Remarks Following Meeting With Foreign Minister Gul

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Good morning. It’s a great day to be in Ankara. I was very pleased to be able to meet with the distinguished Foreign Minister and his colleagues. We had many things to talk about. First of all, I wanted to come and seek the views of our friends here in Turkey about Iraq, and also to brief on my recent visit to Iraq, including to Kirkuk and Selahaddin. I also wanted to thank our Turkish friends for their strenuous efforts in Afghanistan. I think both of us agreed that President Karzai and his new Cabinet are off to a splendid start, in large measure because of the fantastic efforts of our friends here in Turkey. I discussed my visit to Damascus as well, and my recent visit to Amman. Finally, I was absolutely delighted to congratulate the Foreign Minister on the triumph of Turkish diplomacy on the question of the EU. So if you have one or two questions, I’ll be happy to try to answer them.

QUESTION: Mr. Armitage, do you expect that the U.S. will start an armed struggle in Iraq against the PKK in the near future?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, the question of the PKK came up. Some of my colleagues were meeting with others in the Foreign Ministry. We’re going to have, we hope in the near future, a trilateral meeting here in Ankara to discuss the whole question of the PKK.

QUESTION: Mr. Armitage, you know that the Kurdish groups in Iraq have tried to change the demographics, and that Turkey has some concerns about this issue. Do you share these concerns?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: There have been many segments of Iraqi society who have had their demographic situation changed by forced. The Turkmen, of course, are in this category, and the Kurds themselves have been forced out of Kirkuk to some degree. These are things that have to be corrected, and in the Transitional Administrative Law there are provisions for this - I think it’s Article 58 which speaks to the need to redress these wrongs for all those who were dispossesed.

QUESTION: Mr. Armitage, you came from Damascus and Minister Gul is going to Israel. Do you think Turkey can play a kind of mediating role between Israel and Syria? Did you also talk about something like this?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: I didn’t talk about a mediation role, and those are things that are best not spoken about publicly, but it’s quite clear that Turkey does enjoy a very congenial relationship with Israel as well as with Syria. For my part, we did discuss with the Foreign Minister the window of opportunity that exists with the upcoming January 9 Palestinian elections. We think that the new Palestinian leadership should be supported, the process revived to make sure that no one resorts to any political violence. Of course, I did say to Foreign Minister Gul that our policy remains that of a search for a comprehensive solution. Maybe one more?

QUESTION: (inaudible) policies that should be taken for the rights of Turkish people in Iraq. Did you share your views about this with your Turkish counterparts and what is their reaction?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: When I spoke about this matter with Foreign Minister Gul, we spoke in general about all those who have been dispossessed in one way or another, including the Turkmen population, and the need to respect the rights of all. But we didn’t get specific beyond that. Thank you all very much. Good morning.