[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.

[[Page 2106]]

    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.