Speech #1010038521

I see no reason to hurry the process along or to reward Bulgaria with international bank loans or assist Bulgaria in its desire to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT]. We do not have a lot of leverage over Bulgaria. but we can urge our Western European allies to condemn Bulgaria and exact economic penalties. Our allies have been surprisingly silent on this matter. We can also urge that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees get involved. Absorbing 50.000 to 100.000 refugees will be costly for Turkey. particularly since last fall. it absorbed enormous numbers of Kurdish refugees fleeing chemical weapons attack in Iraq. The Bulgarian expulsion of its Turkish minority is an appalling violation of the norms of civilized behavior. As such.