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176735
Wed, 04/20/2011 - 10:45
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U.S. underlines importance of an inclusive political process in Turkey
WASHINGTON (A.A) - 19.04.2011 - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon said about the Turkey's Supreme board of Elections' decision to cancel candidacy of 12 independent candidates that it was obviously critically important to have an inclusive political process and avoid any perception that people are being ruled out for political reasons.
Gordon said at a news conference, "I have seen the reports about the election commission ruling out 12 candidates and I would say I am not going to stand at this decision and make independent judgments about the merits of each case. What I could say more broadly is that it's obviously critically important to have an inclusive political process and avoid any perception that people are being ruled out for political reasons."
When recalled that the U.S. State Department's latest human rights report underlined that press freedom in Turkey had decreased, Gordon said, "the report stands for itself, and obviously we stand by what is in the report. We have underscored in many ways, in many places, with Turkey and many other countries, the absolutely critical importance of free expression and independent media, and I think the human rights report is clear about trends that we've seen in Turkey and the importance of, you know, ensuring that an independent and free media takes place."
Asked about arrests under the Ergenekon case, Gordon told reporters, "it's a very complicated matter. What I would say is similar to what I said in response to the previous question. What is important is that certain principles be respected -- rule of law, transparency, inclusiveness. Again, it is impossible, standing here at this distance, to go through and understand exactly what is happening in particular judicial cases."
Asked whether those principles were respected right now in Turkey, Gordon said, "I don't have anything further than underscoring that I just can't, at this distance, go through and make a judgment on whether every arrest that has been made has followed the rule of law and been absolutely appropriate."
Gordon said about NATO's missile-shield project in Europe, "we have said that for the system to work most effectively, it requires a radar, ideally in Southeastern Europe. And we are currently engaged in the process of figuring out the best place to put that radar. Have not made a decision on that yet, but fully expect that sometime this year we'll make a decision on precisely where that radar should be."
He said while answering a question about Turkey's role in brokering a cease-fire in Libya, "Well, I think we have all said there is a military operation under way with very specific goals -- protecting civilians, enforcing Security Council resolutions. And we've said, and President Obama has said very clearly, that Mr. Gadhafi needs to leave power. Having said all of that, we have been very clear all along that once Gadhafi leaves power, politics needs to take place; you need -- you need the Libyan people to be represented. And one of the steps that was taken to help with such a process was the U.N.'s appointment very early on of a special envoy, Mr. Khatib, who is playing that role. He's been several times to Libya already. So I think it is important that we all support Mr. Khatib in his efforts, but also that we continue to talk among ourselves -- that is to say, members of the broad international coalition that is working on the Libya issue -- about what Libya's political future might be, which, I want to underscore again, is really up to the people of Libya.
"So I think Turkey, like other members of the contact group and of NATO, has been a part of that process. And we have had those discussions together with Turkey and a number of other allies about what precisely is necessary, first to have a cease-fire, to ensure that Mr. Gadhafi leaves the scene, and to help the Libyans bring about the inclusive political process that they will need afterwards," he said.
Gordon said about Turkey-Armenia relations, "Turkey-Armenia relations aren't necessarily a subject for a NATO meeting, but I can say as a general rule that very often when we meet with our Turkish counterparts and the secretary meets with her Turkish counterpart, the question of Turkey-Armenia comes up because it's very important to us. There have been efforts over the past several years to improve that relationship, which we've made clear we strongly support. Those efforts have recently stalled, which we've made clear we regret, because we believe it's in the interest of both countries to continue the normalization process, reestablish relations and have friendly relations and open trade from which both countries would benefit. So we continue to strongly support direct dialogue between the two countries and normalization of their relationship, and we bring it up very frequently with our counterparts on both sides."
Gordon said at a news conference, "I have seen the reports about the election commission ruling out 12 candidates and I would say I am not going to stand at this decision and make independent judgments about the merits of each case. What I could say more broadly is that it's obviously critically important to have an inclusive political process and avoid any perception that people are being ruled out for political reasons."
When recalled that the U.S. State Department's latest human rights report underlined that press freedom in Turkey had decreased, Gordon said, "the report stands for itself, and obviously we stand by what is in the report. We have underscored in many ways, in many places, with Turkey and many other countries, the absolutely critical importance of free expression and independent media, and I think the human rights report is clear about trends that we've seen in Turkey and the importance of, you know, ensuring that an independent and free media takes place."
Asked about arrests under the Ergenekon case, Gordon told reporters, "it's a very complicated matter. What I would say is similar to what I said in response to the previous question. What is important is that certain principles be respected -- rule of law, transparency, inclusiveness. Again, it is impossible, standing here at this distance, to go through and understand exactly what is happening in particular judicial cases."
Asked whether those principles were respected right now in Turkey, Gordon said, "I don't have anything further than underscoring that I just can't, at this distance, go through and make a judgment on whether every arrest that has been made has followed the rule of law and been absolutely appropriate."
Gordon said about NATO's missile-shield project in Europe, "we have said that for the system to work most effectively, it requires a radar, ideally in Southeastern Europe. And we are currently engaged in the process of figuring out the best place to put that radar. Have not made a decision on that yet, but fully expect that sometime this year we'll make a decision on precisely where that radar should be."
He said while answering a question about Turkey's role in brokering a cease-fire in Libya, "Well, I think we have all said there is a military operation under way with very specific goals -- protecting civilians, enforcing Security Council resolutions. And we've said, and President Obama has said very clearly, that Mr. Gadhafi needs to leave power. Having said all of that, we have been very clear all along that once Gadhafi leaves power, politics needs to take place; you need -- you need the Libyan people to be represented. And one of the steps that was taken to help with such a process was the U.N.'s appointment very early on of a special envoy, Mr. Khatib, who is playing that role. He's been several times to Libya already. So I think it is important that we all support Mr. Khatib in his efforts, but also that we continue to talk among ourselves -- that is to say, members of the broad international coalition that is working on the Libya issue -- about what Libya's political future might be, which, I want to underscore again, is really up to the people of Libya.
"So I think Turkey, like other members of the contact group and of NATO, has been a part of that process. And we have had those discussions together with Turkey and a number of other allies about what precisely is necessary, first to have a cease-fire, to ensure that Mr. Gadhafi leaves the scene, and to help the Libyans bring about the inclusive political process that they will need afterwards," he said.
Gordon said about Turkey-Armenia relations, "Turkey-Armenia relations aren't necessarily a subject for a NATO meeting, but I can say as a general rule that very often when we meet with our Turkish counterparts and the secretary meets with her Turkish counterpart, the question of Turkey-Armenia comes up because it's very important to us. There have been efforts over the past several years to improve that relationship, which we've made clear we strongly support. Those efforts have recently stalled, which we've made clear we regret, because we believe it's in the interest of both countries to continue the normalization process, reestablish relations and have friendly relations and open trade from which both countries would benefit. So we continue to strongly support direct dialogue between the two countries and normalization of their relationship, and we bring it up very frequently with our counterparts on both sides."
