    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [October 15, 1993]
    [Pages 1749-1755]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Tansu Ciller of
    Turkey
    October 15, 1993

        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 out 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

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    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 Caucasus, 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 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. Its
    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 a time when the world needs new leadership for a new
    era. And at 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.
        Madam 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 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, and the Caucasus. 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 Caucasus,
    are not acceptable.
        Turkey, whose geographic position, literally centers her in the ring
    of fires blazing from the Caucasus 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 help consolidate the
    democratization process

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    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 Caucasus have shown.
    During such times, it is important for the allies to stick together.
        The Atlantic Alliance continues to be valid. We attach importance 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 [Helen Thomas, United Press International].

    Somalia

        Q. Mr. President, aren't you weakening the 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 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 price, 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 Sen-

    [[Page 1752]]

    ator 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 [Brit Hume, ABC News].

    Somalia

        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.

    Turkey

        Q. Mr. President, is the United States inclined 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 involve 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 dialog 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.

    Somalia

        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

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    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 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 3 months, 4 months, on a mission that was
    originally touted as perhaps as short as 2 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 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? This was not an easy
    question.
        The error that was made, for which I think all of the parties must
    take responsibility, includ-

    [[Page 1754]]

    ing the United States, was that when the police function was undertaken,
    the U.N. mission lowered the political dialog 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 dialog 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. 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 dialog 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.

    Cyprus

        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 some time. The
    Prime Minister expressed her strong support for having the elections in
    northern Cyprus by the end of November and for resuming a dialog 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 try 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 the
    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 variable in domestic politics. I think we should not let that
    happen. We should not let that happen in Cyrus. We should not let that
    happen in Turkey. We should not let that happen in Greece, as well.

    Russia

        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.
        As you know, in the conflict 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

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    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 Mr. President
    one more time for wearing the Turkish manufactured tie. 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.
        Prime Minister Ciller. My people will be proud. Thank you very much
    again.
        The President. Thank you very much.

    Note: The President's 29th news conference began at 1:48 p.m. in the
    East Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to the PKK,
    the Kurdish Communist Party.