Subject: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING (April 7, 1995)
Topic: std
From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)
 
Subject: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING (April 7, 1995)
Topic: std
FDate: 95-04-07


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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE  
95/04/07 DAILY PRESS BRIEFING  
OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN  
  
  
  
                          U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE  
                            DAILY PRESS BRIEFING  
  
                                  I N D E X  
  
                          Friday, April 7, 1995  
  
                                       Briefer:  Christine Shelly  
  
[...]  
  
TURKEY  
Turkish Troops in Northern Iraq/Christopher Comments .........9-10  
Report of Killing of Turkish Red Cross Officials ............ 11  
  
[...]  
  
  
                     U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE  
                       DAILY PRESS BRIEFING  
  
                                                 DPC #47  
  
                  FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 1995, 12:59 P.M.  
                (ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)  
  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  Good afternoon. I actually have something to begin   
with today.  Can you believe that?  I was really getting kind of   
frustrated in not having something to start with and letting the   
briefing unfold totally in response to your questions rather than in the   
pieces of information I wish to put out.  
  
     Q     When Turkish Foreign Minister Erdu Inonu was here, almost   
every U.S. official he talked to, including Secretary Christopher, Mr.   
Holbrooke, Mr. Anthony Lake, told him that unless Turkish troops pull   
out of northern Iraq as soon as possible, this may give rise to   
misinterpretations and, you know, unwarranted misunderstandings.  
  
     What is exactly those misunderstandings and misinterpretations   
that, you know, they refer to in their talks with Mr. Inonu?  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  Our position regarding the necessity of the Turkish   
Government to withdraw its troops as soon as possible, that position is   
very well known.  As to these other possible connections or issues, I'm    
really not in a position to get into that in some kind of detail.  
  
     We think that certainly Turkey is well aware of the position that   
other governments have taken regarding their intentions there and   
regarding the length of their stay.  I don't think there would be any   
question or any surprise that the Turkish authorities themselves are   
feeling some heat, particularly from the European Union circles on this   
issue.  
  
     But we have also articulated our position on this, and have also   
indicated to the Turkish authorities that -- and stressed the need to   
keep with the assurances that they gave beginning at the outset   
regarding the need to avoid human rights violations, to minimize   
civilian casualties, and to keep their operation limited in duration and   
scope.  
  
     Q     Christine, the Turkish Foreign Minister has been telling   
people that the troops would withdraw in "a few weeks."  Is that within   
acceptable limits as far as the United States is concerned?  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  I've been asked that question in every single variety   
since this operation began, and it's still exactly the same answer.    
There is not a period of time couched in terms of weeks which is   
acceptable to us.  Our position is that the Turks should withdraw their   
troops as soon as possible.  
  
     Q     Do you have any reaction to European Parliament yesterday's   
resolution.  Yesterday, the European Parliament, they had a resolution   
that they accepted, immediate withdrawal from Iraq.  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  I haven't seen the resolution, so I don't have a   
reaction to it.  
  
     Q     Concerning the treatment of civilians, do you think the Turks   
kept to their promises that they gave initially?  What does the   
Administration think on that?  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  It's something that would certainly require a very   
careful assessment.  I don't know what our private thinking is on this   
at this point.  There may be some people who have some general thoughts   
on that, but it's at this point, I think, not something we're in a   
position to give a kind of status report on, on the operation so far.    
It's a concern that I think even the Turkish authorities themselves also   
share; and, when we have more information and presumably also when the   
operation can and is brought to a close, we may be in a position to make   
some kind of public assessment of that.  But for the time being, we are   
not going to do so.  

[...]  
  
     Jim.  
  
     Q     Yesterday at the photo op with Boutros-Ghali, the Secretary   
was asked about the Turkish troops in northern Iraq.  He said that he   
had informed the Foreign Minister that "our support for Turkey was   
dependent on Turkey carrying on its commitment to limit its operations."  
  
     What exactly is the U.S. support for Turkey in terms of this   
operation?  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  I think it's implicit in what the Secretary said.  I   
mean, we have acknowledged that Turkey has a problem with the PKK, and   
we certainly have reiterated many times that Turkey is facing terrorist   
incursions against them by the PKK conducted from Iraqi territory.  
  
     But again, it is not in our view just a license to go in there and   
stay in there.  There is a real security problem to Turkey, but at the   
same time we believe that the Turkish troops need to withdraw as soon as   
possible, and that the Turks themselves, as they conduct this operation,   
need to keep to the assurances that they, themselves, have given.  
  
     Q     But when he used this term "our support for Turkey," he's   
talking then in terms of political rather than logistical or other kind   
of support?  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  I think he was referring to our support in general, as   
a generality, and it was not a kind of hint about anything in particular   
or anything specific.  
  
     Q     Do you have any reaction for the killing -- northern Iraq   
troops -- they killed some Turkish (inaudible) officials?  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  I have just seen the press reports on that.  I have no   
independent information.  

[...]
  
     MS. SHELLY:  I don't know I have just the number uniquely here for   
the -- no, it said here -- 1,600; that right.  Of the 6,500 Iraqi   
refugees from Saudi Arabia, 1,600 were former soldiers and their family   
members.  
  
     Q     How much from Turkey?  I thought you said they were from   
Turkey as well.  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  I did mention Turkey, I do believe.  Yes, I think I   
mentioned Turkey -- about Iraqi refugees being resettled from Turkey and   
other European countries as well as from Saudi Arabia.  Because the   
Iraqis are a designated nationality for consideration for refugee status   
as a result of the consultations with Congress.  
  
     Q     Do you have numbers?  
  
     MS. SHELLY:  No, I don't have a number on those.  

[...]
  
     (Press briefing concluded at 1:36 p.m.)  
  
(###)
