[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
[[Page 2107]]
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.