Daily Press Briefing
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
October 16, 2015
Index for Today's Briefing
SECRETARY'S TRAVEL
CANADA
ETHIOPIA
VENEZUELA
AFGHANISTAN
TURKMENISTAN
TURKEY
AFGHANISTAN
SECRETARY'S TRAVEL
SYRIA/CUBA/TURKEY/RUSSIA
VENEZUELA
AFGHANISTAN
IRAN
CHINA
IRAQ
TRANSCRIPT:
3:06 p.m. EDT
MR TONER: Welcome to the State Department and apologies, but obviously, many of you probably watched the Secretary – I'm sorry, the President's press conference with President Park from South Korea, and wanted to give you a chance to watch that.
I have just a few things at the top and then I'll take your questions. First of all, as many of you were asking me before I came out to brief you, there's been reports about the Secretary's possible travel and meetings next week. Here's what I can say at this point or this juncture: As you know, the Secretary spoke earlier this week about his intention to travel to the region – and I'm talking about the Middle East and the violence, ongoing violence in Jerusalem and elsewhere in Israel.
So at this time, I can confirm he's likely to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu probably in Germany, but I would stress that we are still finalizing the details to this trip, and that any – and frankly, I don't have any information on any other stops and meetings he may have. And once we have those details nailed down, of course, we'll inform all of you. So I just wanted to go ahead and confirm that initial part because we had – there were some press reports out about it, just to make your jobs a little bit easier. And once we have, as I said, the rest of that trip fleshed out, we'll of course let you know.
Many of you obviously saw this yesterday, but I did want to – as part of the Department of State and also on behalf of the United States Government, and frankly, the American people – express our deepest condolences to the family of former Canadian Ambassador to Iran Kenneth Taylor, who, as many of you saw, died yesterday, October 15th, 2015. Ambassador Taylor earned the enduring gratitude of the United States of America and was, in fact, awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his valor and ingenuity in harboring six American citizens trapped in Iran in the aftermath of the storming of the American Embassy in Tehran on November 4th, 1979, and then ultimately securing their safe return to the United States of America. Ambassador Taylor's courageous actions exemplify the enduring nature of the special relationship that the United States shares with our northern neighbor, Canada.
I also want to speak to events in Ethiopia. The U.S. welcomes the news of the Ethiopian Federal High Court's acquittal today of four of the Zone 9 bloggers of terrorism charges and its affirmation of their constitutional right to freedom of expression. We believe this is a step in the right direction in creating space for media, civil society organizations, and independent voices and views, which are crucial for democratic progress, development, and economic growth. We'll continue to follow developments in the remaining cases – case before the court, but note that Ethiopia has a judicial process for adjudicating such cases, and it's important that as observers, we respect that judicial process.
Also, I finally wanted to note that we're concerned – the United States is concerned about the arrest of Manuel Rosales following his return to Venezuela after six years in exile. We call on the Government of Venezuela to respect due process for Rosales and all others imprisoned on politically motivated charges. The Venezuelan Government has an obligation to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms guaranteed by international law. As a longtime party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Venezuela is required to promptly inform all persons detained of the reasons and any charges against them, and to promptly bring anyone detained on criminal charges before a judge, and to either release them or guarantee them a fair and public trial before an independent and impartial tribunal within a reasonable time and without undue delay. Consistent with the values and the spirit of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, we call upon the Government of Venezuela to provide Rosales and others in political opposition with the legal protections and due process to which they are entitled.
And I believe that's all I have for you, so I'll go to your questions. Sir.
QUESTION: Coming to Afghanistan, when the Administration was deliberating whether to keep troops into 2017 or not, at any point were there conversations with the Russians sort of letting them know, giving them a heads-up, "This is what we're going to do"? Did Secretary Kerry reach out to Lavrov at any point in the deliberations?
MR TONER: I don't have information to share on our precise conversations with Russia on our plans in terms of troop commitments to Afghanistan. We have, of course, and remain in regular contact with our partners and allies about our force posture as well as the potential changes in our post-2016 footprint. And obviously, that was a matter of discussion last week at the NATO defense ministerial in Brussels. We look forward obviously to continuing to work with those NATO allies and partners as we align our posture with NATO's ongoing Resolute Support Mission. The Resolute Support Mission currently includes more than 40 nations, contributing more than 13,000 personnel across Afghanistan, and of course NATO will continue to play an indispensible role in ongoing – the ongoing train and advise and assist mission for the Afghan security forces.
But to your particular question, I just don't have details on whether we've had conversations or recent conversations with Russia about our footprint there.
QUESTION: And to follow up with that --
MR TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: -- I mean, how much of a factor did Russia's activity in the Middle East and Ukraine play into that decision?
MR TONER: Play into our decision whether we had discussions with them?
QUESTION: Yeah, or to keep troops be – or into 2017.
MR TONER: Unclear – you're talking – no, I think – look, I mean, we were very clear about our reasons for maintaining our – for moving to the force posture post-2016 that was announced yesterday. That's – part of that is in support to the Afghan security forces as we continue to train and help them stand up. We all recognize that this year was going to be a difficult one in terms of the Taliban challenging that new security structure with the Afghan forces. We believe they've actually performed and executed very well in the field. But we want to continue to assist them going forward to ensure that they're able to build and strengthen that capacity. And that was one of the priorities.
The other one is simply to maintain our counterterrorism footprint and capabilities within Afghanistan as well in order to protect the U.S.'s national security. So I think those were the overwhelming reasons for us remaining there – and obviously, also to support as best we can as the Afghan Government continues to strengthen and – strengthen its democratic and economic institutions.
Yeah, please.
QUESTION: Mark.
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: Yeah. Since you've – you brought up Ethiopia and the Rosales case in Venezuela, I'm going to bring up another couple of human rights cases.
MR TONER: Okay.
QUESTION: Yesterday was the Turkmenistan dialogue. Was Turkmenistan's human rights record part of that discussion, and in particular, the fate of Saparmamed Nepeskuliev, the Radio Free Europe journalist who disappeared three months ago in custody?
MR TONER: I'm aware of the case. I don't have a readout of that discussion. However, I can imagine that we did raise human rights, but I'll try to get more details on that, and on that particular case as well.
QUESTION: And this – on that --
MR TONER: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Anything more on that particular case, very welcome.
MR TONER: Yeah. Absolutely.
QUESTION: Also, on behalf of my colleagues at the Associated Press who unfortunately couldn't be here today, the case of Mohammed Rasool, the Iraqi Kurd who was arrested in Turkey – it's an ongoing thing. He was arrested with two British reporters; they were released. Do we have concerns about how Turkey's handling that case?
MR TONER: Sure. I can say that we urge Turkish authorities to ensure that their actions vis-a-vis Mr. Rasool's case, concerning Mr. Rasool's case, uphold universal democratic values, including, obviously, due process, freedom of expression, and access to media and information. And as we've said before about Turkey, media freedom and due process are key elements in every healthy democracy, and in fact, are enshrined in Turkey's constitution, in its OSCE commitments, as well as Turkey's international human rights obligations. So I would just underscore our desire to see Mr. Rasool's case hold up to international legal standards as well as human rights standards.
Please go ahead, Justin.
QUESTION: A couple questions.
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: One on Afghanistan.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Given the diplomatic sensitivities surrounding the Kunduz hospital attack, have you had a chance to confirm whether or not in fact the U.S. military tank may have gone there and damaged some property somehow, as is alleged by MSF now?
MR TONER: Justin, I've seen those reports. I don't have anything to either confirm them or really any more information.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR TONER: If we get that, I'll obviously share it with you.
QUESTION: I mean, I believe that --
MR TONER: Also I would obviously point you to the Department of Defense.
QUESTION: Right.
MR TONER: They may have more information on that. But I've just seen the reports at this point.
QUESTION: Okay. And on the trip --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- the elements of the trip that you're confirming --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- are you obviously able to say that he's going to meet with Palestinian leadership as well? Do you have a timeframe for that to talk about?
MR TONER: I don't right now, and that's why I was – look, I mean, we – the story leaked out that – about the Netanyahu meeting.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: There's obviously – you can sort of think about the other components of this trip. We're just not there yet. We haven't firmed up the details. But I did want to confirm that --
QUESTION: All right.
MR TONER: -- at least that first part of it. And as I said, as we firm these up, we'll let you guys know.
QUESTION: And last one for me --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- it's sort of random. We asked about this earlier this week --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- about some sort of Cuban military action in Syria. It's gotten – I mean, I – you weren't able to confirm questions about that activity earlier in the week – Kirby wasn't – but it's gotten to the point where Senator Grassley has sent a letter to the President asking if he's disappointed by Cuba's decision to move military support with Russia to back Assad, and he is saying flat out that Cuba is acting as a military partner to Russia and Assad. What can you say about this?
MR TONER: No disrespect to Senator Grassley, but you said that he was the one who sent the letter? I'm sorry, I apologize.
QUESTION: Yes, yes.
MR TONER: Yeah. We just have no reporting whatsoever to corroborate those – that story, and I'd have to refer you to the Cuban Government, I guess, for that kind of corroboration. But we don't – obviously, we have limited vision on what's going on in parts of Syria, clearly, given the ongoing conflict there in that space. But however, we have nothing to corroborate those reports.
QUESTION: Have you reached out to the Cuban Government about these reports?
MR TONER: I'm not aware. I can look into that.
QUESTION: Stay in Syria?
MR TONER: Stay in Syria.
QUESTION: Today Turkish military forces confirmed that they shot done a Russian drone which for now they don't know which country from. Do you have any comment on the issue? Do you know which country may own that particular drone?
MR TONER: Nope, don't have anything. I mean, obviously, this is – the Turkish military shot it down. I would have to refer you to the Turkish authorities for any details about who it belonged to, what it was doing in that airspace.
QUESTION: Do you have any concerns of escalation between the Turkish-Syrian borders with regards to these airspace violations or unnamed drones or other sort of --
MR TONER: Well, of course. I mean, it's one of the things that we've said from here – Secretary said, even the President said – is we need, certainly, with Russia operating in that airspace now that we need some kind of process set up, some kind of mechanism set up that allows us to, for lack of a better word, de-conflict, but to know who's operating where. And that's – frankly, that's the first step we need to get to with – in terms of Russians' actions in Syria. But we certainly need that. I mean, we've – that's a matter of safety of our air men and air women.
QUESTION: Do we believe that – do you believe those were Russian drones?
MR TONER: I don't have any – I just don't have any confirmation either way. So please.
QUESTION: About the airdrop that happened a couple days ago --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- it seems like – or would you be able to confirm that those 50 tons ammunition, most of them received by the Syrian Kurds? At least PYD leader confirmed that they received most of the or all of the ammunition.
MR TONER: Again, I'd refer you to the Department of Defense. What I'm aware of, what we're aware of, is that there was a successful airdrop – as we said, on October 11th, 50 tons of small arms ammunition – but that was directed to Syrian Arab groups whose leaders were appropriately vetted by the United States. But obviously, there's a mix of groups – we've talked about this a lot – fighting fairly effectively against ISIL. This particular airdrop was directed towards those Syrian Arab groups.
Please.
QUESTION: I just wanted to clarify one thing while we're on Syria.
MR TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: The President said that the de-confliction talks with Russia have been concluded, but my understanding is that the Pentagon is saying that they're still working out technical language.
MR TONER: Yes. So I'm certainly not going to --
QUESTION: Contradict the President.
MR TONER: -- parse the President's words; would refer you to the Pentagon, really, on this one because they have the lead, obviously, on this. My understanding is that they're still finalizing some of the details, but they would know better than I where we're at.
QUESTION: Okay, thanks.
MR TONER: I apologize; I just don't have a firm answer.
QUESTION: Syria?
MR TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: Earlier this week you also – and today also you mentioned that the airdrop was to the Arab groups, the rebellion in Syria.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: And that they were vetted. Is there any reason why the YPG leaders were not vetted to get the airdrop also?
MR TONER: Why – I'm sorry. Why do --
QUESTION: Why they were not also vetted to get --
MR TONER: Yeah. I mean, what we do --
QUESTION: -- to be in the same category of the Arab groups.
MR TONER: Sure. I can't speak to, again, whether we're in the process of vetting them, whether they'll receive future airdrops. I can only speak to what – the airdrop that was conducted on October 11th.
Certainly, we have provided air support, considerable air support, for a lot of these groups, including the YPG, as they take the fight to ISIL in northern Syria. And we'll continue to do that. But in terms of actual provision of ammunition and small arms ammunition, I can't speak to whether that'll happen or not.
QUESTION: If you discover that the Arab groups have passed on some or all of this ammunition to the Kurds, would that count against them in the future? Would that be seen as breaking the rules?
MR TONER: Again, I think that overall what we're trying to accomplish here is these groups operating in northern Syria – Arabs, Syrian Arabs, Syrian Kurds, and others – have been effective against ISIL. We're looking to support them. We provided this small arms supply to the Syrian Arab group. I just can't speak to what may happen on the ground or also what may happen in the future in terms of support for those groups.
QUESTION: But normally when there's arms supplies there's an end-user --
MR TONER: Of course.
QUESTION: -- kind of understanding. And if you've vetted them --
MR TONER: No, of course. And as I said, they were vetted and --
QUESTION: -- you thought it was for them.
MR TONER: I mean, in a way you're asking me to speculate, and I just can't do that. I mean, we are – we have confidence that this supply run, this ammunition, got to the right people.
Please, in the back. Can we – done with Syria? That'd be great.
QUESTION: It's a different subject.
MR TONER: Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, you and then I promise. Please – that's okay.
QUESTION: Since you mentioned the arrest of the Venezuelan politician Manuel Rosales, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that the Venezuelan democracy is moving backwards. Is sharing position with the State Department? On the other hand, I believe last week the speaker said that the situation is improving in Venezuela. So I want to know what is your position on that and if you are – I know I believe there are some talks, ongoing talks with the Venezuela Government. Is something that you are mention to the Venezuelan Government? I don't know in which level you are talking to them – to Venezuela?
And on the – last but not least, if you are talking to the countries in the region in order to assume a common position on that?
MR TONER: Well, it's a lot of questions about Venezuela, but that's okay. (Laughter.) I'll try my best to answer some of them if not all of them.
First of all, I haven't seen Secretary Clinton's remarks, so can't exactly address them. I think as we look towards the December 6th National Assembly elections in Venezuela, our message would be that all Venezuelans deserve to have full confidence in those elections and in that process and in their outcome. Inclusiveness and a level playing field are both key, I think, for free and fair elections. And also, of course, credible and effective international electoral observation missions would be another component that we'd like to see if Venezuela is serious about the legitimacy and having the acceptance of the election results that we believe will lead to greater stability in Venezuela.
You had another question there – oh, about our ongoing talks or discussions. Look, I mean, we've spoken to this before. We remain in regular contact with Venezuela. I can't speak to who's spoken to who most recently or at what level. I can try to get more details for you on that.
QUESTION: And on the electoral observation, is something that you are going to raise, where? At the Organization of American States in order to try to --
MR TONER: I can – possibly.
QUESTION: To pose the issue?
MR TONER: Possibly. I mean, I just said it from here and we'll certainly make that part of our even bilateral discussions. But also I can see us raising it in various fora.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR TONER: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Back to Afghanistan?
MR TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: The hospital attack – just to clarify, I was confused.
MR TONER: That's okay.
QUESTION: Not about the tank report but about this other AP report that the U.S. knew it was a medical facility, they had been scrutinizing the hospital because they thought it was a Pakistani operation to coordinate with the Taliban activity. Now, is --
MR TONER: Right.
QUESTION: Outside of the military investigation --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- has the Afghan Government – have you seen consequences? Has the Afghan Government reached out and said, "We want some information from the State Department"?
MR TONER: From us.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: I'm not aware. I know they're conducting an investigation, and certainly, I think we would obviously make every effort to cooperate with that. And obviously, we have our investigation ongoing. I just can't speak to any of the details. I'm aware of some of the reports that you'd cited, but I just don't have anything more concrete to offer other than to say that various investigations are ongoing. We'll wait and see what they conclude and then take it from there.
Please.
QUESTION: Iran.
MR TONER: Iran, okay.
QUESTION: Can we switch there?
MR TONER: Yeah, of course. No, I just didn't hear you. I'm sorry. My poor hearing.
QUESTION: I know Ambassador Power came out earlier today and spoke about confirmation that Iran had violated the UN resolution with their ballistic missile test.
MR TONER: Right.
QUESTION: You spoke earlier this week of the U.S. having distinct domestic authority and the willingness to take appropriate action. Are you at that point where it's the appropriate time to take unilateral action as far as sanctions or any other repercussions?
MR TONER: Sure. Well, and you also saw the President spoke to it a little bit in his press conference. Obviously – and you cited Ambassador Power, her remarks that we're in the process of preparing a report, obviously, at the – to the Security Council's Iran Sanctions Committee, and in the coming days we're going to raise the matter directly with our Security Council colleagues. We're going to continue to press the Security Council at that level for an appropriate response.
I can't say – as you mentioned in your question, we do have these bilateral mechanisms in place to sanction. I can't announce anything or say that we're going to take action immediately, but certainly we reserve the right to do so. I think we're just going to wait to play this out in the Security Council, but obviously at the same time we'll evaluate on the bilateral level what we need to do.
QUESTION: Can I go to China?
MR TONER: Of course.
QUESTION: The Chinese defense ministry has now said that it wants to hold joint naval exercises with the ASEAN countries. What's your response to that?
MR TONER: This is – yeah, are you speaking to the China – the Beijing hosting – hosted event with ASEAN nations at this meeting? Okay.
QUESTION: Yes. The Chinese defense ministry said that it wants to hold joint naval exercises in the South China Sea with ASEAN countries. And since you guys are always calling for measures to lower tensions --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- would you say this is a measure to lower tensions?
MR TONER: Haven't seen the details, but you're absolutely right; we are always calling for measures to lower tensions. And we certainly welcome and support ASEAN's call for negotiations toward a code of conduct. We'd like to see that intensify. We believe such a code of conduct would help reduce tensions arising from territorial maritime claims or disputes in the South China Sea.
As – specific details of this kind of joint naval exercises that you're – that you've raised or said was announced, I'd have to get more details into it. It's China's right to propose these kinds of joint exercises. Our major concern about South China Sea remains freedom of navigation and Law of the Sea and that we see a de-escalation in intentions – in tensions in the area. So as – if that supported that, then we would be amenable to it, but I just don't know the details.
QUESTION: Do you think the fact that they're calling for something like this is an area that they consider to be their sovereign territory is a positive sign?
MR TONER: Again, I'd have to look into it; I'd have to see what they're in fact proposing. If it were something that we believed would de-escalate the situation there, that would help reduce tensions, that would help clarify China's intent, I think we would welcome that. But we just don't know yet.
Yeah, in the back. Please.
QUESTION: We know in Kurdistan there are challenging times facing the political parties. The question is: How important the stability of KRG is for USA?
MR TONER: Well, good question. Look, we're concerned by ongoing political tension in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, and last week I think that led to violent demonstrations. We call on all involved to exercise restraint, to respect all the rights for peaceful expression – or everyone's right for peaceful expression and to apply that right responsibly without inciting further tension.
I'd say we urge Kurdistan's – the Kurdistan region's political parties to work constructively together, to show maximum flexibility, to resolve their differences as quickly as possible – and I mentioned this the other day – so that the KRG can focus on the real enemy, which is defeating ISIL. We also want to see them be able to focus on facilitating humanitarian assistance to refugees and internally displaced people and promote the economic well being of all people living in the region.
Please, sir.
QUESTION: In this case that you last week – I think earlier this week also – you mentioned that they have to focus on the other issues such as ISIS. But it seems they don't, because a few days ago several Peshmerga officers were fired because of their political affiliation with one of the parties, and units of Peshmerga deployed in – between the cities is re-establishing the civil war borders between KDP and PUK areas. So this are – is going to have an impact – a negative impact on the war against ISIS. Is there any room for the United States either intervention or whatever, helping them, to resolve that issue?
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: Are you going to do the same thing that you did several weeks ago, sending them the presidential envoy?
MR TONER: Right. Well, we've been engaged, as you mentioned, and we continue to be in contact with senior Iraqi Kurdish leaders, frankly, to encourage them to resolve their differences through direct dialogue and through – and in a peaceful manner. That's absolutely paramount. As I just said, they need to resolve their differences, find a way forward, and as I said, focus on, frankly, the very severe humanitarian crisis and the very real threat of ISIL.
QUESTION: And as a result of this, the media became a victim of these conflicting parties. Today my NRT TV channel's offices remain closed in Erbil and Duhok, and my colleagues in – they are all stuck in Sulaymaniyah. They are not allowed to return to their cities, Erbil and Duhok, and activists were prevented entering Erbil by KDP forces. It is still continuing and we didn't hear anything vocally or publically United States to condemn these actions by one of the political parties that have the more influence in those areas – in Duhok and Erbil.
MR TONER: Well, look, I mean, we condemn any kind of action against a free and independent media. It's one of the pillars of a strong democracy or even an emerging or growing democracy. You need that diversity of voices in the media space, so any actions to restrict that environment we would see as discouraging.
Is that it? Anything else, guys? Going once, going twice. Thanks.
(The briefing was concluded at 3:35 p.m.)
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