WEEKLY COMPILATION OF

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News Conference of President Bush and President Turgut Özal of Turkey March 23, 1991

President Bush. Mr. President, welcome to the White House.

Let me just say that we've had a very pleasant, informal visit at Camp David, in perhaps the worst weather I've seen up there. But in spite of the weather, President Özal and I have had a chance to go over many issues, bilateral issues, and of course, we talked about the Gulf area. I had an opportunity to thank him eyeball-to-eyeball for the best communications I believe any two countries could possibly have had, for his advice, and for his steadfast adherence to principle from day one. The Turkish Government never wavered one inch. And I'm very proud to have a chance to say that to the American people here today.

Mr. President, if you'd like to say something, and then I expect we'll just take a few questions.

President Özal. First of all, I would like personally to thank President Bush and Mrs. Bush for exceptional hospitality you've shown us in Camp David.

And we had, as the President indicated, very interesting and nice and very informal talks in many subjects. And I am very happy, and I would like to thank again.

Just one more point. President Bush has shown very exceptional leadership ability during the course of this Gulf crisis. And I have noticed this from the beginning to the end. And I would like personally to thank on this and on my country-for my country, and also for many people, I believe, there's-it has shown.

Thank you.

President Bush. What we thought we'd do, inasmuch as there are many Turkish journalists here, is just alternate between U.S. and Turkish. And inasmuch as I'm up here, why don't I start.

Situation in Iraq

Q. Mr. President, what is your assessment of the Iraqi Cabinet shake-up today?

President Bush. Well, we discussed that at length, and I would simply say that Saddam Hussein appears to still be calling the shots. And as I have said before, normal relations with the United States cannot be effected with Saddam Hussein still calling the shots, still in power. There are some interesting Cabinet shifts, but nothing that appears to depart from support for Saddam Hussein's policies.

Did you want to add to that, Mr. President?

President Özal. No, I think you're right. You said right.

Q. Did President Özal bring you a message from Saddam Hussein today? President Bush. No.

Now, is a Turkish journalist Turkey-U.S. Relations

Q. Mr. President, is Turkey a better ally now than she was, say, 6 months ago?

President Bush. Well, I don't know how I'd quantify it, but I would simply say that Turkey has been a steadfast ally, a strong member of NATO. But I would say stronger in the sense that the American people see very clearly how steadfast Turkey has been in all of this. So, if you would rephrase it from "stronger ally" to say "more appreciated here," I would certainly say, true. But the only reason I'm hedging is that I've always considered Turkey a fundamentally strong part of NATO and a very important contributor to the common security.

Q. How would you define for the future of the relations?

President Bush. Well, I see nothing but sunlight out there. Looks encouraging. We've got problems-Turkey has got some economic problems. We discussed them frankly. We talked to the President about that. I hope that the United States can continue to be helpful.