Ricciardone optimistic about freedom of expression in Turkey

Ricciardone met with Ankara representatives of various newspapers in the Turkish capital on Wednesday night, where he commented on issues such as jailed journalists and a botched military airstrike that claimed the lives of 34 civilians in southeast Turkey in December.

“I see that Turkey’s democracy has made significant progress, but I cannot understand that a country that has covered so much distance [in its democracy] keeps intellectuals in jail. People should not be thrown in jail for their statements. However, I am not pessimistic [about freedom of expression] as the glass is always half full,” said Ricciardone.

The US ambassador described Turkey as a country that aspires to become a first-class democracy as Turkey says it aims to fulfill the Copenhagen criteria, rules determining whether or not Turkey is eligible to join the EU.

“With [Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk [the nation’s founder], Turkey aimed to catch up with the world’s standards [of civilization]; it did not aim to target its neighbors. I believe that Turkey will achieve this because it wants this from the heart. Turkey wants to leave the 1982 Constitution behind. It is impossible for Turkey to give up on democracy as its democracy has improved so much and because its people want an advanced democracy. So how can journalists be jailed in such a country? You cannot move towards dictatorship,” urged Ricciardone.

The ambassador was referring to a number of journalists, academics and intellectuals who were jailed as part of a probe into Ergenekon, a clandestine crime network that has alleged links within the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the government. The prosecution claims that the journalists were not arrested because of their journalistic activities but due to their alleged membership in the Ergenekon gang.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Ricciardone also dismissed claims that the United States played a role in the bombing of civilians in Şırnak’s Uludere district by providing faulty intelligence to Turkey.

Turkish warplanes mistakenly killed 34 smugglers in an operation that targeted outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists in Iraq in late December. The government later acknowledged that the victims were smugglers, not terrorists. The military issued a statement saying the warplanes had targeted the group based on intelligence that suggested a group of armed terrorists would be heading towards the Turkish border to stage attacks on the military.

The victims were from the villages of Ortasu, Gülyazı and Ortabağ in Şırnak’s Uludere district.

“We have nothing to do with this incident. We have no involvement in determining the targets. Regarding intelligence gathering, nobody can provide perfect intelligence in such regions. It is obvious that a tragic mistake was made in the Uludere incident,” he said.

When asked whether or not a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) provided intelligence to Turkish authorities from Uludere, Ricciardone refused to comment on the issue.

Ricciardone says US has no plans for military intervention in Syria

US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone on Wednesday said the United States has no plans to intervene militarily in Syria, whose government has been pursuing violent policies against opponents of the regime. Ricciardone met with the Ankara representatives of several newspapers in the Turkish capital on Wednesday night. “We don’t plan to stage a military intervention in Syria at this point. Let us listen to the Syrian opposition. We are not preparing for an intervention now. We will see what the Arab League and the UN say. The Syrian government is using weapons to kill their own people. This is unacceptable. [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad has lost all credibility in our eyes,” Ricciardone said.

The US ambassador also said the United States will not turn a blind eye to Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, used for a third of the world’s seaborne oil trade.

“We think Iran needs to make a choice. It can join the international powers. It can own nuclear power too but it should not be after nuclear weapons. What I mean by nuclear power is nuclear energy. But what Iran wants is nuclear weapons. We don’t want to resort to military sanctions against Iran. Everything is on the table and we want to use diplomacy. This is done through sanctions,” he said. Ankara Today’s Zaman