[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 46 (Monday, November 22, 1999)]
[Pages 2378-2381]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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

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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 
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

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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.

World Trade Organization Talks in China

    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 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

[[Page 2381]]

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 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.