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Statements by the President, Thomas E. Morgan, and Clement J. Zablocki, following Breakfast Meeting on Turkish Aid [Press Conference]
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7339992
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Statements by the President, Thomas E. Morgan, and Clement J. Zablocki, following Breakfast Meeting on Turkish Aid [Press Conference]
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1975-07-09
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1975
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Digitized from Box 13 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 9, 1975
OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
THE WHITE HOUSE
STATEMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT,
THOMAS E. MORGAN
REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA
AND
CLEMENT J. ZABLOCKI
REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN
FOLLOWING THE BREAKFAST MEETING
WITH CONGRESSMEN ON TURKISH AID
THE WEST DRIVEWAY
9:37 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: This morning we had an hour and
a half breakfast, a working meeting with a number of the
Members of the House Committee on International Relations;
the Chairman, Doc Morgan; the Chairman of the subcommittee,
Congressman Zablocki, and the ranking Republican on the
full committee, concerning an effort to try and resolve
the legislative problem of Turkish military aid.
The Administration, of course, has asked for a
total removal of the ban, but we have worked with the
Democratic Chairman and the other Members of the committee
on a compromise that will be before the committee
tomorrow.
I just want to thank Chairman Morgan and his
associates on both sides of the aisle for taking the
initiative in seeking what we believe is a fair and
equitable solution.
QUESTION: What is the compromise, sir?
CONGRESSMAN MORGAN: The compromise -- we will
start out tomorrow, hold hearings on the Mansfield-Scott
resolution, and we hope to complete hearings tomorrow.
We will have the Administration witnesses in the morning
and, of course, the Greek witnesses in the afternoon in
the open hearing.
On Friday, we hope to start the mark-up. We
will start the mark-up using the Senate resolution and
substitute the bill worked out by Mr. Zablocki and Congress-
man Fascell and Congressman Hamilton and Congressman
Broomfield. We hope we can report that out sometime on
Friday.
MORE
Page 2
The substitute really opens up the pipeline
on what Turkey has bought and paid for, plus it resumes
the rights of Turkey to make cash sales in the military
foreign sales program.
There is no grant military assistance plus
a complete study for future military and economic aid,
both to Greece and Turkey. There is a clause, some
safety clauses in that that the President doesn't like.
The President has to report to Congress every 60 days
on the progress of the sales and the progress, of
course, of settling the Cyprus dispute.
I think it is a fair compromise. I think we
can sell it to the House. Those who supported the total
embargo last December, when we appropriated the foreign
aid bill, can vote for this and explain it to the Greek-
American people of this country.
QUESTION: Congressman Morgan, will there be
action in the House by the 1st of August?
CONGRESSMAN MORGAN: I hope to have action if
we can move as rapidly as we can to get it out of the
committee Friday or the early part of the next week and
immediately apply for a rule.
QUESTION: How much money is involved? How
much equipment? Is it millions of dollars in the pipeline?
THE PRESIDENT: I understand that there is
approximately $70 million of Turkish military purchases
which they bought and paid for that are not delivered
because of the embargo. Unfortunately, they have not only
bought and paid for this equipment, but they are being
charged storage in the warehouses in the United States.
The compromise that Dr. Morgan and the others
have worked on would free those Turkish purchases,
amounting to roughly $70 million, and add to that the
right of the Turkish Government to buy for cash additional
military hardware.
QUESTION: How much?
THE PRESIDENT: That is, I think, limited by
the overall limitation on foreign military sales.
CONGRESSMAN MORGAN: It would depend on how
much military sales worldwide have been purchased. You
couldn't determine the figure.
MORE
Page 3
QUESTION: How is the Cyprus compromise coming
along? I mean, is there any progress in the negotiations?
THE PRESIDENT: There is a meeting between
Denktash and Clerides scheduled for July 24, and if there
is action in the Congress, it will, I believe, greatly
facilitate the negotiations between these two leaders of
the Turkish and Greek Cypriots, so we are hoping
that there can be action. If there is action in the
Congress, then the prospects for movement are certainly
improved tremendously.
QUESTION: Mr. President, there was a quote on
one of the broadcasts this morning saying Congressman
Brademas thought some of your meetings involved some arm
twisting, like this meeting this morning. Have you been
arm twisting on this subject?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I would say just the
opposite. I should add that in the last two or three weeks,
I and Secretary Kissinger have met with Congressman
Brademas, Congressman Sarbanes and Congressman Rosenthal,
plus Congressman Hamilton, Fascell, Zablocki, Broomfield
and Whalen and maybe one or two others, in trying to
get a dialogue started so that we could find the areas
of agreement and the areas of compromise, and out of those
meetings, I think, has come this compromise.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what does this compro-
mise do to the problem of the law that says that our
allies are not to use American weapons against their
friends and allies?
CONGRESSMAN ZABLOCKI: The compromise very
clearly states that any additional military aid that will
be sold to Turkey may not be used for other purposes than
NATO defense.
QUESTION: Didn't he law state that from the
beginning, though?
CONGRESSMAN ZABLOCKI: The compromise does not
deal with any matter that has taken place in the past.
It is restating the law for future use.
QUESTION: How will that be policed?
THE PRESIDENT: We, of course, have U.S.
military personnel in the various NATO countries, and they
follow on the scene the end use of the equipment.
MORE
Page 4
QUESTION: Mr. President, are we prepared to
talk about renegotiating the bases in Turkey now?
THE PRESIDENT: That is another matter of major
importance. Roughly 30 days ago the Turkish Government
indicated to us formally that they wanted to begin talks
for the termination of some of our U.S. bases in Turkey,
and the deadline for that is July 17.
We again hope that there can be some action in
the committee and hopefully on the floor of the House of
Representatives prior to that date so that we can say
to the Turks that progress is being made, and if there is
progress, then we are in a better position to talk with
them without any adverse developments as to those highly
important military installations in Turkey.
QUESTION: Do you think Turkey will accept
this, the compromise?
THE PRESIDENT: We think it is a good compromise,
and we will do our utmost in the Executive Branch to
convince the Turks that it is a solution that will lead
to the settlement of the Cyprus problem and to the contin-
uation of Turkey as a strong and effective partner in
NATO, plus the good bilateral relations that Turkey and
the United States have had in the past.
QUESTION: Mr. President, what can you tell
us about the developments in the Helsinki Conference?
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. (Laughter)
THE PRESS: Thank you, gentlemen.
END (AT 9:45 A.M. EDT)