English subtitles for clip: File:President Obama Meets with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan.webm

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President Obama:
I want to extend the warmest of welcomes to

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Prime Minister Erdogan. I'm glad that I, personally,
and the American people have a chance to reciprocate

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the wonderful hospitality that was extended
to me when I visited Turkey in April. As I

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said when I had the great honor of addressing
the Turkish Parliament in Ankara, I am strongly

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committed to creating the best possible relationship
between Turkey and the United States. Turkey

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is a NATO ally, which means that we are pledged
to defend each other. There are strong ties

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between our countries as a consequence of
the Turkish American community that has been

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established here. We have had the opportunity
to work together during this recent financial

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crisis, given Turkey's role as a member of
the G20. And given Turkey's history as a secular

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democratic state that respects the rule of
law, but is also a majority Muslim nation,

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it plays a critical role I think in helping
to shape mutual understanding and stability

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and peace not only in its neighborhood but
around the world. During the course of our

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discussions here, we've had the opportunity
to survey a wide range of issues that both

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the United States and Turkey are concerned
about. I thanked Prime Minister Erdogan and

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the Turkish people for their outstanding contributions
to stabilizing Afghanistan. We discussed our

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joint role in helping Iraq achieve the kind
of independence and prosperity that I think

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has been advanced as a consequence of the
election law finally being passed over the

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weekend. We discussed issues of regional peace,
and I indicated to the Prime Minister how

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important it is to resolve the issue of Iran's
nuclear capacity in a way that allows Iran

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to pursue peaceful nuclear energy but provides
assurances that it will abide by international

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rules and norms, and I believe that Turkey
can be an important player in trying to move

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Iran in that direction. And we discussed the
continuing role that we can play as NATO allies

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in strengthening Turkey's profile within NATO
and coordinating more effectively on critical

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issues like missile defense. I also congratulated
the Prime Minister on some courageous steps

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that he has taken around the issue of normalizing
Turkish/Armenian relations, and encouraged

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him to continue to move forward along this
path. We reaffirmed the shared commitment

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to defeat terrorist activity regardless of
where it occurs. I expressed condolences to

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the Prime Minister and the Turkish people
for the recent terrorist attack that was taken

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there and pledged U.S. support in trying to
bring the perpetrators of this violence to

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justice. And finally, I complimented the

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Prime Minister for the steps that he's taken,
often very difficult steps, in reintegrating

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religious minorities and ethnic minorities
within Turkey into the democratic and political

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process, and indicated to him that

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we want to be as supportive as possible in
further steps that he can take, for example,

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assuring the continuation of the Halki Seminary
and addressing the vital needs of continuing

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the ecumenical patriarchy within Turkey. Over
all, just to summarize, I am incredibly optimistic

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about the prospect of stronger and stronger
ties between the United States and Turkey

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that will be based not only on our NATO relationship,
our military-to-military relationship, our

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strategic relationship, but also increasing
economic ties. And one of the concrete outcomes

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of this trip is to follow through on discussions
that I had with both Prime Minister Erdogan

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and President Gul in Turkey to stand up a
strategic working group around economic issues

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and improving commercial ties. That will be
launched with the participation of Secretary

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of Commerce Locke and our U.S. Trade Representative
Ambassador Ron Kirk, along with Turkish counterparts.

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And we think that there is enormous potential
for us to grow trade and commercial ties between

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the two countries. Turkey is a great country.
It is growing in influence around the world.

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And I am pleased that America can call Turkey
a friend, and I'm pleased that I'm able to

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call Prime Minister Erdogan personally a friend.
I'm grateful for his trip here and look forward

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to many years of collaboration with him to
observe both the prosperity of the American

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people and the Turkish people. Thank you.

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Prime Minister Erdogan:
(as translated)
Thank you very much. I'm very

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grateful for the hospitality that both myself
and my delegation have been shown since our

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arrival here. And I would like to once again
express my thanks for that hospitality. The

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fact that the President visited Turkey on
his first overseas trip and that he described

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and characterized Turkish-U.S. relations as
a model partnership has been very important

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for us politically and in the process that
we all look forward to in the future as well.

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And important steps are now being taken in
order to continue to build on our bilateral

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relations so as to give greater meaning to
the term "model partnership." Of course, there

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are many sides to the development of this
relationship -- be it in the economic area,

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in the areas of science, art, technology,
political areas and military areas. We have

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also appointed two people from our side to
act as counterparts in order to liaise with

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their American counterparts to continue on
this process. Those two people are the Deputy

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Prime Minister, Mr. Ali Babacan; and the Minister
of State responsible for economic affairs,

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Mr. Zafer Caglayan on the Turkish side. I
do believe that this group is going to work

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to take the Turkish-American relations forward,
not just in the economic area, but in all

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areas in general. We, of course, have -- 
we take joint steps on regional issues. 

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This is in the Middle East, in Iraq, with respect
to the Iranian nuclear program. We continue

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to have joint activity in Afghanistan, and
the Turkish armed forces have taken over the

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command of the forces there for a third time
with the additional support that we have sent

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to Afghanistan in the last couple of months.
And there are steps that we have taken with

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respect to training activity and other activities
in the context of provisional reconstruction

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teams, and we continue on that. We've had
an opportunity to continue discussing those

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issues during our visit here. Another important
area, of course, is energy. Turkey is a transit

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country for energy issues. And the agreement
has been signed for Nabucco and we are ready

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to take some important steps with respect
to Nabucco. We continue to talk with Azerbaijan.

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I do believe that positive progress will be
made in this area. In addition to Azerbaijan,

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of course, there is the importance of companies
like Statoil, Total, and British Petroleum

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and others. We have also discussed relations
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which is of

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great importance. This is important in the
context of Turkish-Armenian relations. We

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have discussed the Minsk Group and what the
Minsk Group can do -- the United States, Russia,

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and France -- to add more impetus to that
process. I can say that to have more impetus

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in the Minsk process is going to have a very
positive impact on the overall process, because

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the normalization process between Turkey and
Armenia is very much related to these issues.

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As the administration in Turkey, we are determined
to move forward in this area. Another important

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issue with respect for us in Turkey is the
fight against terrorism. And there was a statement

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that was made in this very room on the 5th
of November 2007, which was very important

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in that context, because at the time we had
declared the separatist terrorist organization

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as the common enemy of the United States,
Turkey, and Iraq, because terrorism is the

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enemy of all mankind. Our sensitivity and
response to terrorism is what we have displayed

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when the twin towers were hit here in the
United States. Wherever a terrorist attack

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takes place our reaction is always the same,
because terrorism does not have a religion

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-- a homeland. They have no homeland, no
religion whatsoever. We have also had opportunity

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to discuss what we can do jointly in the region
with regard to nuclear programs. We as Turkey

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stand ready to do whatever we can to ensure
a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue

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in our region. And we stand ready as Turkey
to do whatever we can do with respect to relations

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between Israel and the Palestinians, and Israel
and Syria, because I do believe that, first

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and foremost, the United States, too, has
important responsibility in trying to achieve

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global peace. And we, too, must lend all kinds
of support that we can in our regions and

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-- in our respective regions and in the world
in general in trying to achieve global peace,

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because this is not the time to make enemies,
it's the time to make friends. And I believe

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that we must move hand in hand towards
a bright future. Thank you once again.

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President Obama:
Thank you. All right, where's Ben Feller?

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There you are.

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The Press:
Thank you, sir. I'd like to ask you briefly

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about a domestic issue, that being the economy,
heading to your speech tomorrow. Do you support

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the use of federal bailout money to fund job
creation programs? Is that an appropriate

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use of that money? Is that something
that you plan to support tomorrow?

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President Obama:
You know, Ben, it would be a mistake for me

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to step on my speech tomorrow by
giving you the headline today.

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The Press:
Not that big a mistake.

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(laughter)
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President Obama:
But let me speak generally about what we've

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seen. On Friday we got the best jobs report
that we've gotten in a very long time. And

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it significantly beat expectations. At minimum,
it showed that for all practical purposes,

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we've stopped losing jobs. And that's consistent
with the fact that in the third quarter we

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saw the economy grow. My first job when I
came into office was to make sure that we

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got the financial crisis under control and
that we tried to limit the devastating effects

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that it was having on the real economy. We
have had a very tough year, and we've lost

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millions of jobs. But at least now we are
moving in the right direction. What my speech

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tomorrow will focus on is the fact that having
gotten the financial crisis under control.

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Having finally moved into positive territory
when it comes to economic growth, our biggest

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challenge now is making sure that job growth
matches up with economic growth. And what

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we've seen is, is that companies shed jobs
very quickly, partly induced by the panic

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of what was happening on Wall Street, and
they are still tentative about hiring back

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all those people who were laid off. Also what
we're seeing is some long-term trends where

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companies are becoming so efficient in terms
of productivity that they may feel that they

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can produce the same amount of goods or services
without as many employees. So those present

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some particular challenges, given the fact
that we lost over 3 million jobs just in the

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first quarter of this year before any of the
steps we took had a chance to take effect.

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With respect to TARP specifically, I think
you saw stories today and you've seen stories

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over the last several weeks that TARP has
turned out to be much cheaper than we had

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expected, although not cheap. It means that
some of that money can be devoted to deficit

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reduction. And the question is are there selective
approaches that are consistent with the original

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goals of TARP -- for example, making sure
that small businesses are still getting lending

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-- that would be appropriate in accelerating
job growth? And I will be addressing that

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tomorrow. But I do think that, although we've
stabilized the financial system, one of the

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problems that we're still seeing all the time
 -- and I heard about it when it was in Allentown

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just this past week -- was the fact that small
businesses and some medium-sized businesses

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are still feeling a huge credit crunch. They
cannot get the loans that they need to make

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capital investments that would allow them
to then expand employment. And so that's a

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particular area where we might be able to
make a difference. Is there somebody in the

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Turkish delegation that wants to call on a
reporter?

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The Press:
Mr. President, is there any new and concrete

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U.S. action plan for disarmament and the elimination
of the PKK terror organization in northern

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Iraq? Thank you, sir.

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President Obama:
Well, what the Prime Minister and I have discussed

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is coordinating closely in dealing with the
problem of the PKK. We have stated before

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and I have reaffirmed since I came into office
that the United States considers PKK a terrorist

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organization, and that the threat that it
poses not only in Turkey but also in Iraq

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is one that is of deep concern. And as NATO
allies, we are bound to help each other defend

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our territories. More broadly, I think that
it is important for us to have a consistent

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position with respect to terrorism wherever
it takes place. So we discussed how we can

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coordinate militarily. I will tell you that
with respect to the issue of the PKK, I think

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that the steps that the Prime Minister has
taken in being inclusive towards the Kurdish

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community in Turkey is very helpful, because
one of the things we understand is, is that

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terrorism cannot just be dealt with militarily;
there is also social and political components

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to it that have to be recognized. With respect
to Iraq, I think the degree to which the Kurdish

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population within Iraq feels effectively represented
within the central government in Baghdad,

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to the extent that we can resolve some long-term
pressing issues like Kirkuk, the more I think

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that Kurds will recognize that their interests
are not in supporting any kind of military

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activity but rather in working through conflicts
politically, in a way that allows everybody

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to be prosperous. And that's the kind of process
that we would encourage. Okay? Thank you very

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much, everybody. Happy holidays.