...........8-9

   D/S Talbott/A/S Holbrooke Travel to Region .............4-5,6



GREECE

   Assistant Secretary Holbrooke's Trip to Region .........4-5,6


IRAQ

   Report of Baghdad Forces Attacking Kurdish Territory ...11

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

                         DAILY PRESS BRIEFING



                                              DPC #42



                  FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1995, 12:41 P.M.

                 (ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)





     MS. SHELLY:  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  Welcome to the
     State Department Press Briefing.  We're going to begin our press
     briefing today with a special guest appearance by Assistant
     Secretary for European Affairs Richard Holbrooke.  He's going to
     kick off with a rundown on the recently concluded meeting of the
     U.S.-Turkey Joint Economic Commission, and then he'll be happy to
     take a few of your questions.  He doesn't have a lot of time to be
     with us today because he has a pressing luncheon engagement, but
     I'm very happy to have him here and I'll let him take over from
     this point, and then I'll follow the usual format.



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  Thank you, Christine.



     We've just concluded a two-day session of the U.S.-Turkish Joint
     Economic Commission, co-chaired by Dr. Emre Gonensay, Advisor to
     the Prime Minister of Turkey, and myself.  We're distributing this
     document in the hope that although I know your questions are going
     to be directed elsewhere, you will pay some attention to what we've
     done.



     We signed several agreements, and we came very close to final
     signature on another one.



     We initialed the so-called GLOBE Agreement -- GLOBE stands for
     "Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment."  That
     Agreement will be signed by the Vice President or the President
     when the Prime Minister comes here in mid-April.



     We signed a Cooperative Financing Agreement between the ExIm Bank
     of the United States and the ExIm Bank of Turkey, and we came down
     to the final yard lines on a taxation treaty.  The U.S. Treasury
     Department needs to work out some final things on our side, and we
     have some work to do in Ankara, but we're almost there.



     As we speak, the Turkish-American Business Council is meeting at
     the Willard Hotel to discuss what really matters on this front,
     which is American investment in the region.



     This is a very important part of our relations with Turkey, and I
     will use it to back into the larger strategic issues because
     business relations are increasingly important.



     The Commerce Department and the State Department have designated
     Turkey one of their so-called BEMs -- Big Emerging Markets.  Only
     two of their 10 big emerging markets are in Europe:  Poland and
     Turkey.  The others are all in the developing world:  China,
     Indonesia, Mexico, and so on.  This is another indication of the
     importance of Turkey.



     One of the most interesting subjects we discussed was the oil
     pipeline issue, which I'm willing to answer questions on if you're
     interested in it.  This is potentially one of the largest projects
     in the world today.  There's an interesting article on it in the
     current issue of The Economist, and we will be taking it up further
     in the next month when -- as I will get to in a minute -- Strobe
     Talbott and I go separately into the region and meet in Kiev and
     Ankara.



     Now, to turn to what I think is probably the area of your primary
     concern, the entire area of Southeastern Europe has become
     increasingly, in the last few years, an area of tension, conflict,
     open warfare, unresolved issues left over from the past.



     In that region, which I would roughly define as the lower
     right-hand corner of the map, if you put your finger on Vienna and
     divide Europe into four squares, in that lower right-hand quarter
     of the map you have two United States NATO allies -- Greece and
     Turkey -- which themselves have had a troubled relationship,
     constrained by their mutual adherence to the NATO Treaty and by
     American relations with each country.



     We have focused increasingly on that area, and in that area it is
     not an exaggeration to say that Turkey -- while it was already a
     front-line state during the Cold War, in the sense that there was a
     common Turkish-Soviet border -- has increasingly become the
     front-line state for the United States.



     During the Cold War, most people looked at Germany as the front
     line; and NATO's planning was primarily addressing a Soviet thrust
     through Central Europe at the Fulda Gap.  Well, there's no Red Army
     anymore.  There's no Fulda Gap.  Germany is united.  Turkey has
     increasingly become the centerpiece for American strategic
     interests of a very dangerous neighborhood.



     Look at the issues of the region and consider how many of them
     impact directly on Turkey and on whom Turkey impacts directly.



     In rough clockwise order, Nagorno-Karabakh, Chechnya, Iran, Iraq,
     Cyprus, problems in the Aegean, Bosnia, all have a direct effect on
     Turkey, for reasons you're all familiar with.



     And, in addition, there are other tensions in the area which do not
     directly involve Turkey but can affect them -- Greece-Albanian
     relations, relations between Athens and Skopje, and the situation
     between Russia and Ukraine because of the Crimea.



     The oil pipeline issue I mentioned earlier is a unique situation
     because everything comes together on that issue -- business,
     environment, oil policies stretching as far as Kazakhstan, and
     political issues.



     In any case, this is a dangerous neighborhood; and Turkey is
     critical to the security and stability of Europe -- and when I say
     "stability and security of Europe," I include our own stability and
     security, because we are a European power and it matters to us.



     Of course, we have had our differences with Turkey over the years,
     as we have had with many other allies.  These include the area of
     human rights, which you're all familiar with.  We believe that it
     is entirely legitimate for us to stand up for universal principles
     of human rights with allies and friends, and we've spoken frankly
     to the Turks many times about these areas.



     But we believe firmly that the PKK is a terrorist organization, and
     we have supported Turkish efforts -- while not always agreeing with
     each method -- to deal with this problem.



     Currently, the Turks have launched a military operation in northern
     Iraq inside the "no-fly" zone.



     We believe that their efforts to deal with the PKK are legitimate
     and their territorial integrity is critically important not only to
     them but all of Europe, because I can tell you clearly that if the
     territorial integrity of the current boundaries of Europe -- no
     matter what historical accidents created them -- is changed, it
     will lead to chaos throughout the region; and I've been told that
     flatly, for example, by President Berisha in Tirana, President
     Gligorov in Skopje, and throughout the region.



     At the same time, we have expressed our concern that these
     operations be limited in scope and duration.  The Turkish
     Government, for its part, has assured us that they will be limited
     in scope and duration.



     During the last two days, Dr. Gonensay has spoken with a large
     number of senior American officials, including our Secretary of
     Treasury, and most importantly, Secretary Christopher.  Last night,
     Dr. Gonensay met with Secretary Christopher and Tom Donilon and
     Strobe Talbott and myself, to discuss the Joint Economic
     Commission's work.  The Secretary began by congratulating Dr.
     Gonensay on the work of the Commission, and then we turned to the
     issue at hand.



     The Secretary also asked Assistant Secretary Shattuck to meet
     separately with Ambassador Kandemir and Dr. Gonensay, and that
     meeting also took place, to discuss other human rights issues.



     In regard to the Secretary's meeting with Dr. Gonensay last night,
     the Secretary expressed support for Turkey's territorial integrity,
     appreciation of the Joint Economic Commission's work, mentioned the
     human rights issues in ways that you're all familiar with, and
     expressed his hope that the previous Turkish Government statements
     about the operation being limited in scope and duration would still
     apply.



     Dr. Gonensay said they certainly did, and he carried personal
     comments from the Turkish Government to the Secretary to that
     effect.



     The Secretary of State said that these were important assurances,
     and we are in continuing dialogue with the Turkish Government.



     Prior to the beginning of this military operation, the Secretary of
     State had asked Strobe Talbott to go to Moscow, Kiev, and Ankara;
     and I was going to go with them, but I can't get to Moscow because
     I have another commitment.  So I was going to meet Strobe in Kiev
     and go on to Ankara with him, where we will be -- and there will
     also be a high-ranking Defense Department official with us.



     And while Strobe is in Moscow, I will go to Athens to meet with Mr.
     Papandreou and members of his government and then join up with
     Strobe in Kiev.



     The purpose of all these trips goes way beyond the issue we're
     discussing right now -- and I want to stress that with the
     exception of the added stop in Athens, all of this was planned well
     before the military operation began.  But, of course, it will be a
     part of our discussions in each spot.



     In addition, the Turkish Foreign Minister -- Mr. Inonu -- will be
     here next week to discuss the situation with Secretary Christopher.
     And then in mid-April, Prime Minister Ciller will be here and will
     meet with the President and other Government officials.



     All of this, I want to stress, is within the context of our belief
     that Turkey's stability, integrity, and security are essential to
     stability and security throughout Southeastern Europe.



     We've also been in close contact with our European allies.



     I'd be happy to answer some questions.



     Q     As of now, have the Turkish officials informed you about the
     possible local solution to address Turkey's concerns about the
     security in northern Iraq -- a solution possibly involving an
     agreement with the two main Kurdish parties in the region?



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  We've discussed this in general
     terms, but I think you'd have to address to the Turkish Government
     what their position is on that.  That's not for us to say.



     Q     What's your current understanding of what "limited scope and
     duration" means?  Are we talking weeks or months?



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  No specific date certain has been
     given for the end of the operation.  Indeed, it's quite possible
     the operation would have different phases geographically or in
     terms of objectives.  So I don't have a clear answer to your
     question at this point, but it's not going to be a matter of
     months.



     Q     If all these stops were planned ahead of time before the
     operation began --



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  Except Athens.



     Q     -- except Athens -- why was Athens added on after the
     operation began?



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  For various reasons.  One was just
     logistical.  I found I had some extra time and I couldn't get to
     Moscow.



     The other was this will be my second trip to Turkey in two months,
     and I'd like to keep a rough parity.



     The third is Greece is the other NATO ally, as I said earlier.



     The fourth is that there's a great deal of bilateral U.S.-Greek
     issues that do not relate to Turkey, such as the dramatically
     improving situation between Greece and Albania -- which we are very
     heavily involved in, that we want to talk to the Greeks about.



     The fifth issue is Cyprus.  We want to talk about Cyprus.



     But underlying all of this is the point that I want to stress,
     which is Greece is a very important NATO ally.  And when its
     neighborhood has also become -- after all, they're between Bosnia
     and this situation; and they have their own problems with Skopje.
     There's just a lot to talk about.  And I had not met with Mr.
     Papandreou on my last trip because he had been out of the country.
     So when he said he could see me, we changed the schedule around.



     Q     You made a very strong case for Turkey's importance, but last
     year when the Administration was running short on money, Turkey
     lost a good chunk of its assistance program.  It was $20
     million-plus.  Do you have any way of getting that money back
     through a supplemental or something?



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  I don't know.  I've got to look
     into it.  I wasn't here at that time.



     Q     Would you have recommended against reprogramming away from
     Turkey if you had been here?



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  Of course.  Of course.  No question
     -- I'm not sure my recommendation would have been accepted, but we
     all make recommendations all the time on resource allocation which
     get overruled.  This is not clientelistic in the most obvious
     sense, but it goes without saying that Turkey's strategic
     importance to the United States requires a concommitant commitment
     of resources.



     But we have a genuine resource crunch, and it is being exacerbated
     by some very shortsighted thinking coming from people on the Hill
     who keep asking us to "rob Peter to pay Paul," and it's a very
     tricky situation.  But let there be no misunderstanding about it,
     in the European theater, Turkey is on the front line, for all the
     reasons we've discussed and others, and we want to support Turkey
     even when we have frank differences with them, as we have quite
     often.



     Q     At a time when much of your closest -- many of your closest
     allies in Europe --  France and Germany -- are cutting off aid to
     Turkey and condemning this operation, the United States is forging
     ahead with economic cooperation and you're standing up here and
     explaining their strategic importance.



     Why is it that there's such sharp differences on this issue between
     the United States and Europe, and is there any -- has it been
     pointed out to the Turks that there is a threshold of our tolerance
     for this?



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  On the first part of your question,
     there is less of a difference between us and the Europeans than may
     appear on the surface, although I fully understand why you phrase
     the question the way you do.



     In the last 72 hours, we have been in touch with almost every one
     of our European allies.  The Secretary State and I have directly
     talked to the Danes, the Luxembourgers, the Germans -- I'm trying
     to remember -- the British and several others who happened to be in
     town.  It was the number one subject.  There may have been other
     contacts I'm unaware of.



     Everyone -- every one of our European allies shares the view I
     articulated about Turkey's strategic importance.  But each country
     has its own special interaction with the problem, most notably the
     Germans who have two and a half million Turks in Germany, and which
     have been very well reported in The Washington Post and The New
     York Times lately, have many of the problems in Turkey, including
     the PKK problem, exported to their countries.



     So they will deal with it their way.  We will deal with it our way.
     We have the same strategic objective, the same importance to
     Turkey, and I want to stress that it was the European Union with
     strong American support that on March 6 took the historic step of
     agreeing to the Turkish Customs Union with the EU, which, however,
     has to be ratified by the European Parliament in October.



     So I don't think the difference is quite as critical as it would
     seem.



     Q     Mr. Secretary, can I follow Sid's question.  The Danes told
     us here earlier this week that they thought that the incursion was
     illegal, against international law.  What are the ramifications for
     unity in NATO, and what do the other major NATO partners think
     about the legality of --



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  The Danes didn't say that to us.
     They may have said it to you.  In any case, that's not what I am
     led to understand.  I would ask Christine, perhaps, to help you
     after this conference on what our legal people think about this
     issue.



     MS. SHELLY:  Last question.



     Q     Did you discuss with the Turkish officials the Greek-Turkish
     differences, in particular Cyprus?



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  On this trip --



     Q     Yes.



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  -- Cyprus did not really come up,
     because we've done a lot of other things, and we will return to
     that issue next week.



     We'll take one more, I think, if it's all right with you,
     Christine?



     Q     So what is your preference for the pipeline project?  Which
     country do you --



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  The United States has made a -- I
     think you know we've made a major statement that the pipeline
     should go through Turkey.



     Q     No, before Turkey, which countries --



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  That's the $800 billion question.
     That is about as big an economic business question as there could
     be, and there are so many factors -- political, environmental,
     logistical, whether you go through the mountains, do you go through
     Georgia, or how do you handle the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.



     It is going to take a lot of study.  The Turkish delegation here,
     which was 44 people, included environmentalists, business people,
     and so on, and we talked this at great length.  We had two
     sub-groups on it.  We're just starting this issue, and it is a very
     -- I think it's one of the most interesting issues we're dealing
     with, but I can't possibly answer it yet.  We have a long way to
     go.



     Q     Iran is definitely out of the question, right?



     ASSISTANT SECRETARY HOLBROOKE:  We are opposed to a pipeline
     through Iran.  That is clear, and that was a major decision and one
     which I think you all are aware of and you understand the reasons
     for it.



     May I say one last thing, Christine.  In our public statement at
     the Willard Hotel, which I think only one person in this room
     attended, Dr. Gonensay in response to the same question -- and here
     I'm only quoting him for your own guidance -- said that the Turkish
     Government favored two pipelines, one through Russia, and you might
     want to get his statement on that.



     MS. SHELLY:  Thank you very much.



     (Assistant Secretary Holbrooke concluded his briefing at 1:01 p.m.,
     after which Ms. Shelly began the regular Daily Press Briefing.)



     MS. SHELLY:  I'm sorry.  I really have to respect the time
     constraints that Assistant Secretary Holbrooke is under.  Thank
     you.



     Let me begin with a couple of announcements.  The first is that the
     Press Office is pleased to introduce to you our spring intern,
     Lyndsay Hall.  Lyndsay, would you like to stand up for a second.



     She arrived in the Press Office on Monday and will be with us until
     June 2.  Her internship with the Press Office is in conjunction
     with a scholarship through the University of Minnesota.  Lyndsay is
     from St. Paul.  She's a junior at the University of Minnesota,
     majoring in political science.  She has just completed a
     three-month internship with the Minnesota House of Representatives.



     Welcome, Lyndsay, and we're happy to have you with us, and I'm sure
     that our press corps will show you all the usual courtesy that they
     show the rest of the members of our staff.



     Q     (Inaudible)



     MS. SHELLY:  George Gedda -- tsk, tsk.  Okay, next announcement.



     Monday, April 3:  The State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human
     Rights and Labor and the Carnegie Corporation will be hosting a
     conference on "Human Rights Policy in the Post-Cold War Era: from
     Early Warning to Rebuilding."



     The conference will take place in the Dean Acheson Auditorium from
     10:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. and will focus on early warning and
     preventive diplomacy, conflict resolution and peacekeeping,
     accountability and rebuilding conflict-torn societies.



     Among the speakers will be Secretary Christopher, Ambassador
     Albright, Under Secretary Wirth, Brian Atwood and a number of other
     officials, experts and members of the NGO community.  Copies of the
     conference agenda are available through the Press Office.  This
     event -- this day of activities -- is open to the press and, if you
     would like further information or details, I encourage you to
     contact the DRL Public Affairs Adviser Yehudah Mirsky at 647-1403.



     Q     When is this again?



     MS. SHELLY:  Monday, April 3.



     Q     Filing break?



     MS. SHELLY:  Filing break, just because we're having a conference
     on Monday?



     Q     No --



     MS. SHELLY:  Filing break.  Okay.



     Let me just give you an update on one other issue which came up
     earlier this week and that is, as I've mentioned to you before,
     this week we have had taking place up in New York the delegation of
     U.S. officials making their presentations to the U.N. Human Rights
     Committee in New York on U.S. compliance with the International
     Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.



     The second session of these two sessions, as I mentioned, is taking
     place this morning.  The Covenant is an essential document of the
     International Law of Human Rights and was ratified by the U.S., as
     I said earlier this week, in 1992.



     Under its provisions, every country which is a signatory must
     report periodically on its implementation of the Covenant's
     provisions.  Our initial report, which is the subject of this
     week's hearing, was submitted to the Human Rights Committee last
     July.



     In the U.S.'s initial appearance on Wednesday, the Committee
     generally praised our report for its thoroughness, accuracy and
     detail.  As per U.N. procedures, the Committee offered a number of
     specific comments, questions and recommendations, to which our
     delegation is responding today.



     Among the topics in which the Committee expressed interest were the
     relationship between international and domestic law in the U.S.,
     the death penalty and race relations.



     The U.S. ratified the Covenant in order to further demonstrate our
     commitment to these principles and to underscore our belief in
     their universality.  This review of our implementation of the
     Covenant allows us to educate others about how we have guaranteed
     these rights for our citizens.  It also allows us to demonstrate
     how a free and open discourse can contribute to the protection of
     fundamental rights and freedoms.



     I'll be happy to take your questions.



     Q     I really meant to ask this question to Ambassador Holbrooke,
     but I hope you can comment on it.  There are reports that the
     Baghdad forces are now attacking the Kurdish territory in Iraq.
     How would you evaluate that in relation to the ongoing incursion?



     MS. SHELLY:  We have also seen some press reports to that effect.
     We have been trying to find out if there was any other hard
     evidence to support that yet.  I do not have that evidence yet, and
     so I'm not in a position to make a comment on that.



     Q     Can you take the question?



     MS. SHELLY:  I'll look and see.  I'm not going to formally take it,
     no.



     Other questions.

[...]

     Q     Would the phrase "a couple of months" -- I'm going back to
     Iraq now -- would the phrase "a couple of months" accurately
     describe the time period that the Administration has in mind during
     which they would expect Turkey to pull out from northern Iraq?



     MS. SHELLY:  The Administration does not have its own time frame in
     mind on this point.  The Administration has articulated over and
     over again our view that Turkey should withdraw its troops as soon
     as possible.



     Q     On Turkey --



     MS. SHELLY:  Yes, but I'm not going to do a lot of Turkey.
     (Laughter)  I think we kind of covered Turkey.



     Q     One matter --



     MS. SHELLY:  I'm signaling my inclination to begin to wind down the
     Turkey interest here.  You're welcome to ask your question.



     Q     Here's a clarification -- first a clarification.  This was
     the point that I raised with the Secretary a few moments ago, and
     the Foreign Minister --



     MS. SHELLY:  It was the Assistant Secretary, technically.



     Q     Excuse me.  The fine gentleman, Mr. Holbrooke.  The Danish
     Foreign Minister Petersen said in a photo op on Monday, very
     clearly in the presence of our Secretary of State, "Well, on Turkey
     it's the view of the Danish Government that the Turkish action is a
     violation of the foreign -- territorial integrity of a foreign
     state, and therefore we find that unacceptable."  Then he goes on
     to state that Turkey should retreat.  Was Mr. Holbrooke in error?



     MS. SHELLY:  I don't know.  I think that he certainly is correct in
     terms of referring you to Danish authorities to articulate their
     positions.  It's possible that he had not seen the transcript of
     the photo opportunity at which that comment was made, and I will
     certainly be happy to draw it to his attention.



     Q     Thank you, Christine, and to follow, are there any other NATO
     allies that are of a like mind with regard to this incursion?



     MS. SHELLY:  I think you'll have to ask the other 15 members -- or
     14, as the case may be -- (laughter) -- individually or
     collectively.


     (The briefing concluded at l:30 p.m.)
