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



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                      U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
                        DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

                              I N D E X

                      Tuesday, April 25, 1995


                                       Briefer:  Nicholas Burns


[...]

TURKEY
Announcement of Withdrawal of Troops from Northern
  Iraq ................................................4
U.S. Position on Pipeline from Caspian Sea Area .......4-6

[...]

FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
Serbian Violations of Diplomatic Access/
  Cooperation in War Crimes Investigation .............9-10



                     U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
                       DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

                                              DPC #58

                TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 1995, 1:11 P. M.
               (ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)



[...]

     Q     Do you have any comment on the European Council decision  
about Turkey?  They are asking Turkey to withdraw from Iraq in two  
months and make changes in the constitution and make some democratic  
reforms, etc.  Do you have any comment?

     And connected to that, do you have any comment on 20,000 more  
troops withdrawn from Iraq yesterday?

     MR. BURNS:  Yes, we understand that the Turkish Government has  
announced the withdrawal of five brigades of their military forces in  
northern Iraq.  That's approximately 20,000 men.  In addition to the  
withdrawal of 3,500 men on April 8, this would bring their forces in  
northern Iraq by our estimates to around 12,000.  This is obviously a  
positive development.

     It is consistent with the assurances given to the President and the  
Secretary of State last week by Prime Minister Ciller that Turkey would  
meet its commitment that this incursion would be limited in time and in  
scope -- in scope and duration, as we've been saying.  That's a very  
important assurance, and we fully expect that this will be fully  
implemented in the near future.

     Q     What about the European Council decision?

     MR. BURNS:  I don't have a specific comment on that.  I think our  
position is well-known.  We have a very close strategic relationship  
with Turkey which we highly value, and that sentiment was expressed best  
by the President and the Secretary last week.

     We believe that Turkey has a right to try to cope with a very  
serious problem of terrorism that has emanated not only from northern  
Iraq, but from within Turkey's own borders; in the southeast region of  
its country, and we support them in that effort.

     But, as you know, we've believed that their incursion in northern  
Iraq ought to have an end date.  We're very encouraged to see that the  
Turkish civilian and military authorities are acting on their  
commitments to us; that this will, in fact, be limited.

     Q     Last week -- last Sunday, the President issued a statement  
about the 18th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, and he said, the  
same statement, the pipeline from the Caucausus, they are coming all the  
way through Armenia to Turkey.  Does that mean that the U.S. has made up  
its mind on the pipeline's way, instead of Georgia to Armenia?

     MR. BURNS:  You're correct.  The White House issued a statement on  
the anniversary of the deaths in Armenia a long time ago, at the end of  
the Ottoman era.  And in that statement the President and the White  
House noted some of the positive developments that have occurred just  
over the last couple of months.

     We talked last week about the fact that Turkey has agreed to open  
an air corridor to Armenia.  That's very important for Armenia which has  
been isolated over the last couple of years.

     There is also, I think, renewed cooperation within the OSCE to  
provide an OSCE monitoring force in Nagorno-Karabakh and to step up  
international efforts to try to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh to deal  
with the problem -- the massive problem that Azerbaijan has had with  
refugees inside its own country.

     We do have a position on the pipeline from the Caspian.  We think  
it should be built through the Caucausus to Turkey, and this is not a  
new announcement.  We've talked about that before.

     Q     From Baku to Turkey are two countries that have a probability  
-- one is Georgia, the other one is Armenia.  Yesterday's statement  
shows that the U.S. Government supported all the pipeline to pass  
through Armenia instead of Georgia, I mean.

     MR. BURNS:  That's correct.  If you read the White House statement,  
it talks about our support for a pipeline from the Caspian Sea area to  
Turkey, and that, of course, will have to transit through the Caucausus.

     I'd remind you of one important fact.  The U.S. Government is not  
going to build this pipeline.  I believe the pipeline will be built  
primarily by private companies.  They are looking to us for advice, as  
they are to a number of governments in the area, and we have given them  
our advice that we think this pipeline should go through the Caucausus  
to Turkey and not through another neighboring country, with which you  
are very familiar.

     Q     There won't be U.S. loan guarantees involved in the  
transaction?

     MR. BURNS:  It's hard to say, Sid.  Right now, as you know, there's  
a Western oil consortium in the Caspian Sea area that was announced  
several months ago.  I think there are three or four American companies  
taking part in that.  This is one of the most important oil development  
areas in the world, and it represents a major future share of the  
world's production if it is fully realized.

     So we have great hope for this project, not only for the fact that  
it would benefit our companies, it would also be of great help to  
Azerbaijan and to a number of other countries in the region.  Right now  
they're beginning to prospect for oil.  They're beginning to set up  
their consortium, and they have not, as far as I know, made detailed  
plans for the pipeline that would ask governments like ours to make  
decisions now about loan guarantees, so that's getting ahead of the game  
a little bit.  But certainly we'd be amenable to further discussions  
with the companies about this pipeline.  I think we're talking now about  
developments over a number of years.

[...]

     Q     Nick, going back to yesterday's discussion on Bosnia, it's my  
impression that the Serbs, who are preventing the free movement of Mr.  
Steiner and Mr. Frasure, diverted Mr. Jackovich, are, in fact, impeding  
those who would be speaking to the Bosnian Government about extending --  
or re-establishing, in fact -- the cease-fire in Bosnia, and thereby --  
by doing so, would be working against their own best interests, seeing  
as the Bosnian Muslims are on the offensive.

     Is this a correct impression, that the Serbs are shooting  
themselves in the foot?

     MR. BURNS:  The Serb authorities are certainly working against  
their own best interests when they violate U.N. resolutions and they  
violate standard international procedures for free access for diplomats.

     If the Serbs have an interest in integrating at some point in the  
future with the rest of the international community, their performance  
these days -- now -- will have an affect on the attitude of the  
international community.

     I would even make that argument concerning another issue we talked  
about yesterday, which is the issue of war crimes.  Their inclination to  
cooperate with that investigation will also determine in the future the  
attitude of the international community about them.

     Q     Nick, do you mean to say the Bosnian Serbs or the Serb  
leadership in Belgrade?

     MR. BURNS:  In answering the specific question about access to  
Sarajevo, I was referring to the Bosnian Serb leadership.

     Q     You mean the Serbs now.  Do you mean -- does that apply to  
all Serbs?

     MR. BURNS:  I think if you look back to the beginning of the war  
and you try to answer the question, "Who is responsible for the war?"   
The Serbs, in general, are responsible for this war and responsible for  
a number of the atrocities committed in this war.  So I wouldn't mind  
expanding that comment.

[...]

     (Press briefing concluded at 1:33 p.m.)


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