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U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #24, 97-02-14

U.S. State Department: Daily Press Briefings Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>


799

U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing

I N D E X

February 14, 1997

Briefer: Nicholas Burns

DEPARTMENT
1          Welcome to Radio Free Asia Journalists
           Georgetown University Guests
1-2, 9     Secretary Albright's First Overseas Trip
2-5        Arbital Decision on Status of Brcko
3          Statement on Hostage Situation in Tajikistan
3-4        Statement on Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad
4          Public Announcements on Zaire and Tajikistan
8-10       Letter fr. Senator Helms re: Ambassador Ray Flynn
9          Ambassadorial Resignations

MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS 5-7 Israel-Syria Track

SOUTH AFRICA 7 Sale of Arms to Syria

TERRORISM 8 Report of Congressional Resolution re: Anti-Terrorism Sanctions

NORTH KOREA 10-11 Hwang Jang-Yop Request for Asylum 10 Talks w/U.S. in New York

CZECHOSLOVAKIA 12 Parliament's Approval of Treaty w/Germany

TURKEY 12 Report of Sentencing of Religious Leader 13 Stability/Democracy/Secularism

CYPRUS 12-13 Decision Not to Deploy Russian Anti-Aircraft System


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB #24

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1997, 1:54 P.M.

(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

MR. BURNS: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We have some visitors today that I want to welcome. We have three journalists from Radio Free Asia; and we spoke yesterday about the Vietnamese intention to jam Radio Free Asia, which the United States, of course, rejects. We support very much the free functioning of Radio Free Asia.

We also have two very special visitors - one from my hometown, Ellen McHugh, from Wellesley, Massachusetts; and Chase Vokrut - both from Georgetown University. And Ellen is a huge Red Sox fan, and pitchers and catchers are reporting this weekend. The Red Sox are going to win--

QUESTION: They're not going to win though.

MR. BURNS: But not Roger Clements, because he's a traitor. (Laughter) But we don't need him any more, by the way.

I think we have the pitching to win this year, actually. You heard it here first -- Red Sox in '97. I'm the only one in the country predicting that, by the way.

I won't be around in September '97.

O.K. A couple of things before we go to questions.

First is just to remind you - which you probably don't need to be reminded of - and that is that Secretary Albright begins tomorrow her first overseas trip as Secretary of State. She's going to nine countries in ten days. She leaves at noon tomorrow from Andrews Air Force Base. The first stop is in Rome; from Rome to Bonn; Bonn to Paris; Paris to Brussels. In Brussels, she'll be meeting with both the North Atlantic Council and the European Union. Then on to London. London to Moscow. She'll have an Internet Town Meeting in Moscow with several thousand schools in the GLOBE Internet Network from around the world. That's the first ever Secretary of State Internet Town Hall Meeting. And then from Moscow on to Asia - to Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing, with a return to Andrews and Washington late on Tuesday, February 25.

This is a trip where the Secretary is going to roll up her sleeves - or, as someone said to me today, push up her sleeves - and get down to work on the common agenda that the United States has with each of these countries. And that agenda will be to identify issues where we can work together with these countries. For those countries that are allies of the United States, that will not be hard. We have a common agenda with them already.

For those that are not allies but are friends - Russia, China, for instance - we want to identify a common agenda of areas where we can work together. We want to be able to manage our differences where we clearly have differences. She decided personally that rather than make a first symbolic trip to Europe or a first symbolic trip to Asia, she wanted to make a trip to both continents because that reflects the vital national interest that the United States has in both parts of the world.

And despite the fact that some members of the press but nobody in this room have been writing that this is an introductory trip for her, it's to get to know foreign leaders. Let me just tell you one thing. It's not that kind of trip at all. She knows 90 percent of the people with whom she's going to meet because of her experience over the last four years at the United Nations and her life as an academic. She knows these people. This is a trip where she's going to get down to business.

The first couple of weeks have been extraordinarily busy for her as Secretary of State, and she's looking forward to this opportunity to spend ten days talking about United States foreign policy with, arguably, eight of the most important countries in the world, and the European Union and NATO - two of the most important institutions for the United States. And I would expect in Europe that the European security architecture, NATO enlargement, the NATO-Russian charter idea, NATO's internal adaptation will be a big issue.

Bosnia, of course - specifically, with the decision today on Brcko, will be an issue that I think is talked about a lot on the first part of the trip. And certainly in Asia - the situation on the Korean Peninsula - and our overall relations with the three countries there will be the focus of the trip.

In addition to the Internet Town Hall, the Secretary will be going up in Seoul to the Demilitarized Zone, as you would expect in her first official visit to Korea. We have, of course, thousands of American troops there defending the Republic of Korea and American interests there. And in some of the capitals she'll try to get out and walk about and see some things.

It's going to be very difficult though to schedule those because the trip is so compact with meetings. Most of the program are meetings with heads of state.

If you have any questions about the Secretary's trip, I'd be very glad to go into them with you.

I've got just a couple of announcements to make, and let me just go to them directly.

The first concerns the decision on the status of Brcko, which was announced in Rome today.

The United States welcomes the arbitral decision on the status of Brcko announced by Roberts Owen in Rome this morning. We commend Mr. Owen and other members of the tribunal for their careful consideration of this difficult and complex issue. The United States believes the judgment is a fair decision, which places a high priority on reducing the underlying tensions which burden the area, as the key to resolving the status of this strategically important area.

The United States is deeply committed to the successful implementation of this decision and will be working closely with the high representative - Carl Bildt - with our Contact Group friends and other parties, to ensure that this decision is implemented in full. As Carl Bildt announced today, the first step will be the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board Meeting on February l9, followed by the Implementation Conference in Vienna on March 5

and 6.

Under the terms of the Dayton Agreement, the parties are obligated to support and to implement the arbitral decision. We call on all sides to exercise restraint and to work together to carry out this gradual and integrated program of increased reconstruction assistance, the organized refugee return, and to provide for enhanced security of the Brcko area. The decision of the Arbitral Tribunal has the potential to make a substantial contribution to lasting peace in Bosnia, but achieving that goal will require a long-term effort from all involved.

And I'll be glad to take any questions on Brcko when the time comes, but let me just also tell you that we have another statement that we're issuing today on the situation in Tajikistan.

The United States Government strongly condemns the continuing hostage situation in Tajikistan. There have been extremely disturbing reports over the last 24 hours of the execution of one of the group of United Nations military observers being held hostage by an armed group operating independently in Tajikistan. However, this report has not been confirmed, and it may have been issued by a hostage under coercion.

We strongly condemn such terrorist tactics and this outrageous treatment of United Nations personnel, and we call on the captors to release these people safely and immediately.

We're monitoring the situation closely through our Embassy in Dushanbe and through contacts with the Tajik Government and the Russian Government and others.

Despite this tragic development, we believe that the United Nations-led peace negotiations should not be derailed and that the next round of negotiations between the Government and the United Tajik Opposition, scheduled to take place in Moscow on February 26, ought to go forward as planned. We believe that these negotiations are essential to reach national reconciliation among the disputing parties in Tajikistan.

That statement is available to you.

Also available in the Briefing Room is a statement of the Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad. You remember yesterday Secretary Albright spoke to this first-ever meeting of this group of religious leaders from around the United States, who are advising the State Department on the issue of how we can best promote religious freedom overseas. It was the first meeting of the group. The next meeting will be in June, and they issued together - Moslems, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Baha'i and others - one statement, and there were two significant parts of it that I want to point out.

First, they said that they would continue to provide information to the United States Government about religious persecution around the world, and to develop recommendations to combat religious intolerance and to assist those seeking refuge from religious persecution.

Second, the committee committed itself to provide information and recommendations to those of us in the U.S. Government about the work that religious organizations are doing to combat intolerance and to resolve conflicts around the world.

We were very pleased that this group came to meet with us yesterday and to meet with each other, and we look forward to the next meeting in June.

I also just wanted to remind you we have public announcements about travel conditions in Zaire and Tajikistan that were issued yesterday, and you ought to look for them and a possible announcement this afternoon about a travel warning in another country. That's all I've got by way of announcements.

George, be glad to go to your questions.

QUESTION: On Brcko, could you address the concerns of those who say that today's announcement benefits the Serbs at the expense of the Muslims?

MR. BURNS: We don't agree with that. In fact, I'd point you to President Izetbegovic. He made a statement this morning - a positive statement - about the Arbitral decision. President Krajisnik, the Bosnian Serb member of the Collective Presidency, also made a statement. John Kornblum met with both of them. He met with President Izetbegovic in Sarajevo. He's meeting now with President Krajisnik in Pale. We welcome these statements, but we will welcome especially the actions of the parties to the Bosnian conflict to implement this decision. We don't think it rewards the Bosnian Serbs. In fact, let me just take you through the major points as we see them.

First, you remember this was the most difficult issue at the end of the Dayton negotiations on November 19th and 20th of 1995.

It was the last compromise made, and the decision made by the Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian Government -- along with Secretary Christopher -- was that the Office of the High Representative would have a mandate, and that mandate would be to work together with the other parties, including the Arbitral Tribunal, which was created to try to resolve the Brcko dispute.

The decision made today by Roberts Owen and the Tribunal is that the Office of the High Representative will assume interim international supervision of the Brcko area. There will be no change in the boundary line between the Federation and the Republic of Srpska.

Because of a lack of progress, frankly, in implementing the Dayton agreement in the Brcko area, Mr. Owen determined that this interim arrangement was necessary. The parties simply were not ready to accommodate a final decision by the Tribunal as to the status of Brcko because of the continuing inter-ethnic problems and intolerance in the area.

What will happen next. A Deputy High Representative for Brcko will be named, and Carl Bildt has asked the United States to identify an American to fill that position. That person will work with the Serbian and Moslem communities to set up the necessary procedures to implement the agreement. He or she will have the authority to promulgate binding regulations which will prevail over the next year against conflicting local law, which is an important point for those who think that this decision may be one- sided.

This decision is not one-sided, and the arbitrator will retain jurisdiction and will review the issue in approximately one year, but, as he said this morning - the arbitrator, Mr. Owen - no later than the end of March 1998.

The decision also calls for accelerated economic reconstruction efforts in Brcko and expanded international police presence and the IPTF will deploy further and more aggressively in Brcko. Also, it calls for a managed process of the return of refugees and among them are many, many Moslem refugees and displaced persons.

This gradual implementation of the decision, as I said, will begin after the adoption of an implementation strategy by the conference in Vienna on the 5th and 6th of March. We think this is a rational way to proceed in a particular part of Bosnia which is not yet ready, we believe, for a final decision by the Arbitration Tribunal.

QUESTION: Could you be more specific about "they're not ready?" The Bosnian Muslims, as far as I know, are ready to go home; more than 50,000. You know that freedom of movement and return of refugees is a main problem in whole Bosnia.

So what makes you sure that that problem is not going to remain in the Brcko area for another year?

MR. BURNS: It's precisely because we're concerned about that very problem. The failure of the parties to allow the refugees to return, the failure of the Serbs and the Muslims to undertake arrangements where they can live together - it's because of that problem that this decision has been made, to place Brcko under international supervision for the next 12 to 13 months. We hope that during that period, through the efforts of the High Representative, but especially of the Serbs and Muslims, there will be improvements in the situation that will allow a final decision by the Tribunal.

QUESTION: New subject?

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: Middle East. The Syrian Ambassador in a number of places - most recently, I've seen them last night - has said that in the talks in Maryland there was virtual agreement for an Israeli pullout from the Golan Heights to the June 4, 1967 lines. He has said, in all these places, that that agreement was witnessed by the United States. Is he right? Was there a virtual agreement?

MR. BURNS: If there had an agreement or a virtual agreement, then we wouldn't be here talking about the fact that Israel and Syria are not talking about peace, if you get what I mean. If there had been a virtual agreement or an agreement a year and a half ago or two years ago, then there would be peace between Israel and Syria. Of that we're quite confident. There isn't peace between Israel and Syria because they haven't agreed on the outlines of a peace accord.

Obviously, Judd, I can't go into the details of what was on a piece of paper, what was not on a piece of paper because the United States -- as the President said yesterday -- never does that because we're objective, and we want to maintain our credibility as an arbiter between Israel and Syria. But the President told you yesterday that he was encouraged by his discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Prime Minister offered us some ideas, ways that the peace negotiations can proceed, or could proceed, between Israel and Syria. We are considering those ideas and we'll be in contact with the Syrian Government.

The United States wants to take steps to re-energize these negotiations and to bring them about again, but we're not there yet. To get there, we need the combined cooperation and, frankly, the political will of both governments - the Israeli Government and the Syrian Government.

QUESTION: Can I follow? Without going into details, because I understand why you can't and that you won't, should the talks resume at the place where they left off in Maryland?

MR. BURNS: That is entirely up to Israel and Syria; entirely up to both of them. It's obviously one of the issues that they'll have to decide if these negotiations are going to be resumed.

But it's entirely up to them.

QUESTION: Nick, there will be a series of Middle East people coming to meet the President in the coming months but not anybody from Syria. Were the Syrians invited to send somebody?

MR. BURNS: You're right. I think the focus of America's Middle East diplomacy is going to be Washington over the next month as King Hussein and President Mubarak and Chairman Arafat come to Washington. I don't believe there was an invitation extended to a high-level Syrian figure, but then again we have excellent communications with the Syrian Government. We speak to Ambassador Mualem frequently here. Ambassador Chris Ross, our Ambassador, is in daily contact with the Syrian Government.

In our effort to try to convince the Syrians and Israelis to resume negotiations, there's no problem in communication.

QUESTION: If the Syrian-Israeli resumption of talks was a focus of the meeting yesterday at the White House, wouldn't it make sense to have a high level direct contact with the Syrians on the same issue?

MR. BURNS: You know, we have those level-contacts generally when Americans and Secretaries of State travel to the Middle East.

You remember, Secretary Christopher paid a fair number of visits to President Asad in Damascus. That's generally been the way, I think, for the last 30 years or so that the United States has communicated at the highest level with the Syrian Government.

I can't remember -

QUESTION: No. President Bush -

MR. BURNS: I can't remember President Asad ever visiting the United States. There was the meeting in Geneva; right.

So the fact is, Jim, we'll continue to have good contacts with the Syrian Government. The President made the invitations that he made, those of the leaders coming to Washington. But that does not preclude any kind of progress in the Israel-Syria track.

While we're on this, I should say, we also hope for progress on the Israel- Lebanon track because we have a very good relationship with the Lebanese Government, and all of us want to see peace and stability returned to Lebanon at some point.

QUESTION: Do you have an assessment of President Asad's health?

MR. BURNS: I do not. I'd have to direct you to the Syrian Government for that. Still on the Middle East?

QUESTION: Still on Syria.

MR. BURNS: That's the Middle East.

QUESTION: It's sort of a Syria question. Al Gore is going to South Africa. He arrives today. What's he going to be saying to the South African - I'll get to Syria soon. I promise. What's he going to be saying to the South African Government to persuade them not to sell arms to Syria?

MR. BURNS: I don't know specifically if this is even an agenda item. We've had a lot of contacts with the South African Government on this. It may or may not come up. The South Africans know our position and we know theirs. I think you've seen some -- you saw some statements from the South African Government following the round of talks that we had, most recently - what was it? -- three or four weeks ago. We have very good communications with the South Africans on this, and we'd like to, obviously, resolve the issue and that will be done privately between our two governments.

QUESTION: Are you confident that you have persuaded them that the sale is not a good idea?

MR. BURNS: That's a decision that the South African Government must take of its own accord. The United States has a point of view, and we have enunciated that quite clearly.

QUESTION: North Korea. Today's Washington Times reported that some of the Congressmen are planning to introduce some new resolution to put some new sanctions against the terrorism-supporting countries. Do you have any comment on -

MR. BURNS: Which countries are you referring to?

QUESTION: Excuse me?

MR. BURNS: Which countries are you referring to?

QUESTION: Syria and Sudan.

MR. BURNS: Syria and Sudan?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR. BURNS: Right. Here's our limitation in responding to that Washington Times article. We were not aware until the article that any legislation was being drafted or being considered.

We've not seen any such legislation and so, therefore, it's difficult for me to respond to something that doesn't quite yet exist formally.

So we'll have to check further with these Congressmen to see what they have in mind.

Ron.

QUESTION: Senator Helms has written the State Department demanding that Ambassador Flynn be relieved of duty because of his political things that he was reprimanded by Secretary of State Christopher for. Do you have any response to Senator Helms on this issue?

MR. BURNS: I know that the letter has been received here in the State Department. I know also that Ambassador Ray Flynn, a Bostonian, has served as Ambassador to the Holy See for three years. We understand that he has told the Secretary of State that he plans to leave his post and return to the United States this summer.

As for these allegations that are contained in the letter that was received today, you know, under the Privacy Act, we're not permitted to discuss those allegations or to discuss any action taken by the Inspector General. Those are long-standing guidelines.

QUESTION: What about the actions taken by Secretary of State Christopher in regards to that?

MR. BURNS: Right. As you know, I'm not permitted to discuss in public either the specific allegations that are brought against an American official and then go to the Inspector General, or to discuss in public the action taken - the specific action taken by the Inspector General.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) indicate as to why he's returning home. Is it a normal -

MR. BURNS: He served for three years. As you know, the great majority of American Ambassadors serve for three years in their post, and then they return home and they go onto another post. I know that Ambassador Flynn has decided that he's going to return to the United States this summer. So that would be my response to your first question, Ron.

QUESTION: When letters are received concerning an American Ambassador, you say something to the effect that the Secretary retains the highest confidence in the individual targeted. I invite you to say that or not say it.

MR. BURNS: Thank you, George. I can tell you, I spoke to the Secretary this morning about these news reports. I can tell you the Secretary has respect for Ambassador Flynn and full confidence in Ambassador Flynn's abilities to carry out his duties as our Ambassador to the Holy See for the next several months.

He plans to leave this summer, and we'll continue to work very well with him.

QUESTION: On that subject. Have all political-appointed Ambassadors been given orders to send in letters of resignation as of June 30?

MR. BURNS: I know there's been contact between the White House and the State Department with our Ambassadors in the field.

I know that in the majority of cases, the Ambassadors who have served their three-year terms will complete their terms and be asked to either come back to the United States or consider appointment elsewhere. That's a process, as you know, that's run by the White House primarily but involves the Department of State.

Yes, I think there have been communications to the Ambassadors about that. There are a variety of Schedule C, political appointee, Ambassadors who will be remaining in the field because they just got to their post. Ambassador Jim Sasser is the best example I can think of off the top of my head, are ambassadors who will be remaining in the field. So it's hard to generalize about this.

But, generally, people serve three years, and that includes Foreign Service officers. If their three-year term is up, they generally depart post but there are some exceptions to that.

QUESTION: Will the Secretary be seeing Ambassador Flynn on this trip?

MR. BURNS: I'll have to check the schedule. I don't know if the Ambassador is in Rome. I'll have to check, and I'll just have to see. If he's there, it would be normal for him to come to the airport and shake her hand along with our Ambassador to Italy, Reg Bartholomew. Normal, but we'll just have to see what happens in this case.

QUESTION: Can you say anything, Nick, about the response you can give to Helms? It seems that he seems to be asking for immediate recall. Also, just recently, three former Ambassadors took the unusual step of criticizing Flynn quite publicly in a letter, rebuking him.

MR. BURNS: I'm not aware of the second question. I'm not aware of any letter by former Ambassadors. I just haven't seen it.

David, in answer to your first question, as I said, Ambassador Flynn will remain at his post until the summer. He's notified the Secretary of State that he'll then leave, and she retains - he has her full confidence as he carries out his duties at the Holy See.

QUESTION: It is reliably reported that the defector, Mr. Hwang, the North Korean defector, has written a letter and released in Seoul, I understand, that says that his country's government has gone mad; that they are in chaos; that they're basically - this is a warning flag for possible conflict in the peninsula.

Does the U.S. have any comment with regard to Mr. Hwang's assessment?

MR. BURNS: Bill, we couldn't possibly comment because we have no idea whether these reports are accurate or not. We know one thing: He is who he is. He is in the South Korean Embassy in Beijing. The South Korean Government and the Chinese Government are currently working out an arrangement to deal with the situation.

The United States Government is not involved. We've had no contact with him. We, of course, have been in contact with the South Korean Government. We've had no contact with this individual, and this is a matter that the South Korean and Chinese Governments ought to work out between themselves. Obviously, it's an extraordinary event that a person of his stature would have defected from North Korea. It probably tells you a lot about the situation in North Korea, which is a situation of tremendous hardship - economic hardship. I simply can't confirm the existence of any letters from him or anything that he may or may not have said.

QUESTION: Nick, let me follow up briefly. Has the U.S. been talking to North Korea in new York on any of these subjects?

MR. BURNS: We had a meeting yesterday, one of our normal meetings, with the North Koreans up in New York. It was State Department officers from Washington and the North Korean delegation up at the North Korean mission to the U.N. That was on the variety of issues that we're working on with the North Koreans, the Four-Party Talks briefing, the food situation -- because you know we are considering the appeal from the World Food Program, KEDO, and the Agreed Framework and all the issues that are important to the United States in dealing with North Korea.

QUESTION: Any progress that you can report from that meeting?

MR. BURNS: No, we generally don't report specifically on those meetings, because we like to maintain their confidentiality.

QUESTION: Did we ask the North Koreans to let Mr. Hwang go?

MR. BURNS: Bill, I don't believe we raised the issue.

QUESTION: Do you think the Chinese should be encouraged to facilitate his entry into South Korea, which is want he wants to do?

MR. BURNS: George, I think it's very important we do one thing: We understand that this is an issue between South Korea and the Chinese Government, and we hope that this issue can be resolved amicably. Whatever the South Korean Government, of course, wishes to do would be the primary interest that the United States would have here. The Chinese Government, I believe, has cooperated with the South Koreans. They've provided security for the South Korean Embassy in Beijing, and it looks like the Chinese Government and the South Koreans will be able to resolve this on their own.

So the United States sees no reason for us to insert ourselves into this issue at the present time.

QUESTION: This is Chung-soo of Korean Broadcasting System.

But do you believe ultimately Secretary Albright is willing to discuss on Mr. Hwang's defection to help resolve the problem if she is questioned by either side of South Korea and China or both of them?

MR. BURNS: I don't believe that either the Chinese or South Korean Governments have requested Secretary Albright's assistance - I'm not aware that they have - and I don't know what the status of this situation will be by the time that the Secretary reaches Seoul and Beijing on her Asia trip, because that's still more than a week away before she's in those capitals. So we'll just have to take this one day at a time. We'll continue to watch it closely, because it is an issue of enormous interest to us, you understand, given the importance of events on the Korean peninsula to the United States.

QUESTION: Nick, on another subject, how long have you seen -

QUESTION: One more on this.

MR. BURNS: Take one more on this one, Jim.

QUESTION: Apparently, Mr. Hwang has confirmed that around 50,000 North Korean spies have infiltrated South Korea. I wonder if the U.S. is still confident that this situation is not going to affect the Four-Party Talks?

MR. BURNS: I simply can't confirm anything like that, because we don't know if he said that or not. The fact is that Mr. Hwang has not given a press conference. He's not, as far as I know, gone outside to meet the press. He's inside the building, and he's in the custody of the South Korean Embassy. So we're going to have to wait until this issue is resolved and he has a chance to speak freely before we can assess what he believes to be the truth about the situation in North Korea.

We don't believe that this particular incident in Beijing is going to have an affect on the issues that are of primary concern to us - the issues that I mentioned - including the Agreed Framework and the Four-Party Talks.

QUESTION: Another subject. Have you seen that the Parliament of the Czech Republic has approved the treaty with Germany, in effect with both sides let bygones be bygones. Does this now make it easier or does it remove a final bar for Czech entry into NATO?

MR. BURNS: It is certainly important, we believe, that members of the Partnership for Peace, all of whom are prospective members of NATO, that they deal with some of the border problems and other conflicts that have existed between countries there throughout the Cold War. The border issue between Germany and the Czech Republic is one. Issues between Hungary and Romania are a second. Issues between Poland and Ukraine are a third.

Issues between Russia and Estonia - the border issue, the Tartu Treaty issue is another.

We think it's very important that states take the opportunity that they have, now that the Cold War has ended, to resolve these problems. We issued a statement the day after this historic agreement was reached between Chancellor Kohl and President Havel. This is an agreement which we believe serves both the Czech people and the German people and puts behind both of them some of the worst aspects of the second World War and its aftermath. So we're hopeful, and we're pleased that the Czech Parliament has taken this step today.

Yes, Mr. Lambros.

QUESTION: The other day a Turkish court sentenced Metropolitan Yakovus of the Ecumenical Patriarch (inaudible) to five months in prison for having officiated (inaudible) liturgy in the church.

Any comments of your government is very sensitive on the matters of religious freedom.

MR. BURNS: Mr. Lambros, I'm sorry, I'm not up-to-date on that. I had not heard that. But it seems to be an important issue, so we'll look into it for you and see if we can have a response.

QUESTION: How do you respond to the orchestrated campaign worldwide against defenseless Cyprus to the direction that is threatening Turkey where the missiles issue is de facto and moratorium exists and President Clinton is not - excuse me - President Clerides is not going to deploy them for at least for the next 16 months.

MR. BURNS: We think that President Clerides' decision not to deploy the Russian anti-aircraft system and not even to import any element of it into Cyprus for 16 months is a very positive decision, and we believe it allows the Turkish Government, the Greek Government, the Cypriot Government, the other party on Cyprus, to reflect about how best to move forward. Secretary Albright yesterday and the day before talked about her hope that 1997 can be a year where the parties on Cyprus make progress towards peace and towards a settlement of the Cyprus problem. She has said publicly several times since she took office that the United States will do whatever it can to contribute to that process. She has personal interest. She was out in Cyprus and Greece and Turkey last summer, and she wants to use the influence of the United States in a productive way.

QUESTION: But how do you explain the phenomenon, she is yesterday worldwide. It is a campaign against Cyprus that is starting in Turkey.

MR. BURNS: I'm not aware of any campaigns against Cyprus.

What you have in Cyprus and Greece and Turkey is you have some differences, but we believe they can be worked out amicably, and that the United States, the United Nations, the United Kingdom can play a role in that. I think all of us are willing to do that.

QUESTION: Any comment on yesterday's article by New York Times that Turkey under Necmettin Erbakan is almost to a level of an Islamic cultural uprising and the (inaudible) Turkish army is ready to intervene again?

MR. BURNS: I'd just point you to Secretary Albright's remarks before the House two days ago where she said essentially that we believe that Turkey's stability and democracy is grounded in secularism, and we also believe that Turkey has a role to play in Europe. We want our European partners to be open to integration with Turkey in the various European institutions, as we certainly are to continued Turkish membership in NATO. Turkey is one of the strongest and most important members of NATO.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BURNS: Thank you.

(The briefing concluded at 2:27 p.m.)

(###)


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