    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [November 18, 1999]
    [Pages 2105-2107]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Opening of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
    in Europe Summit in Istanbul
    November 18, 1999

        Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. President Demirel, Chairman Vollebaek, Mr.
    Secretary-General, Miss Degn, distinguished leaders, it's a great honor for me to be
    able to say a few words on behalf of the United States.
        First, I thank President Demirel, his
    government, and the people of Turkey for a wonderful reception and for
    the heroic example they have set in their recovery from the earthquakes.
    I thank the Norwegian Chairman-in-Office for
    remarkable leadership in a very challenging year.
        We come together for many reasons, first, to reaffirm our commitment
    to the OSCE, a unique institution grounded in the principle that the
    root of human insecurity is the denial of human rights. Here today are
    leaders of more than 20 countries that were not even in existence when
    the Final Act was signed in Helsinki in 1975, because they were not
    free.
        In country after country, the OSCE's ideas of human rights and the
    rule of law are now ascendant. A quarter century after Helsinki, the
    question is not whether democracy will survive but when it will be
    embraced in every European country and how it will work in every
    country.
        Clearly, we must adapt the OSCE to meet new realities. The charter
    we've negotiated recognizes that the greatest threats to our security
    today are as likely to come from conflicts that begin within states as
    between them.
        The OSCE has responded to this challenge with courage and
    distinction, from the Balkans to the Baltics, organizing elections,
    monitoring human rights, reducing ethnic and religious tensions. We must
    give the OSCE the tools to respond even more effectively. I am pleased
    the OSCE is endorsing the REACT concept, which will enable it to deploy
    experts in elections, law, media, and administration rapidly to nations
    seeking to prevent or recover from conflict. That way, time and lives
    won't be lost while we organize from scratch to meet every crisis.
        I'm pleased we're endorsing the achievements of the Stability Pact,
    and pledging to support its work, for there must be a magnet of unifying
    force more powerful than the forces of division and fear in order for
    southeastern Europe to reach its full potential.
        I'm pleased we have recognized the needs to fill the gap that
    civilian police forces must fill between unarmed monitors and military
    forces, and I hope that all of us will be willing to strengthen the
    OSCE's capacity to meet that need.
        Now, in addition to making the OSCE more operational, we have to
    uphold its principles in hard cases. In that spirit, I would like to say
    a few words about the situation in Chechnya. First of all, I associate
    myself with the previous remarks of the German Chancellor, which I think made the case very well. But I think I
    speak for everyone here when we say we want Russia to overcome the
    scourge of terrorism and lawlessness. We believe Russia has not only the
    right but the obligation to defend its territorial integrity. We want to
    see Russia a stable, prosperous, strong democracy with secure borders,
    strong defenses, and a leading voice in world affairs.

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        I have often asked myself, as I hope all of you have, what I would
    do if I were in President Yeltsin's place. I
    think before any of us sit in judgment, we should be able to answer that
    question.
        Russia has faced rebellion within and related violence beyond the
    borders of Chechnya. It has responded with a military strategy designed
    to break the resistance and end the terror. The strategy has led to
    substantial civilian casualties and very large flows of refugees.
        The first thing I would like to say is that most of the critics of
    Russian policies deplore Chechen violence and terrorism and extremism,
    and support the objectives of Russia to preserve its territorial
    integrity and to put down the violence and the terrorism. What they fear
    is that the means Russia has chosen will undermine its ends, that if
    attacks on civilians continue, the extremism Russia is trying to combat
    will only intensify, and the sovereignty Russia rightly is defending
    will be more and more rejected by ordinary Chechens who are not part of
    the terror or the resistance. The strength Russia rightly is striving to
    build, therefore, could be eroded by an endless cycle of violence. The
    global integration Russia has rightly sought to advance, with our strong
    support, will be hindered.
        Russia's friends are united, I believe, in what we think should
    happen: appropriate measures to end terrorism, protection of innocent
    civilians, a commitment to allow refugees to return in safety, access
    for relief groups, and a common effort to rebuild. In other words, in
    order to isolate and undermine the terrorists, there must be a political
    dialog and a political settlement, not with terrorists but with those
    who are willing to seek a peaceful resolution.
        The OSCE and others can play a role in facilitating that dialog, as
    they did once before, and that is the role the OSCE was meant to play.
    Meanwhile, I think we should all make it clear that we are prepared to
    do more, through the United Nations, through this organization, and
    through any other available forum, to combat terror wherever it exists.
        Finally, let me say I have to respectfully disagree with my friend
    President Yeltsin in his characterization of
    U.S.-led NATO aggression in Yugoslavia. Consider Bosnia, where the world
    community waited 4 years, and we saw 2\1/2\ million refugees and 250,000
    deaths placed on the altar of ethnic cleansing. I honor and praise the
    courage of the Secretary-General and the United
    Nations for acknowledging just a few days ago the grievous error of the
    U.N. in waiting so long to act, and that wait being responsible in part
    for the travesty of Srebrenica.
        Consider Kosovo, where the world community did not wait, but there
    were still thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of refugees.
    But unlike Bosnia, because we acted more quickly, they are almost all
    home today, coming to grips with the challenge of the coming winter. So
    I believe we did the right thing. And I do not believe there will ever
    be a time in human affairs when we will ever be able to say, we simply
    cannot criticize this or that or the other action because it happened
    within the territorial borders of a single nation.
        President Yeltsin, one of the most
    thrilling experiences of my life as a citizen of the world before I
    became President was when you stood up on that tank in Moscow, when they
    tried to take the freedom of the Russian people away, and you're
    standing there on that tank, said to those people, ``You can do this,
    but you'll have to kill me first.''
        If they had put you in jail instead of
    electing you President, I would hope that every leader of every country
    around this table would have stood up for you and for freedom in Russia
    and not said, ``Well, that is an internal Russian affair that we cannot
    be a part of.'' I don't think we have any choice but to try to work for
    common objectives across lines. And I certainly associate myself with
    any efforts that we can make together to fight terrorism within any
    nation's borders.
        Let me just say this in closing. We are here in Turkey, and it's an
    appropriate place to say this, thinking of Chechnya, thinking of all
    these issues, thinking of the trouble in the Caucasus and the trouble in
    the Balkans. So much of the future of the 21st century will turn on
    developments in the vast region that lies between traditional notions of
    Asia and Europe, between the Muslim world and the West, between the
    parts of our community that are stable and prosperous and democratic and
    those still struggling to build basic human security and freedom.
        The people who live in these crossroads face truly momentous
    challenges, and we're dealing with some of them today. They are trying
    to preserve their unique heritage and participate fully in the modern
    world. And there is no single, simple answer to all their problems, but

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    there is a guidepost: this OSCE and its principle that human differences
    should be resolved democratically, with respect for diversity and the
    basic rights and freedom of every individual. That was true in 1975. It
    is even more true today.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:48 a.m. at the Ciragan Palace. In his
    remarks, he referred to President Suleyman Demirel of Turkey; Chairman-
    in-Office Knut Vollebaek, OSCE; United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
    Annan; Helle Degn, Chair, Foreign Policy Council, Denmark; Chancellor
    Gerhard Schroeder of Germany; and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia.