AMBASSADOR'S REMARKS AND PUBLIC EVENTS

Remarks By Ambassador Ross Wilson at a Meeting with Journalists in Adana 

Adana, March 7, 2006

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Let me begin by saying good morning.  Thank you all very much for coming here.  I am delighted to be on my first trip to this part of Turkey, to Adana and Gaziantep.  I have been in this country about three months.  I thought it was very important in my first several months to get to both Istanbul and to Adana, where we have consulates that demonstrate America’s interests here.  My purposes are really three:  First, to introduce myself to the people and to the leaders of this region; second, to listen and to learn from the local authorities and business leaders and others that I meet with; and third, to see something of Turkey other than Ankara and Istanbul.  Most countries are made up of a lot more than just a capital and big cities, but also other cities and other parts of the countryside.  So it is very helpful to me in representing America’s interests here to get a flavor for other parts of Turkey. 

We are particularly interested here in giving special focus to expanding trade ad investment ties between the United States and Turkey, and I am very pleased to be accompanied in Gaziantep and Adana by the Chairman of the Board of the American Business Forum in Turkey, Halim Nezih.  Several of my meetings today have also been attended by Erdal Kamisli, Chairman of the Adana branch of the Turkish-American Business Association.  I had a very full and interesting day yesterday in Gaziantep, including the pleasure of meeting with the Governor, Mr. Kamci, with the Mayor, Asim Guzelbey.  I enjoyed a meeting and a lunch with the local business community that was hosted by the Chamber of Industry in Gaziantep.  And I got a real sense from them, and also from just driving around Gaziantep, about the dynamism of the economy and of the society there.  I had the pleasure of visiting what we call the American Corner in Gaziantep, a local point for information that our embassy helps to support at the Chamber of Commerce.  I had an opportunity to tour the Zeugma museum and see some of the beautiful mosaics there.  While I was at that museum, I met with about six or eight Turkish students and teachers who recently returned form an exchange in the United States.  I visited the Gaziantep American Hospital, where I was pleased to announce a grant from my government of $200,000 to purchase some equipment for that facility. 

I have the pleasure today and tomorrow of being in Adana.  As I think some of you know -- I recognize some faces -- I met this morning with the Governor and also with the Mayor, Mr. Durak.  I visited the Sabanci mosque, which is a truly remarkable and beautiful place that Adana should be very, very proud of.  Before I leave, I will meet with the Rector of Cukurova University, and meet with some of the business leaders here and a variety of others that Mr. Reid has pulled together.  I will of course visit our consulate and try to learn a little bit about what it is doing and about the people that we have working for us.  And I will have an opportunity to go to Ceyhan, and also to visit Incirlik Air Base and see some of the American servicemen who are working there.  So I have a full program in these couple of days.  I am delighted to be here.  I will be happy to answer some of your questions. 

QUESTION:  In recent times there have been some terrorist events in southeastern Turkey, and from time to time these terrorist elements are penetrating from Iraq.  In order to put an end to terrorist activities in this region of Turkey, is the United States going to undertake any kind of action in Iraq?  What kind of activities is the United States thinking about to  prevent these terrorist attacks?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Sure.  I am happy to try to address your question.  First, my heart goes out, and the hearts of Americans go out, to those who have lost their lives and lost their loved ones to terrorism throughout Turkey, and especially to those who lost their lives in the attacks that took place yesterday in Batman.  Second, we see the problem of terrorism as a global issue that requires cooperation on a global basis by all the countries in the world that are affected by it.  And in that connection, we are very pleased with the close cooperation and collaboration that exists between the United States and Turkey in fighting international terrorism wherever it is.  Third, the United States strongly supports the efforts of Turkey to address terrorism from the PKK.  At the highest levels of the US Government, we are determined to do all that we can to work with this country, to assist this country in addressing this international problem.  Fourth, there are a variety of specific activities that we are engaged in together with the Turkish Government and independently to try to work on the PKK issue.  There are activities that we are carrying out together with Turkey in Europe to get at financing and support networks that feed PKK terrorism.  We are actively engaged with the Turkish Government to try to help bring about a strong and unified government in Iraq that can effectively control its borders, and effectively deal with insurgent and terrorist activities within those borders.  And we are engaged in information sharing and in other activities together with Turkey to try to address the problem that emanates from northern Iraq into Turkey.  We take this problem seriously, and we are determined to help Turkey to address it.

QUESTION:  It is claimed that diplomats who are very familiar with the Iran and with the nuclear ambitions of Iran to be appointed to Turkey.  Has anybody been named that you know of?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I am not sure I know what you are talking about.

QUESTION:  In the newspapers it is written that the United States is going to appoint diplomats who are familiar with Iran’s nuclear program to Turkey.

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  Ok.  I think I understand your question.  Secretary Rice several weeks ago announced a priority effort to restructure America’s diplomatic presence overseas.  What she talked about was moving people and positions from some of our largest embassies in places like London and Paris, Moscow, Tokyo, and adding them to our diplomatic presence in other parts of the world where there is a lot more activity, and frankly some higher priority in our diplomatic work.  Secretary Rice, in her testimony before Congress two or three weeks ago, also talked about expanding our attention to Iran.  She talked about opening a new office of Iranian affairs at the State Department, and increasing the attention that we give to it at our missions around the world.  The effort is not so much one that is oriented to Iran’s nuclear weapons activities as it is to better understanding what is going on in Iran.  As you probably know, we have not had an embassy in Iran for over 25 years, since our diplomats were seized and held hostage there.  I can’t speak beyond that to what specifically the State Department may be considering with respect to Turkey, but I can add one thing: we have had personnel assigned to our consulate in Istanbul and also to our embassy in Ankara who speak Farsi and who have learned a little bit about Iran.  Their primary purpose has been to provide visa services to Iranians who wish to travel to United States.  Again, since we don’t have an embassy, Iranians have to go somewhere else to get visas to the United States.  Anything further that we do, I think, will build off of that effort.

QUESTION:  It is said that the mined area between Turkey and Syria along the border is going to be de-mined.  Are there any American firms that are interested in the de-mining

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I have no information on that.  I am sorry.

QUESTION:  Of course, Iran poses a kind of threat for the United States.  What is the expectation of the United States from Turkey with respect to Iran?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  The thrust of our efforts with respect to Iran is to try to convince the leadership there to abandon efforts that have clearly been underway over the last several years to develop nuclear weapons.  We think that an Iran that is armed with nuclear weapons is a danger in the region and is a danger to the world, and it would undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to which Iran is a party if it successfully acquires such weapons.  We have been working hard over the last several months in the International Atomic Energy and at the United Nations to try to build a strong and a large consensus of nations that agree with the proposition that Iran should not have nuclear weapons.  And the decision that the IAEA made several weeks ago to report Iran to the UN Security Council reflects that.  What we look for from Turkey, and what Turkey has provided, is strong support to this international consensus that is trying to convince Iran to change its position.  Both the Foreign Ministry and also the Government Spokesman, Mr. Cicek, have spoken very clearly about how Turkey regards Iranian efforts.  In particular, they have called upon Iran to cooperate with the IAEA, to resume negotiations with the so-called EU3, and to suspend its uranium enrichment activities.  That is the kind of support that we are looking for. 

QUESTION:  Just last week there were some claims in the papers about the use of the Black Sea.  The terms that were agreed upon in 1936 in the Montreaux Treaty are still in effect today.  Is the United States not benefiting under the Montreaux terms from the Black Sea?  Is there a problem with this?  Or is there something else here that the public is unaware of?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  (inaudible) with respect to the Black Sea, including the Montreaux Treaty and other international conventions governing the Law of the Sea.  Like other countries, we exercise our rights under those treaties, but there is not a problem.  If I understood your second question about secret agreements or agreements that the public is not aware of, I am not aware of any such agreements.  Does that answer your question?

QUESTION:  So why was this issue brought up since the United States has access to the Black Sea under the Montreaux Treaty? 

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  You would have to ask your colleagues in Ankara who asked me that question.  I cannot tell you.  We don’t have a problem. 

QUESTION:  There is a guard force that protects Caspian oil made up of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and US forces.  Would the use of the Black Sea have anything to do with the protection of Caspian oil?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I think the direct answer to that question is that there is no real connection between efforts to improve and bolster the security of the Black Sea on one hand, and efforts to ensure security in the Caspian Sea on the other hand.  There is a canal that connects the two, but I don’t think there is a direct connection.  We have been working with other countries in the region, in particular Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as well as with Turkey, to try to improve security cooperation in the Caspian and to help to secure the oil and gas deposits that exist in the region.  This is an area where we have cooperated closely with Turkey.  Again, I don’t think that there is a problem there.

QUESTION:  The United States opposes Iran’s uranium enrichment project, but Iran has been restating its view that it will not cease its activities in this regard.  The United States, the United Nations and the rest of the international community are trying to persuade Iran or make it give up its ambitions through diplomacy.  Would the use of the military be an option if Iran does not give up its ambitions?   If there is a military operation in Iran, what would the role of Incirlik Air Base and Turkey be?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  I can say two things on that issue.  First, President Bush has been very, very clear in public and in private that he will take no option off the table with respect to Iran.  Second, President Bush has been equally clear that the thrust of our activities with respect to Iran will be through the diplomatic process.  We are determined to work in the IAEA, in the United Nations with our friends and allies around the world to try to persuade Iran to abandon these programs.  And we are hopeful that Iran will draw the right conclusion from the fact that it has isolated itself from the international community on this issue.  We are very hopeful that the diplomatic process will succeed.

QUESTION:  During your visit in Adana, are you going to be visiting any figures on ethnic matters?

AMBASSADOR WILSON:  On my first visit to Adana, I look to meet with a broad cross-section of people from government, from business, and from other elements of the community here.  What I am trying to do is to get an initial feel for what the issues are, what the concerns are, and what opportunities this region has.  I think I’ll leave it at that. 

Thank you.