USIA Article on Clinton-Stephanopoulos News Conference (96-05-09)
From: The U.S. Information Agency (USIA) Gopher <gopher://gopher.usia.gov>
(Greece, Turkey could make breathtaking contribution) (560)
By Alexander M. Sullivan
USIA White House Correspondent
Washington -- Greece and Turkey could make a "breathtaking"
contribution to world stability if the two nations shunned
confrontation in favor of cooperation, President Clinton believes.
Although both nations are close allies of the United States and each
is a partner in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Clinton
acknowledged that sometimes-bitter disputes over Cyprus and islets in
the Aegean Sea block full cohesion between Athens and Ankara.
"If Turkey and Greece could resolve their differences," the president
said at a news conference May 9, "the potential that they have of
working together to stabilize the situation in the Balkans; to promote
a Europe at peace and not torn asunder by ethnic and religious
conflict; to build a better future for all of us, is staggering."
Noting that the two countries are attempting to arrive at a formula
for referring their dispute to international arbitration, the
president pledged once more to "do everything I can" to help in
achieving a peaceful resolution in the Aegean. Clinton's high-pressure
diplomacy headed off a military conflict over the islet Imia late last
year.
If Greece and Turkey could become "better partners," Clinton said,
"the impact on the whole future of Europe ... would be breathtaking."
The president cited especially the benefits of cooperation between the
two in "the linchpin area of the Balkans (and) the connection of that
area of Europe down to the Middle East." The world, he added, "has a
lot riding on whether Greeks and Turks can resolve their differences."
With Greek President Constantinos Stephanopoulos at his side,
President Clinton told a questioner he does not expect force to come
into play again in the Aegean, saying he believes that "wisdom will
prevail over passion and we'll avoid that."
Despite Clinton's call for negotiation over Cyprus and the Aegean,
Stephanopoulos was cool to a dialogue with Turkey, saying at one
point, "We have clarified that no dialogue is possible right now,
because it is condemned to failure," apparently an allusion to
Ankara's failure thus far to accede to arbitration. And the Greek
president said that while Athens hopes Ankara sees the eventual need
for adjudication by the International Court of Justice, he said
"Greece has the possibility to defend itself very, very effectively"
if threats of military action are realized.
Clinton told questioners he had made clear to both Greece and Turkey
that Americans "not only don't favor the use of force in the region,
we don't favor any threats of use of force. We want to try to
facilitate a peaceful resolution of the disputes in the Aegean and of
the issue of Cyprus." A solution on Cyprus, Clinton noted, could serve
as a model for resolving conflicts elsewhere.
Although most of the questions at the joint news conference centered
on the Aegean, Clinton pointed out that his discussion with
Stephanopoulos ventured further afield. He said their conversation
"focused on the work we are doing together to build a peaceful,
democratic and undivided Europe."
After expressing gratitude to Athens for its constructive role in
Bosnia, the president declared "the progress we are making reminds us
all that it is possible to choose the promise of the future over the
conflicts of the past."
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