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ISIL MOST ACUTE CHALLENGE IN IRAQ AND SYRIA: US ENVOY
Hurriyet Daily news, Turkey
Nov 14 2014
Serkan DemirtaÅ~_ANKARA
The jihadist threat is the key issue facing the US and Turkey, John
Bass says, stressing the importance of relations between Ankara
and Washington
The Turkey-US relationship 'is one of our most important partnerships
in the world,' US ambassador to Ankara John Bass tells Hurriyet.
HURRİYET photo, Rıza OZEL
The United States regards the threat posed by the extremist jihadists
in both Iraq and Syria as the most "acute" challenge and is focusing
its efforts on defeating them, the new American envoy to Ankara has
told the Hurriyet Daily News, stressing the importance of supporting
the "moderate Syrian opposition."
"We believe the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL]. is the
most acute challenge we face in Syria and Iraq today, and that's where
we are focusing much of our effort, but we are also continuing to work
very closely with the Turkish government to support the moderate Syrian
opposition, to enable them to continue defending their homes, and to
continue to press the case on the ground with that goal of a negotiated
political settlement down the road," U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John
Bass said, in his first interview since he begun to serve in Ankara.
Here are some excerpts from the interview:
How would you categorize the current state of the relationship between
Turkey and the U.S.?
This is one of our most important partnerships and important
relationships in the world. For many different reasons, but I think
very importantly, because it is a partnership that is based on a
foundation of 60 years of shared interests and shared values. As the
U.S. ambassador, I am in some respects the steward of our side of
that relationship here in Turkey, in making sure that both capitals
understand each other's perspective, understand those places where
maybe we have a difference of view about the scope of a problem or
how best to approach a problem, and that we try to resolve those
differences and make sure we can move forward.
This is your vision, but there are also realities that tell another
story. The two countries have different visions on a number of issues.
I think there are more things we have in common than there are things
that we see differently or on which we act differently. We share
a common perspective with respect to the situation in Syria. Both
governments believe there is no military solution to this conflict.
Both governments are committed to a political process based on the
principles in the Geneva Communique in which there is a future
government in Syria that doesn't include Bashar al-Assad. Both
governments are committed to working together, and with other partners,
to make that a reality. At the same point in time, we have a big
immediate challenge posed by this terrible extremist organization
ISIL. We are very focused right now on ensuring that ISIL and its
terrible actions in Syria and Iraq do not further destabilize Iraq
and do not further complicate the situation to a point where we'll
have an even more difficult challenge to reach that shared vision of
a future outcome in Syria.
This is a shortened version of the interview. Click here for the
full version.
You said 'We support the opposition of Syria'. According to you, the
Democratic Union Party [PYD] is a part of the opposition in Syria,
but according to our government, the PYD is a terrorist organization.
Isn't that a problem? President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also quite
angry with your help to the PYD and he expressed his feelings many
times. What do you think about this?
Well, as I said, we are very focused on addressing the acute, very
urgent challenge posed by ISIL in Syria. In that context, we are
providing assistance to a range of groups within in Syria, first
and foremost the Free Syrian Army, but also in a couple of specific
instances Kurdish groups that are actively involved in fighting ISIL.
It is important not to overdraw a conclusion about the limited amount
of support specifically focused on an acute military threat to some
very specific territory in Syria. It is important not to overdraw
a conclusion about what that limited support means in terms of our
overall perspective on the PYD. We believe it is very important for
the PYD to cooperate with other organizations inside Syria and to
actively focus, as other organizations inside Syria are, on the main
problem with respect to Syria's long term stability, and that is the
al-Assad regime.
What other military or political demands has Washington been asking
from Turkey and to what level, to what extent, do you think they are
going to be met?
Both governments are engaged in ongoing conversations about all aspects
of our efforts through the coalition. Firstly, to reduce the amount
of space that ISIL has to operate in; secondly, to address some of
the capacity challenges that currently exist in the Iraqi security
forces and within the landscape in Syria; thirdly, to address the
ongoing challenges from the enormous refugee outflows from Syria and
those Syrians who have been displaced within Syria, as well as to
try to deal with the phenomenon of propaganda that ISIL and these
extremist groups are using to recruit additional fighters and to
suggest that their vision of an extremist, violent space is a place
that is perversely exciting and attractive and a place people would
want to actually come to. So, we are talking about all of these pieces.
Do you think the city of Kobane is more important than other Syrian
cities like Tel Abyad or Aleppo. Why were you so much more interested
in Kobane than others places?
This gets back to the notion of the question, "What is the main
priority in Syria at this moment in time?" For us, as you have seen
General Austin explain and some of our colleagues in Washington
explain, Kobane became important because of the amount of attention
and resources that ISIL was contributing to try to capture that
town, which is yet another border crossing with Turkey. Our initial
objective in our effort to address the problem created by ISIL is
to prevent their ability to continue to expand the territory they
control, the possible resources at their disposal from that area and
a sense of momentum that they are continuing to grow and expand. It
is important to see our support for the Syrian opposition elements
in Kobane, because there are a range of Syrian groups now in Kobane
fighting against ISIL. It is important to see our support for those
elements within the context of that particular objective. We are also
very concerned about the situation in and around Aleppo.
Do you share the opinion that Kobane is important for the Kurdish
peace process?
I would just say that we continue to believe the process is very
important, we would like to see it continue and yield positive
results, even as we continue to support Turkey's right to defend
itself against terrorism.
What do you think of the incident in Istanbul in which three American
soldiers were attacked?
Obviously I wasn't pleased to see it, I don't think anyone who
appreciates the breadth and depth of the U.S. commitment to Turkish
security and Turkish society was pleased to see it. It is certainly
not in keeping with the experiences of many of us with respect to
Turkish hospitality and the deep traditions of hospitality in this
culture. You know, I regret that those three sailors who may have
been experiencing this country for the first time are now left with
the impression that it is a place that is unwelcoming for Americans.
On the Kurdish peace process, there are reports that the U.S. has
plans to be what they called "the third eye" of the process. Does the
U.S. have this kind of intention to be an active partner mediating
between the Turkish government and the Kurds?
This process is a domestic process. It is a matter for Turks to
resolve. I would say it is important, with full respect to both you
and your organizations, to be a critical and sometimes skeptical
reader of some of the things you might see in the press and some of
the comments people might make to the press.
There are campaigns carried out in Washington for the removal of the
[outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK from the terrorist list. What
is the current position of the United States with regard to this
campaign?
The current position of the United States is that the PKK is a foreign
terrorist organization designated under our legislation. I am not
aware of any thought or plan within the U.S. government to consider
changing that designation.
Before your arrival in Turkey, at your hearing at the Senate, you were
forced to admit that the government in Turkey is "drifting toward
authoritarianism." How does it make you feel to serve in a country
that is drifting towards authoritarianism?
My comments in that moment were consistent with what you have seen
from the United States in our annual Human Rights Report, in our
annual Religious Freedoms Report, in the other places where we talk
about what we see happening in other societies against that goal that
we all aspire to, of those full protections of those universal values.
And it is going to be a part of an ongoing conversation between our
two governments and two societies certainly during my tenure, and I
would expect in the years following my tenure.
What do you think of our new presidential palace, which is bigger
than White House?
Well, the White House is, I think on the scale of presidential
residences and operational complexes around the world, it's toward
the smaller end of the spectrum, so I don't know whether that's the
right benchmark.
Have you been to the palace?
I was there briefly on Cumhuriyet Bayramı [Republic Day] and saw a
couple of the rooms. It's a fairly expansive facility.
Did it make you feel like you were in an authoritarian atmosphere?
That's not the way I would describe it. I think it is important that
the conversation about the residence is able to occur in society and
that it's a topic of discussion within the media and across society.
And ultimately, from my perspective, it's much less important what
I think about the complex and much more important what Turks think
about the complex and what you collectively decide is the appropriate
scale and purpose for a facility like that.
To what extent is Turkey's much-criticized democratization process
and related issues in making your agenda in dealing your counterparts
in Turkey now?
Promotion of democratic values, adherence to universal values,
conversations about how those basic freedoms and rights are respected
and applied in societies are part of every U.S. ambassador's
responsibilities and duties in the countries to which they are
assigned ... And so, I fully expect throughout my tenure that I
will be discussing with many people in this society, inside and
outside government, their perspective on Turkey's ongoing democratic
development, just as I expect them to have questions for me and
perspective about the ongoing efforts in our own society to further
refine our own democratic culture. And I fully expect that as specific
incidents that really concern us arise, I will be focusing on those
and working on those with folks in government and outside government.
Ambassador, is the U.S. going to recognize the Armenian massacres of
1915 as genocide in 2015?
What I would say about that today is that we have been quite clear as
a government about our views on the circumstances and the events that
transpired in this horrible tragedy beginning in 1915, as you see from
our statements this past year on Armenian Remembrance Day and in prior
years. We continue to believe that a full and frank acknowledgement
of the facts behind those horrible events and this terrible set of
massacres and tragedies that occurred is in the interest of both Turkey
and Armenia, and important to building the kind of the relationship
going forward between the two countries that we believe is in the
interest of both countries and in the end, our shared interest with
Turkey and building and strengthening stability in this region.
Has the Turkish government issued a demand for the deportation of
Fethullah Gulen?
With respect to Mr. Gulen, we have a very rigorous process around
deportations from the United States that is grounded in our laws
and administered by a specific legal process under the Department
of Justice. We don't, as a matter of policy, comment on individual
deportation cases if they are occurring, but I can assure you that any
deportation proceeding that we initiated would start after a careful
consideration of facts and clear evidence of violations of U.S. law.
You mean it's not a political issue? It's about a person's situation
in the country?
As I said, we have a very clear legislative basis and a legal framework
that governs deportations and that with respect to any deportation
request that is initiated by a foreign government or that comes to
light based on evidence that we find internally in the U.S.
as a function of violations of our law, then we have a process that
goes from there. And that's the governing mechanism within U.S.
legislation.
Is there any official appeal from the Turkish side? Have you received
anything?
If there were a deportation process initiated, that would be public
record.
November/14/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/isil-most-acute-challenge-in-iraq-and-syria-us-envoy.aspx?pageID=238&nID=74313&NewsCatID=510
Hurriyet Daily news, Turkey
Nov 14 2014
Serkan DemirtaÅ~_ANKARA
The jihadist threat is the key issue facing the US and Turkey, John
Bass says, stressing the importance of relations between Ankara
and Washington
The Turkey-US relationship 'is one of our most important partnerships
in the world,' US ambassador to Ankara John Bass tells Hurriyet.
HURRİYET photo, Rıza OZEL
The United States regards the threat posed by the extremist jihadists
in both Iraq and Syria as the most "acute" challenge and is focusing
its efforts on defeating them, the new American envoy to Ankara has
told the Hurriyet Daily News, stressing the importance of supporting
the "moderate Syrian opposition."
"We believe the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL]. is the
most acute challenge we face in Syria and Iraq today, and that's where
we are focusing much of our effort, but we are also continuing to work
very closely with the Turkish government to support the moderate Syrian
opposition, to enable them to continue defending their homes, and to
continue to press the case on the ground with that goal of a negotiated
political settlement down the road," U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John
Bass said, in his first interview since he begun to serve in Ankara.
Here are some excerpts from the interview:
How would you categorize the current state of the relationship between
Turkey and the U.S.?
This is one of our most important partnerships and important
relationships in the world. For many different reasons, but I think
very importantly, because it is a partnership that is based on a
foundation of 60 years of shared interests and shared values. As the
U.S. ambassador, I am in some respects the steward of our side of
that relationship here in Turkey, in making sure that both capitals
understand each other's perspective, understand those places where
maybe we have a difference of view about the scope of a problem or
how best to approach a problem, and that we try to resolve those
differences and make sure we can move forward.
This is your vision, but there are also realities that tell another
story. The two countries have different visions on a number of issues.
I think there are more things we have in common than there are things
that we see differently or on which we act differently. We share
a common perspective with respect to the situation in Syria. Both
governments believe there is no military solution to this conflict.
Both governments are committed to a political process based on the
principles in the Geneva Communique in which there is a future
government in Syria that doesn't include Bashar al-Assad. Both
governments are committed to working together, and with other partners,
to make that a reality. At the same point in time, we have a big
immediate challenge posed by this terrible extremist organization
ISIL. We are very focused right now on ensuring that ISIL and its
terrible actions in Syria and Iraq do not further destabilize Iraq
and do not further complicate the situation to a point where we'll
have an even more difficult challenge to reach that shared vision of
a future outcome in Syria.
This is a shortened version of the interview. Click here for the
full version.
You said 'We support the opposition of Syria'. According to you, the
Democratic Union Party [PYD] is a part of the opposition in Syria,
but according to our government, the PYD is a terrorist organization.
Isn't that a problem? President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also quite
angry with your help to the PYD and he expressed his feelings many
times. What do you think about this?
Well, as I said, we are very focused on addressing the acute, very
urgent challenge posed by ISIL in Syria. In that context, we are
providing assistance to a range of groups within in Syria, first
and foremost the Free Syrian Army, but also in a couple of specific
instances Kurdish groups that are actively involved in fighting ISIL.
It is important not to overdraw a conclusion about the limited amount
of support specifically focused on an acute military threat to some
very specific territory in Syria. It is important not to overdraw
a conclusion about what that limited support means in terms of our
overall perspective on the PYD. We believe it is very important for
the PYD to cooperate with other organizations inside Syria and to
actively focus, as other organizations inside Syria are, on the main
problem with respect to Syria's long term stability, and that is the
al-Assad regime.
What other military or political demands has Washington been asking
from Turkey and to what level, to what extent, do you think they are
going to be met?
Both governments are engaged in ongoing conversations about all aspects
of our efforts through the coalition. Firstly, to reduce the amount
of space that ISIL has to operate in; secondly, to address some of
the capacity challenges that currently exist in the Iraqi security
forces and within the landscape in Syria; thirdly, to address the
ongoing challenges from the enormous refugee outflows from Syria and
those Syrians who have been displaced within Syria, as well as to
try to deal with the phenomenon of propaganda that ISIL and these
extremist groups are using to recruit additional fighters and to
suggest that their vision of an extremist, violent space is a place
that is perversely exciting and attractive and a place people would
want to actually come to. So, we are talking about all of these pieces.
Do you think the city of Kobane is more important than other Syrian
cities like Tel Abyad or Aleppo. Why were you so much more interested
in Kobane than others places?
This gets back to the notion of the question, "What is the main
priority in Syria at this moment in time?" For us, as you have seen
General Austin explain and some of our colleagues in Washington
explain, Kobane became important because of the amount of attention
and resources that ISIL was contributing to try to capture that
town, which is yet another border crossing with Turkey. Our initial
objective in our effort to address the problem created by ISIL is
to prevent their ability to continue to expand the territory they
control, the possible resources at their disposal from that area and
a sense of momentum that they are continuing to grow and expand. It
is important to see our support for the Syrian opposition elements
in Kobane, because there are a range of Syrian groups now in Kobane
fighting against ISIL. It is important to see our support for those
elements within the context of that particular objective. We are also
very concerned about the situation in and around Aleppo.
Do you share the opinion that Kobane is important for the Kurdish
peace process?
I would just say that we continue to believe the process is very
important, we would like to see it continue and yield positive
results, even as we continue to support Turkey's right to defend
itself against terrorism.
What do you think of the incident in Istanbul in which three American
soldiers were attacked?
Obviously I wasn't pleased to see it, I don't think anyone who
appreciates the breadth and depth of the U.S. commitment to Turkish
security and Turkish society was pleased to see it. It is certainly
not in keeping with the experiences of many of us with respect to
Turkish hospitality and the deep traditions of hospitality in this
culture. You know, I regret that those three sailors who may have
been experiencing this country for the first time are now left with
the impression that it is a place that is unwelcoming for Americans.
On the Kurdish peace process, there are reports that the U.S. has
plans to be what they called "the third eye" of the process. Does the
U.S. have this kind of intention to be an active partner mediating
between the Turkish government and the Kurds?
This process is a domestic process. It is a matter for Turks to
resolve. I would say it is important, with full respect to both you
and your organizations, to be a critical and sometimes skeptical
reader of some of the things you might see in the press and some of
the comments people might make to the press.
There are campaigns carried out in Washington for the removal of the
[outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK from the terrorist list. What
is the current position of the United States with regard to this
campaign?
The current position of the United States is that the PKK is a foreign
terrorist organization designated under our legislation. I am not
aware of any thought or plan within the U.S. government to consider
changing that designation.
Before your arrival in Turkey, at your hearing at the Senate, you were
forced to admit that the government in Turkey is "drifting toward
authoritarianism." How does it make you feel to serve in a country
that is drifting towards authoritarianism?
My comments in that moment were consistent with what you have seen
from the United States in our annual Human Rights Report, in our
annual Religious Freedoms Report, in the other places where we talk
about what we see happening in other societies against that goal that
we all aspire to, of those full protections of those universal values.
And it is going to be a part of an ongoing conversation between our
two governments and two societies certainly during my tenure, and I
would expect in the years following my tenure.
What do you think of our new presidential palace, which is bigger
than White House?
Well, the White House is, I think on the scale of presidential
residences and operational complexes around the world, it's toward
the smaller end of the spectrum, so I don't know whether that's the
right benchmark.
Have you been to the palace?
I was there briefly on Cumhuriyet Bayramı [Republic Day] and saw a
couple of the rooms. It's a fairly expansive facility.
Did it make you feel like you were in an authoritarian atmosphere?
That's not the way I would describe it. I think it is important that
the conversation about the residence is able to occur in society and
that it's a topic of discussion within the media and across society.
And ultimately, from my perspective, it's much less important what
I think about the complex and much more important what Turks think
about the complex and what you collectively decide is the appropriate
scale and purpose for a facility like that.
To what extent is Turkey's much-criticized democratization process
and related issues in making your agenda in dealing your counterparts
in Turkey now?
Promotion of democratic values, adherence to universal values,
conversations about how those basic freedoms and rights are respected
and applied in societies are part of every U.S. ambassador's
responsibilities and duties in the countries to which they are
assigned ... And so, I fully expect throughout my tenure that I
will be discussing with many people in this society, inside and
outside government, their perspective on Turkey's ongoing democratic
development, just as I expect them to have questions for me and
perspective about the ongoing efforts in our own society to further
refine our own democratic culture. And I fully expect that as specific
incidents that really concern us arise, I will be focusing on those
and working on those with folks in government and outside government.
Ambassador, is the U.S. going to recognize the Armenian massacres of
1915 as genocide in 2015?
What I would say about that today is that we have been quite clear as
a government about our views on the circumstances and the events that
transpired in this horrible tragedy beginning in 1915, as you see from
our statements this past year on Armenian Remembrance Day and in prior
years. We continue to believe that a full and frank acknowledgement
of the facts behind those horrible events and this terrible set of
massacres and tragedies that occurred is in the interest of both Turkey
and Armenia, and important to building the kind of the relationship
going forward between the two countries that we believe is in the
interest of both countries and in the end, our shared interest with
Turkey and building and strengthening stability in this region.
Has the Turkish government issued a demand for the deportation of
Fethullah Gulen?
With respect to Mr. Gulen, we have a very rigorous process around
deportations from the United States that is grounded in our laws
and administered by a specific legal process under the Department
of Justice. We don't, as a matter of policy, comment on individual
deportation cases if they are occurring, but I can assure you that any
deportation proceeding that we initiated would start after a careful
consideration of facts and clear evidence of violations of U.S. law.
You mean it's not a political issue? It's about a person's situation
in the country?
As I said, we have a very clear legislative basis and a legal framework
that governs deportations and that with respect to any deportation
request that is initiated by a foreign government or that comes to
light based on evidence that we find internally in the U.S.
as a function of violations of our law, then we have a process that
goes from there. And that's the governing mechanism within U.S.
legislation.
Is there any official appeal from the Turkish side? Have you received
anything?
If there were a deportation process initiated, that would be public
record.
November/14/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/isil-most-acute-challenge-in-iraq-and-syria-us-envoy.aspx?pageID=238&nID=74313&NewsCatID=510