[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 4, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 30737-30738]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-14762]
[[Page 30735]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part IV
The President
_______________________________________________________________________
Presidential Determination No. 97-24 of May 23, 1997--Waiver of
Statutory Restrictions To Permit Assistance to Turkey
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 107 / Wednesday, June 4, 1997 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 30737]]
Presidential Determination No. 97-24 of May 23, 1997
Waiver of Statutory Restrictions To Permit
Assistance to
Turkey
Memorandum for the Secretary of State
Pursuant to subsection (b) of section 620I of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, I hereby
determine that it is in the national security interest
of the United States that assistance be furnished to
Turkey without regard to the restriction in subsection
(a) of section 620I.
You are authorized and directed to transmit this
determination and justification to the Congress and to
arrange for its publication in the Federal Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, May 23, 1997.
[[Page 30738]]
Memorandum of Justification Regarding Determination
Under Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961, as Amended
The Administration fully supports the goal of
maintaining open humanitarian aid corridors and has
actively worked through diplomatic channels to
encourage the speedy and efficient flow of humanitarian
goods. The application of section 620I requires a
careful consideration of the circumstances in each
case. This is particularly true with respect to Turkey.
Strong feelings of ethnic kinship exist between the
Turks and Azerbaijanis, and the Turkish government has
resisted public pressures to become directly involved
in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Until March, 1993,
Turkey permitted U.S. humanitarian and other non-
military shipments destined for Yerevan to transit
Turkish territory in response to the grave situation in
Armenia. However, Turkey closed its land borders to
Armenia in 1993 when local Armenian forces seized large
areas of Azerbaijan despite UN Security Council
resolutions calling for the withdrawal of all occupying
forces and cessation of hostilities.
Since 1994, Turkey has taken several unilateral steps
to improve its bilateral ties with Armenia while
balancing its relations with Azerbaijan and supporting
the OSCE's Minsk Group talks on resolving the Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict. Most notably, Turkey reopened an air
corridor to Armenia in 1995. In another positive step,
in March, 1996 Turkish Prime Minister Yilmaz publicly
expressed willingness to reopen the land border with
Armenia once Armenia and Azerbaijan agree upon a
statement of principles for a settlement of the
conflict. Turkey's land border with Armenia, however,
remains closed for the present. A large volume of
assistance--mostly food and oil--as well as an
increasing volume of commercial traffic flow by ship
through the Turkish Straits to Georgian ports for
shipment by rail to Armenia. Should the border be
reopened, we are likely to continue to ship most
assistance to Armenia through Georgia to take advantage
of its more developed rail network.
It is very much in our national security interests not
to terminate U.S. assistance programs for Turkey. Such
a termination would create significant difficulties in
our bilateral relations, affecting a broad range of
national security interests. Such a termination would
also reduce prospects for the successful resolution of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Turkey is at the nexus of a number of issues that are
critical for the U.S. on the Eurasian continent:
securing peace in the Balkans, advancing a settlement
in Cyprus and resolution of Aegean issues, containing
Iraq and Iran, bringing stability to the Caucasus,
implementing the CFE treaty, addressing the future of
NATO and bringing Caspian Basin oil to the West. Turkey
hosts the continuing U.S.-led coalition effort to
protect the Kurdish populations of northern Iraq, and
has increasingly important and useful relationships
with Israel and the moderate Arab states of the Middle
East. Finally, Turkey is important for U.S. trade and
investment, and has been designated as one of the ten
big emerging markets for U.S. companies by the
Department of Commerce.
There are over 3,000 uniformed military and civilian
DoD personnel (excluding dependents) stationed in
Turkey, a democratic, secular nation in a region with
weak democratic traditions, and widespread political
instability. Incirlik, the easternmost NATO Air Base,
and other NATO-dedicated bases in Turkey are essential
for the projection of U.S./NATO power into an unstable
region having critical oil resources. Some 2,700
sorties were flown out of Incirlik during the Gulf War.
[FR Doc. 97-14762
Filed 6-3-97; 8:45 am]
Billing Code 4710-10-M
