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USIA - State Department Report, 97-06-20
From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Home Page at <http://www.usia.gov>
REPORT ON THE STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, JUNE 20, 1997
(Cambodia, Turkey) (280)
There was no regular briefing, but Acting State Department Spokesman John
Dinger did speak on-the-record with reporters. No transcript is available
of this briefing.
CAMBODIA -- The U.S. government will be providing an additional $1 million
to the Yale Cambodia Genocide program, Dinger said. The Yale project was
initiated with funding provided under the Cambodian Genocide Justice Act of
1994. "That program's success in enabling Cambodians to research their own
history," Dinger said, "and last year's discovery of important Khmer Rouge
archives which document high-level decision making during this period are
examples of the valuable work which the program is accomplishing and which
the U.S. government wishes to see continue." Dinger added that the decision
to announce the additional funding this week is not a result of recent
events in Cambodia.
Dinger could not provide information as to whether Pol Pot, leader of the
Khmer Rouge, has or has not been captured.
Although tensions continue between supporters of First Prime Minister
Prince Norodom Ranariddh and those of Second Prime Minister Hun Sen,
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's plans to visit Cambodia June 28
remain unchanged, Dinger said.
TURKEY -- Dinger was asked to comment on the decision of Turkey's President
Suleyman Demirel to ask Mesut Yilmaz, head of the Motherland Party and
secular opposition leader, to form a new government.
"We see this as a further indication that Turkey's democratic and
constitutional institutions are functioning properly," Dinger said. "And we
have confidence that this will continue to be the case. It's now time for
Turkey's political parties and parliament to decide the shape of Turkey's
next government."
From the United States Information Agency (USIA) Home Page at http://www.usia.gov
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