[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[November 15, 1999]
[Pages 2090-2093]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks Following Discussions With President Suleyman Demirel of Turkey and an Exchange With Reporters in Ankara
November 15, 1999
President Demirel. Distinguished members of the press, I would like
to welcome once again in your presence, the President of the United
States, my dear friend Bill Clinton. Mr. Clinton is in our country for a
5-day visit.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to, in Mr. Clinton's person,
express our thanks to the American people for the support and solidarity
they have shown during the disasters that affected our country, one
after another, in recent months.
The Republic of Turkey and the United States of America work
together for peace, stability, and prosperity on a vast geography which
extends from the Balkans to the Caucasus, central Asia to the Middle
East, Europe to the Black Sea, Caspian, and the Mediterranean Basin.
Earlier today we had an extensive exchange of views and opinions as
two strategic partners. We discussed our contribution to regional peace,
stability, and prosperity. We also reviewed areas where we can improve
cooperation. We were pleased to note that both of us had the
determination to evaluate new and broader avenues of cooperation between
our countries.
We explained to the President our activities in the areas of
economy, trade, and energy, and the importance we place on cooperation
with the EU in this context. We also discussed defense cooperation and
regional security issues. We evaluated our joint projects together. And
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we explored new possibilities for deepening our relations even further.
And we listened to the views of the President of the United States
regarding the opinion and attitude of the United States on these
subjects. President Clinton shares our view that it's very important for
Turkey--as a country where democracy, Islam, and secularism are proven
to coexist--to become an EU member in order to realize the project of a
pluralist, democratic Europe with rich diversity.
In light of these views, we reviewed Turkey's relations with the
European Union on the eve of the Helsinki summit. We explained once
again to the President the assessment of the Turkish Republic regarding
the European Union. We also expressed Turkey's contractual rights for EU
membership. And we stressed our expectation from the European Union to
focus on the proper perspective on this matter this time.
President Clinton has confirmed continued support of the U.S. for
Turkey's membership to the EU. I can say that the meetings between two
friends and allies that have strong bonds were beneficial and productive
and that we were able to review common areas of interest, attention, and
action that are included in the broad spectrum of the Turkish-American
strategic partnership.
Our friendship with the United States is an important guarantee for
the success for our common goals and ideals. This friendship will be
fruitful in the future, and joint efforts by the United States and
Turkey will bring further peace, stability, and prosperity to a vast
geography.
I would like to welcome Mr. Clinton once again and wish him a good
time in Turkey. Thank you all.
President Clinton. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I would like
to thank you, the Prime Minister, and the
members of the Turkish Government for your warm welcome here today, and
reiterate the profound sympathies of the American people with the people
of Turkey as a result of these two earthquakes.
The President has summarized our meeting quite well, and so I will
just briefly add a couple of points. We spoke about the coming OSCE
meeting, which Turkey will host. It is fitting that Turkey would be the
host in this final year of the 20th century, when the agenda for Europe
is to build a Europe that for the first time in history is undivided,
democratic, and at peace. For Turkey is the key to meeting all the
challenges that remained of that vision of Europe: the challenge of
integrating Russia, of stabilizing the Balkans, of bringing a real peace
to the Aegean and Cyprus, of bridging the gulf between the West and the
Islamic world. In these areas and more, Turkey and the United States
should be partners.
In that regard, I thank the President and the Prime Minister for the principled stand Turkey took in Kosovo and for
Turkey's leadership today in bringing peace and prosperity to the
Balkans.
We also had a very good conversation about the hopeful progress in
cooperation between Turkey and Greece, an issue of profound importance
to the United States because of our friendship with both nations and
because of our strong support for Turkey's full partnership in the
European Union. I expressed my hope that the coming talks on Cyprus will
bring us closer to lasting peace with real security for all Cypriots and
an end to the island's division.
We discussed the importance of continuing to integrate Russia with
Europe as a strong, stable, democratic nation, and our shared concern
that the mounting civilian casualties in Chechnya will hinder that goal.
We talked about energy security in the Caspian, and I reaffirmed
America's commitment to making the Baku-Ceyhan and the trans-Caspian
pipelines commercial realities, and my appreciation for the leadership
of President Demirel and others toward that goal.
Finally, we discussed Turkey's progress in deepening its democracy
and strengthening human rights. There has been impressive momentum in
the last few years, and I hope there will be continued progress,
especially in the area of freedom of expression.
In closing, Mr. President, I want to thank you for your friendship,
for your commitment to our alliance. And I want to once again reaffirm
my personal strong support for Turkey's European Union candidacy as it
moves forward in all the areas that we have discussed today.
Thank you very much.
China-U.S. Agreement on World Trade Organization Accession
Q. Mr. President, on the WTO deal that you announced today, did
China go beyond the concessions that it offered in April? And if so,
could you say where and how far? And does this mean
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that China will be able to have an active role in the WTO talks in
Seattle?
President Clinton. The answer to the first question is that we--I
think the fair answer is that we finished a lot of the matters which
were left unresolved when we were meeting in the springtime in
Washington. I don't think it's fair to the Chinese or to the United
States to give the inference that either one made massive new
concessions.
I think that there were matters that were still outstanding that we
were able to resolve and work through, and I'm very grateful, frankly,
for the leadership of Ambassador Barshefsky and Mr. Sperling on our
side and for all those on the Chinese side. I think this is a good
agreement for China and for America and for the world. I think that all
of us benefit when the most populous nation in the world is now going to
be part of a rule-based system that will bring shared prosperity.
The answer to your second question--the short answer to your second
question is I don't know. That is, I honestly don't know how this
changes the specific formal role that China might play at Seattle. But
as I'm sure you know, all the developing nations have been taking
various positions on these issues. And I would certainly hope that the
conclusion of this agreement between ourselves and China will lead to
the rapid accession of China to the WTO and would lead the Chinese to
urge other developing countries to take the same sort of comprehensive
approach to their participation in the world economic system, because I
think that will bring the quickest benefits to them and to the rest of
the world.
Allegations of Repression and Torture in Turkey
Q. A question for both of you, please. Mr. President, what do you
say to allegations of repression and torture in your country? And
President Clinton, do you believe these allegations; are they a serious
impediment to Turkish-American relations? And I speak now partly of the
Kurds, but also other dissident groups.
President Demirel. It is impossible to say that there is no torture
in Turkey; there is torture. But torture is not state policy. Torture is
a crime. And whoever commits this crime, no matter who that person may
be, that person is investigated and is penalized accordingly. And I can
say that we are doing everything we can to make sure that there is no
torture.
President Clinton. Let me, in response to your question, say that we
believe that there has been a renewed and clear determination of the
Turkish Government to take a stand against torture and to generally
increase protection of human rights. There are some non-torture areas
that we hope there will continue to be progress in, like freedom of
expression. But President Demirel has faithfully stated, I think, the
policy of the Turkish Government. And we are encouraged that the human
rights issue is moving in the right direction in this nation.
Turkey-U.S. Relations
Q. Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to ask, have you observed a
rapid development in the Turkish-American relationship, especially in
the last years? Can you briefly describe the current status of the
Turkish-American relations from the point of view of America?
President Clinton. Well, I would say from the point of view of
America, they are very good. And I could give you some specific
examples: one, our partnership in the Balkans, first in Bosnia and then
in Kosovo, to stand up for human rights; two, our commitment to energy
security in the region, and the support of the pipelines projects I
mentioned earlier; three, the improvement in relationships between
Turkey and Greece, something which has always been a little bit of a
limitation on our partnership, because of our ties to both countries;
and four, the economic and political reforms undertaken by Turkey in the
last year and several months have been very impressive to us.
So, for all these reasons, I would say that the state of our
partnership is strong, and I just want the United States to be in a
position to give more economic assistance and more political support as
we move toward our shared objectives.
Turkey and the European Union
Q. Mr. President, could you please tell us how determined you will
continue to be in supporting Turkey's efforts with EU?
President Clinton. Excuse me. Did you ask me how determined am I to
do that, or in what ways will I do that, or both?
Well, let me say first of all, I am very determined to support
Turkish membership in the EU for a very good reason. I think if you--any
of you, including my American colleagues here--if you were to go home
tonight and make
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a list of the big problems you think the world could face in the next 10
or 20 years, every one of them would be strengthened if Turkey were a
full partner in a Europe that respected religious and cultural diversity
and shared devotion to democracy and human rights.
I might say that's one of the reasons I am so pleased by the recent
improvement in relationships between Turkey and Greece and why I think
it's so important to continue to make progress there, because the
difficulties between the two nations are small when compared to the
benefits of cooperation and European integration, both to Turkey and to
Greece.
As to how I intend to express my support, I will continue to talk to
the leaders of Europe. I take every opportunity that I have to have this
discussion. I feel very strongly that one of the four or five key
questions to the future of this whole part of the world is whether
Turkey is a full partner with the European Union. So I will continue to
advocate it.
President Demirel. Thank you.
President Clinton. Thank you very much.
Note: The President spoke at approximately 2:15 p.m. in the Presidential
Palace. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit of
Turkey. President Demirel spoke in Turkish, and his remarks were
translated by an interpreter.