Daily Press Briefing
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
July 18, 2016
Index for Today's Briefing
DEPARTMENT
TURKEY
CHINA/REGION
TURKEY
CHINA/REGION
TURKEY
SOUTH SUDAN
IRAN
FRANCE
TRANSCRIPT:
2:11 p.m. EDT
MR TONER: Hey everybody, welcome to the State Department. Just a couple things at the top and then I'll get to your questions. First of all, I wanted to announce the U.S. Department of State will convene an International Drug Treatment Experts gathering to address the issue of childhood addiction. This is a first-of-its-kind gathering and the State Department is doing this today. It's convening experts and practitioners from around the world to make progress against this rapidly emerging and alarming phenomenon of childhood substance abuse and addiction.
This is going to be a three-day meeting that brings together other drug treatment experts, NGO, practitioners, government officials from 10 countries and several international organizations. Excuse me. And the goal here is to build upon the drug treatment protocols for youth that have been developed by the State Department as well as our international partners to create a comprehensive and evidence-based treatment, prevention, and recovery platform for these children.
Also just a quick update on the Secretary's travels. As you know, he was in Brussels earlier today, where he met with EU Foreign Affairs Council – the EU Foreign Affairs Council, rather. He also held a joint press avail with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and then participated in a U.S.-GCC foreign ministers meeting. He is en route, or I believe he's now arrived in London, where he'll meet tomorrow with UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura as well as Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, and also attend other multilateral meetings on Yemen and Syria.
Lesley.
QUESTION: Hello.
MR TONER: Hey.
QUESTION: I want to start with Turkey. Has the Secretary made any further calls today regarding Turkey? Has he spoken – he's spoken three times to the foreign minister, right?
MR TONER: Yeah, and I think he just spoke within the past hour and I don't have a readout. Frankly, it was a rather brief call, but he spoke with Foreign Minister Cavusoglu again just a short while ago.
QUESTION: Was that a follow-up from the – you don't know what --
MR TONER: No, I wasn't – I apologize, I wasn't able to get a readout. If there's anything to share, I'll share it with you guys later.
QUESTION: And then the White House has said that the U.S. has not yet received a specific extradition request from the Turkish Government regarding the cleric Mr. Gulen. Is that your understanding as well that that has not been received?
MR TONER: That is our understanding. We have not yet received a formal extradition request. Yes.
QUESTION: So you've not received a formal one, but has the government actually said to you that it intends to do that and that it will provide evidence that Mr. Gulen was – helped mastermind this coup?
MR TONER: So I'll switch that question around a little bit in my answer because I don't want to speak on behalf of the Turkish Government. What I would say is the Secretary has clearly stated that he and we, the United States, would welcome a formal extradition request with the evidence that we believe – or that they would offer in terms of the extradition for Gulen.
As you know, the extradition process is not something we talk about openly or publicly. And in fact, we don't often address publicly extradition requests. In this case, we've made an exception given the level of public rhetoric back and forth to say that we haven't yet received a formal request. But we do have an extradition treaty in effect with Turkey, and again, we would welcome such a request from them with the evidence that they believe shows that Gulen is involved in this coup attempt.
QUESTION: You said you would welcome one. So you're expecting one?
MR TONER: Again, I don't want to necessarily – I mean, again, there's lots of public comments on the part of Turkish officials about who or what factions may have been behind this coup attempt. I think it's important, frankly, in these early days of the aftermath that we don't speak on behalf of the Turkish Government. We let them carry out their investigation. We've offered assistance in that investigation, whatever we can provide. But I think in terms of extradition, all we can say at this point is we do have a formal extradition treaty with Turkey. It's been in force since 1981. It has a set process to it. We need to receive a formal request. We've said we have not yet received that formal request. But once we do, we'll evaluate it according to that process.
QUESTION: What is your response, then, that Turkey's saying it will reconsider its friendship with the U.S. if the U.S. doesn't extradite Mr. Gulen?
MR TONER: Well, again Lesley, I think what's important here is that we not try to make this personal to the case of Gulen. This is a legal treaty. It involves legal analysis and a process. We have said that we will carry out that process. We just need to receive the formal extradition request and, as well as that, we need to see the evidence. We're going to make an evidence-based decision on whatever decision that may be. And that's all we can do. It has nothing to do – it has no bearing on whether we believe or buy into what allegations may be made – may be flying around right now. What we need to see is clear evidence that backs up this request, and then based on that evidence we'll make our best judgment.
QUESTION: Has the U.S. actually asked Mr. Gulen if he has any involvement? Have you personally sought that assurance from him?
MR TONER: Lesley, I'm not aware that we've actually had any formal contact with him since Friday.
QUESTION: One more --
MR TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: -- before I hand it over to my colleagues. The Secretary and others in the EU have expressed concern on – over the clamp-down of what the government's been doing. I mean, 20,000 officials have already been – that the – that Turkey's taken actions against because of the coup. Do you – does 20,000 seem excessive to you at this stage?
MR TONER: Detained?
QUESTION: As an excessive action against – I mean, so many people involved.
MR TONER: Yeah, look, I mean, again – a couple of thoughts. First of all, we absolutely stand by the Government of Turkey and the people of Turkey in the aftermath of Friday's attempted coup. Turkey's a NATO ally. It's a key partner in the region. It's a key partner to the United States. It's a key partner to the EU. And we stand squarely on the side of the elected leadership of Turkey.
We've been clear since the moment of the news of this coup attempt became public, we've been very clear that we stand with the democratically elected government of Turkey. We have also offered assistance as Turkey attempts to bring the perpetrators of this coup attempt to justice and we support that effort. But – and this is not – I don't want to comment necessarily on the 20,000 or this move or that move. What I want to speak to broadly is that we have cautioned against a reach – if you will – that goes beyond a legitimate effort to bring these perpetrators to justice, and to stress that, as again we've – in the aftermath of Friday's and Saturday's events, that the Turkish Government remains true to the values – the democratic values that it holds and the Turkish people hold dear. And I think that's essentially our message.
QUESTION: The very fact that U.S. and the EU – Mogherini basically was – if you impose the death sentence, it's a – that's a deal breaker of you joining the EU. The fact that you actually expressed this concern means that you have the concern that – I mean, are you concerned that the government could be over-reaching?
MR TONER: A couple of thoughts or ways that I would respond to that question. First of all, it's no secret publicly we've said in the last few months we have expressed our concern about some of the actions of Turkey's government with respect to freedom of the press, freedom of expression, civil society, and we have called on Turkey's government to live up to the values in the Turkish constitution, live up to its democratic aspirations and its democratic traditions. So that's not new; we've been very clear about that.
We also recognize that in the aftermath of the kind of upheaval and the kind of dramatic events that took place on Friday – and let's be very clear, they were dramatic events – that there can be a tendency on the part of any government to react in a way that extends beyond appropriate due process and investigations into who was behind these actions. So that's all we're saying here. We're just simply cautioning that in – cautioning our Turkish friends and partners and allies that in the aftermath of this, they need to remain true to the democratic ideals that they hold dear. And this is true, frankly, for many governments the world over that face political crises, social crises, that they always have to be mindful of their values – their core values as a nation.
QUESTION: I'll leave it up to my colleagues.
MR TONER: Sure. Nike.
QUESTION: Yes, hi, Mark. Thanks. So we have reporters on the ground trying to filming the reactions, but they were encountered with crowds shouting they are Americans, don't talk to them, don't listen to them. So with such high anti-American sentiment in Turkey, are you concerned of the U.S.-Turkey cooperation in the aftermath?
MR TONER: I don't think so, Nike. And I'd also be wary of just – and I recognize that your reporters on the ground are reporting what they're seeing and what they're hearing, but I don't know how pervasive that sentiment is. As I said to Lesley just now, we've been – we couldn't have been clearer and quicker in our response of support for the democratically elected Turkish Government. And let's be very clear and mindful of that fact, that there is absolutely no rationale, no justification for the actions that were taken against that democratically elected government last Friday evening. And so we've been very clear where we stand on this issue. We have offered our support for the Turkish Government. We have, again, been very clear in condemning the actions of the military or those factions within the military that tried to carry out this attempted overthrow of a legitimately elected government. There's never any justification for that.
So are we concerned about anti-American sentiments among the Turkish people? I would hope that the Turkish people recognize that the United States stands with, again, the democratically elected Government of Turkey, but also with the Turkish people and their aspirations for a strong democracy. And we've been very clear about that. We've been very clear, as I said even prior to this, when we see efforts or moves on the part of even the Turkish Government that we believe restricts that democratic space, we express those concerns because we feel – and this is also important – that we have the kind of relationship with Turkey that we can share those concerns with them. They are a NATO ally, a long-term – or a longtime ally of the United States, and we have an honest and candid relationship. And we have areas – and we've seen this, frankly, in terms of going after Daesh – where we disagree a little bit on some of the ways and modalities that we go about that. That's part of any relationship. So we're not always going to agree on everything with the Turkish Government, but in a moment like this, we stand strongly and firmly with them.
Please.
QUESTION: Are you calling for the restraint from the rhetorics from Erdogan's government? Because over the weekends, we've seen and we heard some of the rhetorics quite accusive.
MR TONER: Well, again, I would think that – and, again, bearing in mind that in the aftermath of a tumultuous event like Friday, it's not unexpected that you're going to hear fiery rhetoric, impassioned rhetoric, and not just from the political leadership but on all sides. I think my response to that would be we always need to be mindful of that, and like we would in many situations around the world – even in our own country – we could caution against rhetoric that escalates tensions and rather support de-escalation.
Please.
QUESTION: One final question, if I may.
MR TONER: Please. Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: So are you concerned about the military cooperation in the aftermath? Because some of the personnel live off-base. And then are you worried about the military cooperation?
MR TONER: Sure. I mean, I'd refer you to our colleagues over at Department of Defense to speak specifically to the status of Incirlik and our use of that airbase. But broadly speaking, no. I mean, we're not concerned about our ongoing cooperation with Turkish security forces, Turkish military, especially within the anti-Daesh or anti-ISIL coalition. And we've been very clear about expressing our commitment to keeping the pressure up on those airstrikes that we're carrying out against Daesh in northern Syria especially. But also in Iraq we're not going to let up, and we're going to try to seek to continue those operations as much as we can given the fact that – again, that events on the ground, especially over the weekend, led to some at least temporary disruption of those activities.
QUESTION: Are they coming to the counter-ISIL conference this week in Washington?
MR TONER: My expectation is that they are, yes – or our expectation is that they are.
Please.
QUESTION: On Turkey, a couple more, Mark?
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: You said that you made it clear to Turkish Government and you are with the democratically elected government.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: When you look at the ministers, one after another coming out, and I can quote you some of their remarks, that they hold America responsible for this coup as long as you don't give Gulen back to Turkey, or like Prime Minister Binali Yildirim who said that there will be no country as a friend of Turkey if not giving Gulen back, apparently talking about the U.S. And look at the pro-government. Maybe it's – basically it's out there and it's again accusing U.S. So my question is: When you're talking to Turkish officials, are you conveying these messages and when you get it, because there is no counter-message in terms of --
MR TONER: I think it's a fair question. I think what we're conveying in our conversations to Turkish officials is exactly what I just attempted to explain to Lesley, which is the fact that we need to, looking at the – again, the process of extradition and the potential extradition request for Gulen, because we haven't received a formal extradition request, we need to take the emotion, we need to take the drama – if you will – out of it, and need to look at it as purely as a legal question or a legal case, and that that needs to follow a legal process.
It has nothing to do with our strong and ongoing alliance and partnership with Turkey. It is simply, when we look at any extradition case, irrespective of who that person – or who it's about, we have to evaluate the merits of that case based on the evidence that's made available to us. And it's a – it is a set process. It's looked at purely from a legal standpoint, and that's, I think, what we need to abide by. And we would expect the same – if the – if it were switched and we were asking for Turkey to extradite someone, we would expect the same diligence and we would expect Turkey to also abide by due process.
QUESTION: Did the Turkish Government – have they told you they are sending the notice or request anytime soon? Any kind of deadline? Have you been noticed about the request?
MR TONER: Yeah, I don't want to get in – I don't want to get really beyond what's been said so far. And the reason is that we don't generally discuss – we're a little bit, as we say, out in front of our skis in terms of even acknowledging that we haven't received a formal request. But given, as I said, the swirl of rhetoric around this particular case, we have said that we've not yet received a formal request. But we don't generally speak about extradition requests. And again, it speaks to, I think, the fact that any extradition request needs to be carried out in a way that is objective and is – and according to legal standards.
Please.
QUESTION: Apart from these accusations of coup involvement with the Gulen movement, what are you – I am sure you have looked into this movement now or the Fethullah Gulen. What is your assessment of the group? Can you describe us how do you see this group?
MR TONER: Of Gulen's --
QUESTION: Gulen group or Fethullah Gulen himself. Do you consider him peaceful? Do you consider him – how do you consider him or his movement?
MR TONER: I mean – look, I mean, again, I don't know that we have any assessment of Gulen's group apart from what we have – let me rephrase that. We haven't made any assessment of Gulen's group and their involvement in this attempted coup. That's to be – that remains to be seen. If we receive evidence, we'll certainly evaluate or assess that evidence.
As to his role, we're well aware of how he is perceived by members of the – Turkey's Government and political leadership, but he is, to our knowledge thus far, living in accordance with the law. If he wasn't, then we would obviously have something to say about that. But to our knowledge, he's living peacefully up in Pennsylvania in his compound.
QUESTION: But you say you've not made an assessment. Are you planning on doing an assessment of whether he was involved or not?
MR TONER: Again, I think as much as it is part of any extradition request, we would look at that. Yes, we would make that kind of assessment, certainly if we were trying to evaluate his involvement in the coup.
QUESTION: And outside the extradition – I mean, if this is going to – if this is something that's going to become between you and a key ally --
MR TONER: I think --
QUESTION: -- is it not that you --
MR TONER: Without getting – and I feel like I'm already wading into hypotheticals a little bit more than I'd like to. But how I would answer that is that certainly if Turkey has concerns about the involvement of Gulen or his group, they can share their concerns with us along with the evidence that they have collected, and we will certainly look at that and evaluate it. That's something we would do for any ally and partner. As to any extradition request, again, that is something that would have to proceed along to – established processes.
Yes.
QUESTION: So when we go back to Friday --
MR TONER: Oh, sorry.
QUESTION: -- when exactly did you learn about the coup attempt on that day?
MR TONER: I think it was late afternoon our time.
QUESTION: So, like, to give an exact time?
MR TONER: I think we first saw the reports over social media. Again, I'm speaking only on behalf of the press office and our knowledge of it, but I think most people became aware of it late on a Friday afternoon in Washington around 4 p.m. Washington time. I think there were initial indications on social media first and foremost, is my understanding.
QUESTION: Did you knew anything about it before that timing, before it came out like an issue on the social media?
MR TONER: Not that I'm aware of, no.
QUESTION: I have a couple more, if I may.
MR TONER: Sure, go ahead. Please finish. Yeah.
QUESTION: So there are some critics that the U.S. Administration believes the statement that it stands with the democratically elected Turkish Government after five to four – four to five hours after the coup attempt took place. So why not earlier releasing the statement?
MR TONER: In terms of the timing of the statement? Look, I mean that it was a very dynamic situation. As with any situation like that, we're trying to evaluate, frankly, what is happening on the ground. I think the Turkish Government was trying to evaluate and analyze what was happening on the ground, so I don't think it's unusual that we also were trying to figure out what exactly was taking place. But for you to insinuate that there was somehow any delay because we were trying to game out this or to – that somehow we were involved, I would just reject that wholeheartedly.
QUESTION: But I mean, even if the claims were not true, I mean, you would still support the Turkish Government, which is like --
MR TONER: Exactly.
QUESTION: -- which is the democratic – like, the representative democracy.
MR TONER: Precisely, yes.
QUESTION: So you could – you may have – right – like release it before earlier, even if the claims were not true. So what is your reaction to that?
MR TONER: Again, I – in terms of the timing, I believe we were as responsive as we could be given the circumstances. And we couldn't – our message couldn't have been clearer, which is that we stood by and stand by the democratically elected government of Turkey.
QUESTION: So there are also some reports, sir, saying that NATO should remove Turkey from the alliance. And I want to ask you what's the -- what the U.S. position is on that, because you are referring to Turkey as a NATO ally, like, regarding all the issues, like the fight with the Daesh and, like, with everything. So what is your --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- what is the U.S. Administration position on this?
MR TONER: Our position or our policy hasn't changed. Turkey is a NATO ally and a strong partner. I would refer you to the NATO secretary-general to speak on what NATO's position is regarding Turkey's membership, but with respect to our understanding and our belief is that Turkey remains a NATO ally. I think what the Secretary and others have expressed since the events of Friday has been very clear in that regard. And as a NATO ally – and as a democratic NATO ally, we expect and look to Turkey to exhibit the kind of behavior befitting a democracy. And I talked about this before – in the aftermath of political upheaval like this, there can be frankly – and not just in Turkey, but in many countries – and I've said this several times already – a tendency to overreach. And we would just – and we have been very clear in our discussions with our colleagues in Turkey that we would expect Turkey to live up to its democratic standards.
QUESTION: So you don't expect any changes regarding that latest issue --
MR TONER: No.
QUESTION: -- with Turkey's NATO alliance?
MR TONER: No.
QUESTION: And my last --
MR TONER: Yeah, please, go ahead. I'm sorry, finish up.
QUESTION: My last question is whether you think that this last tensions between the U.S. and Turkey regarding the Fethullah Gulen issue would further escalate --
MR TONER: Regarding the – Gulen issue.
QUESTION: -- the Fethullah Gulen --
MR TONER: Sorry.
QUESTION: -- yeah – issue, because it's apparently has become an important issue between the two countries right now. So do you expect this case to further escalate the U.S.-Turkey relations? Or how – in other words, how do you expect this issue to change or whether it will have an effect on the U.S.-Turkey relations?
MR TONER: Well, I would hope not. And the reason I would hope not is because, again, there is an extradition treaty that we have had for many years with Turkey. Secretary Kerry made very clear to Foreign Minister Cavusoglu that there is a formal process for any extradition request and that it must go through appropriate legal channels and be subject to legal analysis. This is not a political decision; it is not an emotional decision. It is based on our best legal judgment of any case. This doesn't – and I'm not speaking specific to any request we may receive about Gulen. It's anybody. It's a very serious matter.
So it doesn't – I understand emotion is running high in Turkey right now. That's to be expected and it's somewhat understandable. All I would simply stress is that with – as with any extradition request, that we would live up to our obligations under that treaty and do so in a manner that is devoid of emotion, devoid of any political intention, but adheres to an established legal process.
QUESTION: And may I --
MR TONER: Okay, sure.
QUESTION: -- ask just one more?
MR TONER: Of course.
QUESTION: There are some – also some media reports saying that some CIA officials have said that the coup – like, having a coup is legitimate. What exactly – which coup do they mean? Do you know something about it? Are you aware of these reports?
MR TONER: Again, we would never support – I don't know. When you say anonymous CIA officials, I become immediately wary. But all I would say in response to your question is that there's never a justification for an attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government.
In the back, sir. Oh, and then I'll get to you. I promise. I'm sorry to overlook you. Still on Turkey or --
QUESTION: Yeah, one quick on Turkey and one on the South China Sea.
MR TONER: Of course, okay.
QUESTION: First, on Turkey, has the U.S. ever received official extradition requests for Fethullah Gulen from Turkey in the past?
MR TONER: Not to my understanding, no.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR TONER: Not to my knowledge.
QUESTION: And then on the South China Sea, China has said that it's going to close off part of the South China Sea for military drills. Do you have any reaction to that?
MR TONER: I don't, other than that – I mean, I would simply go back to what we said last week in the wake of the tribunal's ruling, and that is we would call on China to really, in the aftermath of the ruling, to seize the opportunity that it presents to look at all of the claimants' concerns and to seek out legal and diplomatic processes to resolve them. And so we don't want to see escalation, we don't want to see further escalation in the South China Sea. That applies to China but it applies to other aspirants – or not aspirants, excuse me – claimants with regard to the territory of the South China Sea. So I think we would call on all claimants to de-escalate and to seek mechanisms that don't involve military assets or any kind of construction or any kind of artificial construction that only increase tensions in the South China Sea.
QUESTION: Turkey?
QUESTION: Oh --
MR TONER: Please. Oh, we're between Turkey and – are you South China Sea?
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: Let's do you and then we'll go back – I promise I'll get to you.
QUESTION: Okay. So a follow-up about the South China Sea tribunal.
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: Do you suggest to China to give up its claims?
MR TONER: Not at all. Not at all, and we've never said that. We encourage all claimants to seek out peaceful resolution of disputes. That's our clear and unchanging message with regard to the South China Sea. We're not saying that – we're not making any judgments on the South China Sea's claim – or, rather, excuse me – on China's claims or any other claimants' claims. All we're asking for is that all parties simply refrain from provocative actions in the South China Sea.
For our part, we've always maintained that we want freedom of navigation and we will continue to carry out freedom of navigation operations within the South China Sea, just as we do throughout the world.
QUESTION: Yeah. So did the Philippines request any assistance and did the U.S. provide any assistance to the Philippines, whether it was financial, personnel, subject matter expert, or evidentiary support?
MR TONER: This is – you're talking about with regard to their – the tribunal and its --
QUESTION: The whole process.
MR TONER: Again, not that I am aware of. This was – we had no involvement in this process. This was – and we've been pretty clear about that throughout that this was a legal process that was carried out by the tribunal. The U.S. didn't have any sway or any influence on the tribunal, and nor would we have attempted to weigh in in any way, shape, or form. In fact, we see these kinds of legal processes that are objective, that are apolitical, as a way to, frankly, answer some of the questions around claims in the South China Sea.
QUESTION: So will the U.S. recognize China's historical claims in the nine-dash line that are not completely affect by the tribunal award?
MR TONER: One more time, the question? I apologize.
QUESTION: I mean the award only affects rights that overlap with a exclusive economic zone and doesn't apply to the rest of nine-dash line of the South China Sea. What's the U.S. position on the nine-dash line right now?
MR TONER: Well, again, I think – look, I mean, I think what's important here is that the tribunal addressed all of these concerns in its ruling, including the nine-dash line. And it did so, as we said, as the result of a legal process that was devoid of any kind of political influence, and so we respect the outcome of that process.
QUESTION: Does U.S. consider one day to ratify the International Law of the Sea?
MR TONER: You know where we stand on that. We would – we adhere to the International Law – the UN – UNCLOS, the UN Law of the Sea. It has yet to pass our Congress, but we would appeal to our Congress to indeed pass the Law of the Sea.
Thanks.
QUESTION: After looking the other way for some time regarding Turkey's human rights abuses, I guess because of the war against Daesh, the U.S. and the EU have spoken out because now the crisis is so acute. But the statements that you and the EU make don't say anything about Turkey's military aggression in the Kurdish regions, which is acute. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights have condemned it. And I wondered, now that Turkey's human rights is an issue for the U.S. and the EU, might you also be raising the topic of the human rights violations in the southeast, particularly because of the potential for expanded military conflict?
MR TONER: Well, look, our policy has been pretty clear about PKK activities. We view the PKK as a foreign terrorist organization and we support Turkey's efforts to go after the PKK. But as with any counterterrorism operations, we always want to see every effort made to avoid and certainly minimize any civilian casualties. And certainly, we would want any kind of counterterrorism operations to be mindful of human rights and human rights concerns.
We have seen, unfortunately, over the past six months to a year really an uptick in violence in – between the PKK and Turkish authorities. We've seen a breakdown in the mechanism that was established towards negotiations with and talks with the PKK. We'd like to see the PKK to stop its attacks on Turkish authorities or Turkish police and security forces, and to see a return to, again, some kind of mechanism whereby there could be a peaceful – or discussions, rather, about ending the violence. But in any case, we support Turkey's right to defend its citizens.
QUESTION: Well, the idea of talks to end the violence now – and this might seem kind of counterintuitive – but army morale cannot be very good right now given how the Turkish Government is abusing its own military. And it may not be – and that may tempt the PKK into more aggressive action, which would mean more conflict, violence, innocents die, so that in the general context – maybe not today or tomorrow, but in this context, would it be – might it appropriate for some party – the UN, the U.S., the EU – to start thinking of negotiations so as to preempt any PKK counter-aggression and maybe even take a monkey off the back of Ankara right now because they have enough problems to deal with?
MR TONER: Look, I don't want to conjecture about any possible international role in resolving the conflict with the PKK. I would simply reiterate the fact that we would hope the PKK would exercise restraint, that it would refrain from any violent actions and terrorism against the people of Turkey, and certainly, given the sensitivity in the aftermath of Friday's coup attempt, that it's – and that it simply refrains from ongoing terrorist acts against Turkish security forces. But as to possible outreach efforts or engagement by the international community with the PKK, I just can't speak to that.
Please, in back.
QUESTION: South China Sea-related. After the tribunal ruling, Japanese Government last week – it also claimed that --
MR TONER: I'm sorry, we're back on South China Sea?
QUESTION: Yes, related. The question is on Japanese Government position on one of – on the island or rock, it claimed called Okinotori in the West Pacific Ocean. Even though the island is only – or the rock is only nine square meters but it claims all maritime entitlement. Do you have a position on this?
MR TONER: Are we still talking about the Taiping rock?
QUESTION: No. I mean, it's related. As you know, Taiping is one of the largest island in Spratly Islands, but one of the rock or island Japanese Government claimed in the West Pacific Ocean, it's only nine square meters --
MR TONER: Sure. I --
QUESTION: -- but Japanese Government – yeah.
MR TONER: Yeah, no – thanks. And thanks for the question. I just would say the United States does not generally take a position on whether small islands around the world are rocks or not for purposes of Article 121-3, and that is part of the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. And that says, and I can read it aloud: "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf."
QUESTION: Then that applies exactly to Okinotori, which doesn't – which can't really maintain the human lives on the rock.
MR TONER: Which cannot or --
QUESTION: Which cannot. So I wonder, so does it mean the United States not necessarily support Japanese Government's claim?
MR TONER: Does not necessarily support the Chinese – I'm not aware of the specific rocks or islands that you're referring to. I'm just saying that we don't take a position on other small islands around the world are considered rocks or not in terms of International Law of the Sea.
QUESTION: Then in that regard, do you think other countries also have fishing rights, freedom of navigation in 200 nautical miles within Okinotori?
MR TONER: Well, again, I think I would just refer you to the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. There is an article there, 123-3 – or 121-3 that specifically lays out what can be considered a rock or what can be considered an island and whether it can have an economic exclusive zone or a continental shelf. There is a very legal definition that we would adhere to.
Please.
QUESTION: Follow-up – my question, Mark. Thanks so much.
MR TONER: Yeah, no worries.
QUESTION: Do you think it's justified for Mr. Erdogan's government to – since it's after coup and its upheaval, do you think for him to justify to go after the journalists and websites and shut them down? There about 20 news websites have been shut down within last 72 hours, and there are lists being published about the journalists – critical journalists that claims that they'll be arrested soon, and I even know one journalist friend already there is a issue – warrant issue for her.
MR TONER: I don't mean to cut you off, but I would just say --
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: Look, and a core democratic value is freedom of speech. A free media, an independent media, is a critical element of any democratic society, any democratic government. So of course, we would have any concerns to restrict that media space – even, as I said, given that in the aftermath of events like Friday's, there can be an attempt by government, any government, to go after or attempt to establish control over what's going out publicly from different media organizations. So I think, again, it speaks to the fact that we would like to see Turkish authorities, Turkish Government exercise some restraint.
QUESTION: Mark, do you expect this – the coup to come up during the anti-ISIL conference this week? I mean, some kind of commitment from the Turks that they are going to play a role, and that despite internal political issues --
MR TONER: It's a fair question. It's really question for the Turkish Government to speak to. I mean, I – look, I mean, we're there to talk about, obviously, anti-ISIL efforts and coalition efforts. Turkey's a strong partner and member of that coalition. It's going to be a chance for us, I think, to do at least – at the very least a signals check of where we stand in the aftermath of Friday's coup attempt. But it's our expectation that these efforts are going to go on, they're going to continue. We have made tremendous progress against Daesh over the past year and year and a half. We want to keep that pressure on.
QUESTION: So there's no concern that even the commander of the airbase from which you operate has been detained?
MR TONER: I mean, look, there is – this is something that the Turkish authorities, Turkish Government is reacting obviously to Friday's events. We support them in going after the perpetrators of Friday's events. But it really – as to the continuity of their armed forces and their security forces, that's really something for them to speak to. I think on our part, like I said, is we would certainly hope that our strong partnership with Turkey with regard to going after Daesh continues.
QUESTION: Can I turn to South Sudan?
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: I'm curious why the U.S. felt it necessary to explain over the weekend that it wasn't – and to reassure South Sudan that you weren't basically trying to take over the country.
MR TONER: Well, I think it was an effort to simply tamp down what was an unwarranted and un – or baseless rumor that somehow the U.S. was planning some military action in South Sudan. We felt it best simply to come out publicly and refute that as strongly as possible given, I think, the volatility of the situation on the ground and the sensitivity of the situation on the ground, that we want – we certainly didn't want any misperceptions or any rumors picking up steam among the people in South Sudan.
QUESTION: So the South Sudanese leaders had not asked you? Is that – these were just purely rumors or press reports, or --
MR TONER: Exactly. I mean, we were picking up from our folks on the ground these kinds of rumors that were being generated. I don't want to speak to who was behind them; I don't know. But we felt that they were getting enough pickup, if you will, enough legs, that we felt we needed to address them.
QUESTION: Has it – did it have anything to do with the 200 U.S. military personnel that were – that are – have been sent to South Sudan?
MR TONER: Well, and that was something – again, we tried to address that in the statement that we released yesterday, which is that we did send a small contingent on July 12th of U.S. military personnel that was sent simply to assist the embassy in bolstering its security and also assisting with the departure of nonemergency personnel. That's it. And so we wanted to make very clear that there was no other or ulterior motive to these military personnel being on the ground in Juba. And we just wanted to explain their presence to the citizens of Juba.
QUESTION: Thanks.
MR TONER: Yeah, hey.
QUESTION: Hey.
MR TONER: Hey.
QUESTION: Can I switch topics?
MR TONER: Of course.
QUESTION: AP has just released a story saying that they've obtained a document that shows that key restrictions on Iran's nuclear program would be eased in slightly more than a decade, and that these restrictions, once they're eased, would allow Iran to make a weapon within six months as compared to a year. Any knowledge of that or a response to that report?
MR TONER: No. No – I'm sorry, you said it's an AP report based on --
QUESTION: A document that they have obtained.
MR TONER: A document from – whose document, I guess is my question.
QUESTION: That's a very fair question --
MR TONER: Okay.
QUESTION: -- to which I don't have an answer.
MR TONER: I – honestly, I don't – Abigail, I don't have any reference to that. We stand by the JCPOA and our belief that it will continue to prevent Iran from being able to pursue any pathway to obtain a nuclear weapon. And as to any alleged document, I just can't speak to it at this point in time.
QUESTION: May I go to Nice for a moment?
MR TONER: Sure, of course.
QUESTION: Do you have any more information about Americans who were involved? I know that you had confirmed that two Americans were killed in the attack. Was there any further information about Americans who were injured or killed?
MR TONER: That's right. So, of course, as we did last week, we strongly condemn the attack in Nice and our condolences go out to the families of those who were killed – certainly the many French – innocent French citizens who were killed in the attack. We did confirm or are able to confirm now that a third U.S. citizen, Nicolas Leslie, was killed in last week's attack, and that is on top of the two other confirmations that we gave of U.S. citizens Sean and Brodie Copeland, who were also killed in last Thursday's attack. And our deepest condolences to their family and friends.
I can say that our consular teams are on the ground in Nice, in Marseille, as well as in Paris, and have been working, frankly, around the clock to provide whatever assistance they can to the families of these victims.
QUESTION: Do you know if that person died as a result of injuries, or did they die on – at the – on the scene on the night?
MR TONER: It's a fair question. I'll look into that. I believe it was during the actual attack.
Thanks, guys.
(The briefing was concluded at 3:01 p.m.)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
