Remarks to the Press by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns
July 11, 2009
Public Affairs Section
U.S. Embassy
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Hello. My name is Bill Burns. I am the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in the State Department in Washington. I'm delighted to have a chance to meet all of you today. It's a pleasure to be in Turkmenistan with a delegation of senior officials from Washington, representing not only the State Department, but the White House, the Defense Department, and also our Special Ambassador on energy issues. Foreign Minister Meredov, as many of you may know, had a very productive visit to Washington recently. The presence of our delegation over these last two days is an opportunity to build on that visit to Washington and it's also a reflection of the high priority that President Obama attaches to our relationship.
We've had productive talks over the course of the last two days. I want to thank the President for his hospitality in receiving us yesterday evening. We covered a wide range of issues in our conversations yesterday and today. We discussed our common concerns about stability in Afghanistan and what we both can do to contribute to progress there. And we welcomed, in particular, Turkmenistan's contribution in providing electricity to Afghanistan.
I had the opportunity to brief the President and the Foreign Minister on what was a very successful U.S.- Russia Summit in Moscow earlier this week. And I stressed our belief that good relations with Russia are an important complement to good relations with other partners in the region. We also talked about opportunities for further cooperation in economic development, in business, in trade and investment, in the energy sector and outside the energy sector. We also talked about cooperation in humanitarian affairs, in educational and cultural issues, as well as on human rights issues.
An important dimension of our visit was also the opportunity to meet earlier today with the group of civil society leaders in Turkmenistan. President Obama has made clear that in our relationships around the world we want to focus on improving relations between governments, but also strengthen ties between societies and between peoples. And finally, we agreed with the Government of Turkmenistan to a proposal that Foreign Minister Meredov had made in Washington to create a new bilateral forum or commission, so that we can meet regularly and systematically on the whole range of issues that I've just described, and so that we can make progress in economic cooperation, in energy cooperation, and working together against the spread of narcotics and terrorism, in contribution to stability in Afghanistan and across the region, and also in creating a systematic dialogue about issues related to civil society, education, cultural exchanges and human rights. So once again, I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to visit and these have been very constructive discussions. Now I'd be delighted to respond to your questions.
QUESTION: Yesterday at the cabinet meeting, President Berdimuhammedov said that Turkmenistan is working on the NABUCCO project. What are the benefits for Turkmenistan in becoming involved in this project?
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: We certainly welcome the President’s expression of interest in the NABUCCO Project. It seems to us to be very much in Turkmenistan’s interest to look at diverse routes and to diversify its energy policies. Certainly American companies, in our view, have a lot to offer in terms of helping Turkmenistan develop its energy resources; not only in extraction, but in downstream processing. So we think this is an area of considerable potential.
QUESTION: Is there a specific contract between Turkmenistan and the United States on Turkmenistan providing the space for refueling of U.S. airplanes transiting items for Afghanistan?
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: As I said, at this stage, we welcome the contributions that Turkmenistan is making and I use the example of electricity. We talked about a range of other areas where Turkmenistan is already working and may do more in the future. For example, the construction of schools and health clinics in Afghanistan and other ways in which infrastructure can be connected and improved. So I think that we have a good dialogue on this whole range of issues, which we look forward to continuing as I think both of us recognize our shared interest in stability in Afghanistan.
QUESTION: You just mentioned that you talked about human rights. What were some successes that were achieved?
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well first, we are creating a structure in which we can have a systematic dialogue about those issues as well as many other aspects of our bilateral relationship. Because that kind of a systematic dialogue is the first step, I think, toward making tangible progress on many of these issues in the interests of Turkmenistan. We acknowledge the steps that have been taken over the last couple of years, with regards to freedom of movement, for example, but there are obviously other issues that remain and that’s what we’re going to talk through together, because this is an important part of our relationship.
QUESTION: First of all, when will an ambassador from the United States be appointed to Turkmenistan and when will the branch of the Columbia University be opened?
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: First, we are very lucky to have Ambassador Miles as Chargé; he is an extremely accomplished diplomat. But I expect that the White House, as a reflection of the significance we attach to further growth in our relationship, is going to move very soon to announce a new permanent ambassador. It’s time to move ahead on that issue. I’ll have to check on the Columbia issue for you, I don’t have the answer, although I’m a big admirer of Columbia.
QUESTION: You said you met with representatives from the civil society, can you provide some details and specifics as to who and what were discussed?
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well, I can talk in general terms about some of the issues we discussed. A number of the people with whom we met are alumni of exchange programs with the United States. So we talked about the value of those kind of exchanges and how we can increase them in the future and we talked about some of the challenges and the opportunities that those kind of civil society groups face in Turkmenistan and around the world. I think the more we can strengthen ties between civil society groups in the United States and civil society groups here, the more it benefits both of us. Healthy civil society groups -- whether they’re defenders of the environment, or defenders of the rights of pensioners or of disabled people -- are a very important part of the development of any country.
QUESTION: So, one of your members of this delegation is Ambassador Morningstar, Special Envoy. So when he was in Baku, he stated that Russia should be concerned not about Nabucco project, but about Chinese presence in Turkmenistan and the projects that they are conducting with Turkmenistan. Can you specify in more details the State Department’s view upon this point.
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well you could ask Ambassador Morningstar to go into more detail if you’d like. All I would say is that our view of the energy sector in Turkmenistan and in this part of the world in general is that it’s not a zero-sum game. Given the volume and the importance of energy supplies in this part of the world, I think there’s opportunity for many companies and many countries to play a role. And that’s in everyone’s interest.
QUESTION: So…if I can ask, that question is about corruption. How do you think whether American cooperational ties can in some way…you know… influence or impact corruption problem…address the corruption problem. Because as… from my point of view corruption is similar to the international terrorism issue, because…what do you think? I think it’s the same type of threat.
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Corruption is a threat in many societies around the world. It’s an obstacle to sensible economic development. It can oftentimes be an additional tax on small- and medium-sized enterprises. And any healthy society needs to do all it can to fight corruption. And you’re right, there are many external threats as well, whether it’s terrorism or violent extremism spilling over from other conflicts. The spread of narcotics is obviously another threat. But I agree with you, corruption is a challenge that has to be faced directly. And that’s true in any society in the world. America hasn’t been immune from that either.
QUESTION: You know, and I think that freedom of speech is also one way or one step for getting rid of corruption as well, they’re interlaced.
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: In any society in the world it’s very difficult to fight corruption effectively, unless you have a media that’s independent enough to put a spotlight on it. And again, I think that’s true in any society in the world.
QUESTION: Have you talked about the opportunity for President Berdimuhammedov to meet with President Barack Obama?
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well certainly President Obama looks forward to the opportunity in the future, but we haven’t set any specific dates or plans at this stage.
QUESTION: Is there any visit by Secretary Clinton planned for the Central Asian region?
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well Secretary Clinton is very much interested in the opportunities in this region. And I’m certain she’ll want to visit at some point. But I don’t have any plan to announce for you today. Maybe one more question.
QUESTION: During your meeting with the President, did you discuss the issue of Turkmenistan side providing the land and air space for transiting humanitarian aid and humanitarian products to Afghanistan?
UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: As I said, at this stage in these discussions, we had a more general conversation about ways in which we can work together to contribute to stability in Afghanistan. And it focused mainly on those areas in which Turkmenistan is already working in electricity, and in other ways in which they’re supporting social and economic growth in Afghanistan. We very much appreciate what Turkmenistan is already doing. But we certainly look forward to further more detailed discussions on other ways in which we might cooperate. There’s a very clear realization on both of our parts about what we have at stake in Afghanistan. Thank you very much.
