Briefing En Route Ankara, Turkey

QUESTION: On the PKK issue, a lot of Turks say the United States has done enough to persuade Iraq to get involved. Lately, the United States has been saying that Iraq in general, and the Kurdish government in particular, hasn't been doing enough. There is a whole lot of finger-pointing going on here, and what are you actually going to say to both parties when you see them in this trilateral meeting tomorrow?

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY RICE: Oh, sorry, the question was about the PKK. I won't repeat -- it was about the PKK.

The first point that we have to underscore is that Turkey, the United States and Iraq have a common enemy in the PKK. We have branded the PKK as a terrorist organization. It is obvious that it is a terrorist organization and it is a threat to our Turkish allies and to the stability of Iraq. And so we have a common enemy.

And we are going to act as if we have a common enemy, which means that we are going to work with our Turkish allies and with the Iraqis to have an effective way of dealing with the PKK threat. Now, some of that has to be done through short-term measures, like the better sharing of information, perhaps means that can make it difficult for the PKK to move, to move around, so that they are constrained.

But ultimately, we have to have a medium-term strategy for really dealing with the threat, and that's what we and our Turkish and Iraqi allies need to talk about. But we're not going to be able to do this without coordination of the three. And so I'll underscore that it's a common enemy and that we have a trilateral mechanism, an enhanced one now where we're upgraded the level of participation. There's very close attention to this by key political leaders on all sides, and I think we want to develop a very effective strategy for dealing with this threat.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, Prime Minister Erdogan has sort of made November 5th in his visit to Washington as sort of a deadline, and there's a lot of talk about, you know, this is going to be a big deal and once I get there, then we'll decide on, you know, whether Turkey will do some sort of incursion.

How concerned are you about that sort of talk and what can you do to talk them out of it?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, we've certainly been concerned that anything that would destabilize the north of Iraq is not going to be in Turkey's interest, it's not going to be in our interest, it's not going to be in the Iraqis' interest. And so that's been the reason for urging restraint.

But we understand the need to do something effective against this PKK threat. We consider it a very real threat. We consider it a very real threat to Turkey. We consider it a very real threat to stability in Iraq. So we have a strong interest also in being able to act effectively against the PKK.

So effective action means action that can deal with the threat but that isn't going to make the situation worse. And so I think we and the Turks have to work through that. We have to work through it with the Iraqis. I know that the Iraqis have some ideas that they have been bringing to the table. I hope that we can, with the Turks, help to sort those out, to marry those ideas with the appropriate assets that we and others might be able to bring, and to see if we can't come to a way that finally really begins to address the problem. Because the problem has been there for a long time. This didn't arise with the liberation of Iraq. The problem has been there, and no one has been able to deal with it. And so now at least we have an Iraqi Government that wants to deal with it. We have an American Government that is very focused on this area, very focused on northern Iraq, and we have a very great urgency to do something about it. And so I think we'll try to talk through the various elements of a strategy, but we really need to look for an effective strategy, not just one that is going to strike out somehow and still not deal with the problem.

QUESTION: When you say that you would like to have effective action, what do you mean by that? Do you mean that the Iraqis should start sort of having raids, rounding up the PKK? Do you mean that there should be a lot more arrests? Do you agree with Turkey's decision to impose sanctions on those funding the PKK? Is this something that the United States would consider doing?

And then secondly, if you could just comment on Nick Burns' statement today that China and Russia are not cooperating when it comes to imposing a third round of sanctions on Iran.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, on the issue of effective, I'd actually like to have these discussions with the Turks and the Iraqis first. And I know that there are a number of measures that the Iraqis are interested in taking. We have never had difficulty with trying to deny assets to terrorist organizations, and so that is something that we might look at. We would obviously deny assets to terrorist organizations.

But I don't want to get into specifics of what we might or might not do, but to just say that what I can pledge to the Turkish Government is that we take this issue very, very seriously. The PKK is an enemy of the United States, just like it's an enemy of the Turks. And we want to do something effective about it, and so we should work through short-term measures, medium-term measures and longer-term measures that will help us to get there. Because as I said, nobody has ever been able to deal with this problem in the past; it didn't just begin. And so this time, let's see if we can't do something more effective.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY RICE: Oh, on Nick? I haven't had a chance to speak with Nick about this. I think we've had some tactical differences with the Russians and the Chinese about the timing of a Security Council resolution and about the depth or the breadth of a Security Council resolution. But the Russians, when I talked to Sergey Lavrov yesterday, he said they are prepared to come and work on the text, as we'd agreed when we were together last. And we'll just have to see how those discussions go.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, did you speak with Mr. Barzani recently and do you think what the Kurdish government -- do you think what they did is enough? Are you satisfied with their actions so far?

SECRETARY RICE: I spoke with Mr. Barzani about a week ago. Others have spoken with him repeatedly. And I made the very clear point that the KRG needs to separate itself from the PKK in a very, very clear and rhetorical way. And he assured me that they had no intention of harboring the PKK, no intention of supporting the PKK, no intention of trying to do anything but root out terrorism in northern Iraq. And that's what they need to concentrate on because it is -- the Kurdish Regional Government is not going to prosper in conditions in which there is instability in northern Iraq, and the PKK is a serious source of instability in northern Iraq at this point.

I do know that for the first time there have actually been some discussions in which the KRG has been included, which I think is a helpful step.

QUESTION: Thank you. Plenty of us were shocked yesterday by the storm the Director General of the Foreign Service faced in the town hall meeting. I wonder what your reaction was to what these officers had to say. And do you really feel like you are sending people to Iraq and that that equals a death sentence? Thanks.

SECRETARY RICE: First of all, I would note that, as I understand it, it was sort of at the end of the meeting and Harry had to work very hard to actually get people to speak up. I'm glad they spoke up because it's a sensitive issue. The Department hasn't directed assignments for a long time. I understand that.

And I also understand that the number of people who have volunteered to go and serve in Iraq across the spectrum of experience is extraordinary. I was on the SVTS the other day with Ryan Crocker, and sitting next to him was a political officer who gave up an ambassadorial post, his economic officer who gave up an ambassadorial post, his deputy chief of mission who gave up an ambassadorial post, and someone else who's going to be his PA officer who's about to give up an ambassadorial post. So people are serving and they're serving very, very well, and they're serving with great bravery.

And I'm very sorry that the recounting of the comments of a few people left the impression that somehow the Foreign Service doesn't want to serve in Iraq. It couldn't be further from the truth. And on behalf of those who are serving, I want to say how much their service is appreciated -- and several people who have gone back several times to serve in Iraq.

Now, some people have volunteered even since that cable went out. I don't know if we will have to direct assignments or not. But we are one Foreign Service and people need to serve where they're needed. And in a sense, the fact that so many people have volunteered and have served, I think I would hope others would think about their obligation not just to the country but their obligation to those who have already served to make certain that these difficult assignments are -- that the -- that these (inaudible); this is shared across the Service.

So it's a difficult issue and some people expressed strong opinions. I did myself send out a cable -- I'm sending out, I don't know of it's gone yet -- sending out a cable. I want people to realize that their questions will be answered. Now, if they have questions, we have to be able to answer them. But I -- this is a difficult assignment, but we have other difficult assignments as well.

And of course, if I believed that people -- we know they're going into dangerous circumstances, but we're doing everything that we can to protect them. That's why we have improved the facilities in which people serve. That's one of the reasons that we rush to build a new embassy. It's why air cover is being provided where our people serve -- you know, in terms of physical cover. So we're doing everything that we can to try and protect our diplomats. But this is one of the highest priority tasks of the United States and we're going to meet our obligations.

QUESTION: You're planning to meet with Prime Minister Maliki. I wonder, will you be talking to him a lot about what we used to call a few months ago the benchmarks? Are those still high on the U.S. priority list or do you have other things in mind other than those old goals?

SECRETARY RICE: Of course, I'll continue to talk to him about the reconciliation laws that they still need to pass. But something important has happened in the meantime, and that also is going to be a very important part of the conversation. They have a burgeoning local and provincial movement that is spreading very, very rapidly across Iraq of citizens taking this into their own hands and who are determined to face down either al-Qaida, as is the case in the Anbar region, or these meetings that have been taking place between the Sunni awakening and a burgeoning Shia awakening in the south.

That, to my mind, is one of the most important developments in Iraq since the liberation. And the government, the national government, needs to be certain to find ways to connect those local movements to the national agenda. It needs to be able to find ways to make sure that those local leaders are getting the resources that they need. I heard from the Anbari sheikhs today, for instance, the Anbari leaders, that they're concerned about housing in Ramadi because a lot of the housing was destroyed. They believe people would like to come back. There needs to be a major effort to do that.

Now, the government has done a great deal. A lot of money has been programmed for Anbar. In fact, Anbar got its own supplemental, which we could use as well, just recently. And so that's another set of discussions that I think I want to have with the Prime Minister is how the national government is connecting to these extremely important political developments at the local level.

QUESTION: Secretary Rice, did you talk to or try to talk to President Musharraf today, and how close do you think he's coming to declaring a state of emergency?

SECRETARY RICE: I'm not going to speculate about events in Pakistan. We've been very clear that the important steps that have to be taken in Pakistan is that, first of all, Pakistan needs to prepare for and hold free and fair elections at the end of the year, beginning of next year, is the likely time; that the political space needs to be prepared by moderate forces beginning to work together, which is why we've been supportive of moderate forces like Mrs. Bhutto's return; and that the moderate forces have a common enemy in the extremists who are so much in evidence when you know there's a car bomb at Rawalpindi or when there's a -- the Red Mosque incident.

And so those are the principles on which we're standing. We're in constant contact with the leadership and the political leaders in Pakistan. But you know, I'm not going to speculate on what might happen.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

SECRETARY RICE: No.

QUESTION: Can I ask you another question? You spoke about your bilateral meetings. Can you tell us what you are going to speak about with Kouchner and Steinmeier?

SECRETARY RICE: Yes. I think we will -- whenever Bernard and Frank-Walter and I get together, we have a whole range of issues. You know, we've got Iran, we certainly have Afghanistan. But I think everybody is very focused right now on what's going on in Lebanon and sending the right messages that the March 14th majority should not be put in a position of having to accept or -- either extra-constitutional measures or measures that would undermine the program that they stand for, which is, for instance, complete adherence to Resolution 1559, to the tribunal being held when it is prepared.

And so I think there's a lot of talk right now about compromise in Lebanon. There are a lot of discussions going on. That's all fine. But any candidate for president or any president needs to be committed to the constitutional order, needs to be committed to Lebanon's sovereignty and independence, needs to be committed to the resolutions that Lebanon has signed on to, 1559 and 1701; and needs to be committed to carrying out the tribunal. So I suspect, especially with Kouchner, because the United States and France have very close relations. But we will talk. David Welch, as a matter of fact, was just in Paris, and so we've already been having those discussions.

QUESTION: Just a quick follow-up on Pakistan. Did you or the President specifically advise President Musharraf not to declare martial law under any circumstances?

SECRETARY RICE: I'm not going to get into the details of our conversations, but I think it would be quite obvious that the United States wouldn't be supportive of extra-constitutional means.

QUESTION: Thank you.

SECRETARY RICE: Thanks a lot.

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