Daily Press Briefing
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
July 19, 2016
Index for Today's Briefing
SECRETARY'S TRAVEL
TURKEY
NORTH KOREA/SOUTH KOREA/REGION
ARMENIA
TURKEY
SYRIA
MIDDLE EAST PEACE
ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS
UKRAINE/RUSSIA/REGION
IRAN
TURKEY
TRANSCRIPT:
2:18 p.m. EDT
MR TONER: How are you? Matt back from his sojourn in the White House. Exciting.
QUESTION: Yes.
MR TONER: Exciting.
QUESTION: Not really. (Laughter.)
MR TONER: Anyway, anyway, good to have you back.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR TONER: Welcome, everyone, to the State Department. Just a couple of things very briefly at the top.
First of all, an update on Secretary Kerry – obviously spent the day, as you know, in London and the U.K. He did meet with the new U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, and he also met with United Nations Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura. That was followed by a bilateral meeting with the new U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Afterwards, he met with both Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, rather, German Foreign Minister Steinmeier, French Foreign Minister Ayrault, Italian Foreign Minister Gentiloni, as well as EU High Representative Federica Mogherini also in London, where they discussed a range of multilateral issues. Finally, I understand Secretary Kerry is ending his day with a working dinner, again hosted by Foreign Secretary Johnson.
I also want to announce some upcoming travel. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Vienna, Austria on July 22nd to join EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and the U.S. delegation in Vienna for the first day of High-Level Talks at the Extraordinary Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.
The meeting is aimed at making progress on a hydrofluorocarbon phasedown amendment for adoption later this year. Achieving such an amendment would build upon the climate change success achieved last year in Paris and is one of the most consequential and cost-effective means the global community can take this year to combat climate change.
Secretary Kerry will then travel to Paris, France on July 22nd, where he will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss ongoing efforts to advance a two-state solution. He'll also from there travel to Vientiane, Laos from July 25th to 26th to participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting, the ASEAN-U.S. Ministerial Meeting, and the Lower Mekong Initiative Ministerial Meeting. At all of these ASEAN meetings, the Secretary will discuss the region's security architecture and shared transnational challenges including maritime security; illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing; the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula; and the South China Sea.
Finally, Secretary Kerry will visit Manila, the Philippines, from July 26th-27th, where he will meet with President Rodrigo Duterte as well as Secretary of Foreign Affairs Perfecto Yasay to discuss the full range of our cooperation with the new Filipino administration.
It's quite a trip, and I know some of you will be joining us on it. That's all I have. Matt, over to you.
QUESTION: Right. Where to begin?
MR TONER: Where to begin. Yes.
QUESTION: Where to begin? Well, let's start with Turkey since this came up at the White House.
MR TONER: Sure thing. Of course.
QUESTION: And your colleague at the White House kind of threw this over to you and the Justice Department, so I wanted to – he said – I wanted to follow up on it.
MR TONER: Yep.
QUESTION: He said that the Turks this morning had submitted some documents electronically relating to Mr. Gulen and his status and their potential eventual extradition request. And he also said that these documents were now being reviewed by the Department of State and the Department of Justice. Can you explain to us what those documents are that you're reviewing? If they don't amount to a formal extradition request, what exactly are they?
MR TONER: Sure. So first of all, you're right and Josh is certainly correct to say that we did receive materials which we are in the process of analyzing under the treaty. As Josh stated, I'm not – also not in a position at this point in time to judge or to say specifically what those documents encompass or whether they constitute a formal extradition request.
What I can say is, as we know, as we all know, that there's a well-defined, well-established process that's in place that governs these types of interactions, and we're looking at these documents now. We'll update you all as appropriate whether – if we determine that they are a formal extradition request, because as we've said, we're waiting for that formal extradition request to come through. And we're also going to continue working closely with Turkey to clarify and work through the process.
I don't think I can stress enough that this is not an overnight process. That's just not how these processes work. So this is going to take some time, but we're going to stand by the extradition treaty and we're going to act in accordance with the extradition treaty. I just can't say – you want me to definitively state what these documents are. We're still in the process of analyzing what they are.
QUESTION: Well, did they tell you, or did they just dump them on you and say, here, look at this, here's 50 pages --
MR TONER: Again, I think they were --
QUESTION: -- but we're not going to tell you what it is?
MR TONER: My understanding --
QUESTION: Didn't it come with a subject line saying --
MR TONER: My understanding is that they were delivered – first of all, even though we have spoken a little bit about the fact that we had not received a formal extradition request yet from the Turkish Government, as you all know, we don't normally share the details of extradition requests, so this is an uncomfortable space to be in as a spokesperson. That said – so I don't want to necessarily --
QUESTION: Are you asking for sympathy? (Laughter.)
MR TONER: Just a little understanding.
QUESTION: Well --
MR TONER: No, no, of course. Let me finish, Matt. So I don't want to attempt to characterize what these documents are until we've made a final evaluation that we believe they constitute a formal extradition request according to the treaty that we have with Turkey. We're still in the process of analyzing that. I don't want to characterize how the Turks have characterized them. I don't want to attempt to speak on behalf of them.
Yeah.
QUESTION: Okay, but in the extradition treaty --
MR TONER: Of course, yes.
QUESTION: -- is there something that's less than a formal extradition request, or is there --
MR TONER: There can be --
QUESTION: Does the treaty lay out a process by which --
MR TONER: There can be --
QUESTION: -- first they give you something that is less than a formal request and then --
MR TONER: Yeah. I mean, and I would refer you to the DO – Department of Justice to speak more definitively on this, or frankly, anyone with a legal background or a legal degree, which I don't – neither of which I have. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Anyone but you. I get that.
MR TONER: No, but my understanding, Matt, is there are other steps and other documents that can be put forward short of a formal extradition request.
QUESTION: And what would those – what might those be?
MR TONER: Again, I don't --
QUESTION: I'm not asking what they are.
MR TONER: Yeah, that's okay.
QUESTION: What is – but what are the kinds of things that they might submit that have not – that don't rise the level of a formal extradition request?
MR TONER: Well, again, I don't want to get into the characterizing what we may have received. I think we're just in the process of evaluating whether these --
QUESTION: All right.
MR TONER: -- whether these are a formal request or not.
QUESTION: All right.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: And then related to this but not on the extradition --
MR TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: -- and this will be it for me.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: There have been an enormous number of arrests and firings in Turkey. We're talking like 20,000 civil servants, 8,000 police, 9,000 troops, every single dean of every pubic university in the country. What do you make of this? Is this not a little bit concerning to you, or is this something that you think is warranted by the attempted coup?
MR TONER: Sure. Good question and a fair question. What we have said and what our assessment continues to be is that in the aftermath of Friday's dramatic events, where the democratically elected Government of Turkey and the people of Turkey felt under threat that their government was about to be overthrown by a military coup, it is understandable and justified, frankly, that the government would take actions to go after the perpetrators, to conduct a thorough investigation into what happened, and really to try to provide for the security of the Turkish people in light of, as I said, what was a – an intended coup of the government, the democratically elected government. So I cannot overstate the sense of the Turkish Government and the Turkish people right now that they truly felt and truly feel under threat.
At the same time, the types of arrests and roundups and that you cite have not gone unnoticed by us. We have urged the Government of Turkey to maintain calm and stability in the wake of Friday's events, but also – or we've also urged them to uphold the democratic standards that the Turkish constitution provides for, as well as rule of law.
So just to sum up, we support completely the efforts to bring the perpetrators of the coup to justice. We just also caution against any kind of overreach that goes beyond that.
QUESTION: You don't – so you don't think that this is overreach? I mean, you're talking tens of thousands of people here. Surely if they were all involved – I mean, if they were all involved in this, one would assume that the coup would have gone a different way, no? I mean, do you really think that this is – that this kind of a reaction is warranted and that is justified, as you said, as in --
MR TONER: In light of --
QUESTION: In going after the coup plotters, has the Government of Turkey, to this point, since Friday, upheld the democratic standards and rule of law that you are calling for them to --
MR TONER: Look, Turkey is an ally; Turkey's a partner; Turkey's a friend. We understand the tremendous stress that the government has gone through. But in all of our conversations – in all of our conversations, whether it's through Secretary Kerry – and also, as you know, President Obama spoke with President Erdogan earlier today – we have also stressed the need to avoid any escalation and avoid any efforts or any actions, rather, that would increase tensions and, frankly, jeopardize the strong democratic tradition that clearly Turkey's citizens hold dear and were out in the street defending on last Friday.
QUESTION: Mark --
MR TONER: Yeah. Sure, Lesley.
QUESTION: -- can you confirm a meeting between the Turkish ambassador and Blinken today, please?
MR TONER: I believe that meeting took place earlier today. I don't have a readout.
QUESTION: Was that – what was that – was that meeting about these materials that you're talking about or --
MR TONER: I'm not clear, Lesley, how those materials were transmitted to us. Josh said electronically. I have no reason to doubt that.
QUESTION: Well, was it more to discuss those materials or was it more to reiterate the advice that you've been talking about in terms of being mindful?
MR TONER: I think it was larger than that, Lesley – or sorry, Elise. I'm sorry.
QUESTION: Okay. We're interchangeable. (Laughter.)
MR TONER: I'm sorry, Elise. See, you're not here enough that I don't get to talk to you all the time. I apologize. Anyway, so I don't have a full readout. I didn't get a chance to talk to Deputy Secretary Blinken after the meeting. I think going into it the expectation was that it's going to be a broader meeting than just talking about the extradition request, obviously. That's important. Clearly it's on the minds of the Turkish Government in the aftermath of Friday's events.
But beyond that, as I said, we are offering our support to Turkey's investigation. We're also offering our support and advice to the Turkish Government as they attempt to go after the perpetrators of Friday's coup attempt. So it's a broader – and also, frankly, the fact that this week – later this week we're going to have a large counter-Daesh or counter-ISIL meeting, and Turkey is an important partner and ally in that effort.
QUESTION: To --
QUESTION: Is the minister – from what I understand that the minister --
MR TONER: Yes --
QUESTION: Yeah.
QUESTION: The --
MR TONER: Go ahead.
QUESTION: The foreign minister is not going, attending any more.
QUESTION: He canceled his visit.
MR TONER: So I have heard those rumors as well. I'd have to refer you to the Turkish Government to speak to who is actually going to represent the delegation here on Thursday.
QUESTION: Who requested the meeting?
MR TONER: Today? I don't know. I believe --
QUESTION: Can you --
MR TONER: I'll check.
QUESTION: And then can I ask
QUESTION: You believe – what were you going to say?
MR TONER: No, I'll check. I don't want to believe, I want to be sure.
QUESTION: Can I follow up on the --
MR TONER: Of course, Lesley.
QUESTION: -- thing on the – Erdogan has asked parliament to consider a death penalty. Do you – is this something that the U.S. would support, given that it --
MR TONER: It's not for just to support or not support. That's a question for the – for Turkey's political system to debate.
QUESTION: But the EU specifically said that this is a deal-breaker if they go ahead with this.
MR TONER: That's – again, that's for the EU to also to comment on. We don't have, frankly, a role to play or anything to say about whether another country would pursue that option.
Please.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mark. On North Korea.
MR TONER: Are we done with this?
QUESTION: No.
MR TONER: Let's finish Turkey. Yeah, let's finish Turkey. Turkey, Turkey. And then we'll get to you, I promise.
QUESTION: Mark, on Friday I was wondering at what time Secretary Kerry was informed about the coup attempt in Turkey?
MR TONER: You've – I mean, he was overseas at the time. I'm trying to remember where he was exactly on Friday. He was in Moscow.
QUESTION: Moscow, yeah.
MR TONER: So you've challenged by ability to calculate international time zones. I'm not, frankly, sure. I'd have to look into it and get back to you. I mean, look, suffice it to say that as this story broke – and much of it broke over social media – the Secretary, as was the President, was immediately briefed about what we knew what was happening on the ground. And I spoke a little bit about this yesterday when somebody – I think a Turkish reporter – asked me why were we so slow in responding.
Well, look, I mean, frankly, we were – within a couple of hours, we had, from the State Department, had issued a very strong statement in support of the democratically elected Government of Turkey, and our – I think our embassy had done that even – had issued a similar statement even earlier than that. But suffice it to say that it was quite a chaotic and confused situation on the ground and so it took a little bit of time for all of us to understand what was happening.
QUESTION: Mark, you said --
MR TONER: Go ahead.
QUESTION: You said the State Department released a strong statement, but actually, Secretary Kerry said that we support democratically elected – no, he said that – would support stability and peace in Turkey. He didn't mention anything about democratically elected government. After a couple hours of Kerry, President Obama said U.S. support democratically elected Turkey. Kerry's first comment didn't mention anything about Turkey democratically elected government.
MR TONER: I think you might be – and I'm not sure – but you might be referring to a brief --
QUESTION: So my question is --
MR TONER: Let me finish.
QUESTION: Yeah, please.
MR TONER: You might be referring to a brief question he got from a reporter on his way out, when, again, we were still assessing what was actually happening on the ground. But if you go back, you'll see that there was a statement issued in Secretary Kerry's name that supported the democratically elected Government of Turkey. But please, go ahead.
QUESTION: Basically, the first reaction of U.S. wasn't anything to do with the democratically elected government; rather, supporting the peace and stability in Turkey. And after three hours, we started to hear the rumors that the coup is failing, and then I heard the statement from President Obama. I'm just saying a couple of stories that I've been reading in the news – yeah.
MR TONER: I'm aware of the stories and let me just --
QUESTION: That's – and --
MR TONER: And I frankly appreciate you raising these stories because it's absurd, some of the allegations that are out there, we've seen in some of the Turkish media, but in other media as well.
QUESTION: And the Turkish Government. It's not just the Turkish media, Mark.
MR TONER: Well, regardless of who is putting them out there, it's absurd to think that the United States was somehow complicit or in any way connected to the events of Friday. I can reject that categorically, wholeheartedly, and just say that this is a NATO ally, it is a partner, it is a democratically elected government, it is a strong democracy, and we stand with and stood with Turkey during that crisis.
QUESTION: And you said that the rumors were already on social media when Secretary Kerry spoke, and it quite difficult for me to understand that U.S. is hearing at the same time as the other people on social media. So you describe Turkey as a strong NATO ally, that the --
MR TONER: Look, I mean, social media – I don't want to get into a discussion of – I mean, we get our information from a variety of sources, including social media, and I think anybody would say today that very often, social media can be ahead of the curve. It depends on the circumstances and it depends on the country, but very often, people who are there on the ground reporting back, it is a – to dismiss it as a source of information, I think, would be foolish for any government or any person to do.
QUESTION: And Turkish PM today said regarding the Mr. Gulen, we have no doubt on the source of this coup attempt, and he said that I would like to ask my American friends, did you look for evidence when demanding the terrorist who carried out the September 11 attack. So he was quite strong that they sure about this – it's related with the Gulen, and they also said that U.S. did not look for evidence when they were going after the terrorist as a first reaction after the attacks.
MR TONER: Well, again, I'm not going to – I mean, I'm not going to re-litigate how we investigated the 9/11 attacks, but I can assure you that we were certain, based on the evidence that we had, of who was behind the attacks. That's a separate issue and I don't want to even go there. But when you're talking about the possible involvement of Gulen in last Friday's events, we have been clear almost from the very first hours when these allegations began to emerge there is an established process for this. There is an extradition treaty that we have had since 1979, I believe, with the Government of Turkey. And the Secretary was very clear in saying that once we receive a formal request, we will look at the evidence, we will judge the evidence, we will determine based on the evidence – not driven by political motivation, not driven by emotion, but based on the evidence we receive, we will make a determination as to the extradition.
QUESTION: And my last question.
MR TONER: Yeah. Sure.
QUESTION: I was wondering how would you describe Mr. Gulen. Like, is he only a religious leader for you who runs schools in U.S. and charity organizations, and without any – holding any power in Turkey or in U.S.? How would you describe him?
MR TONER: Look, I mean, I'm not sure it's incumbent on us to describe what his activities are, the extent of his activities are, his involvement with events in Turkey. He is here, thus far, legally. He runs a variety of operations from where he lives in Pennsylvania.
QUESTION: When you say "variety," would you name some?
MR TONER: I'm not going to – I mean, look I'm not – no, I'm just not going to --
QUESTION: Do you seem his as a – but do you see him – it is a legitimate --
MR TONER: I mean, I think --
QUESTION: Do you see him as a political figure with a constituency inside Turkey? I mean, he's living here --
MR TONER: I mean, I think --
QUESTION: He's living here under – he has a green card.
MR TONER: Right. Correct.
QUESTION: But would you consider him kind of a political – here on political asylum? Like, what is your feeling about why --
MR TONER: Well, I mean, first of all – sure, sure. Let me – so first of all, political asylum is a very defined category. He's never asked for asylum, so that's off the table. Look, I mean, he is, by any assessment, someone who is in the public space in Turkey. He is someone who some Turks are – follow or are interested by him. But I think all we can do to assess him is to say, is he doing anything illegal? Not to our knowledge. Is he involved in last Friday's events? Well, we'll evaluate the evidence that's presented to us, but I don't want to attempt to characterize his behavior as anything other than what it is.
QUESTION: I understand. This isn't the first – like, this --
MR TONER: Yeah. That's true.
QUESTION: -- attempted coup notwithstanding, this is not the first time that the Turks have raised concerns --
MR TONER: Concerns, yeah.
QUESTION: -- or questions about his political activities.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Has there ever been any kind of move to talk to him or investigate any of these allegations?
MR TONER: To talk to Gulen himself?
QUESTION: Or his associates --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- to investigate any of these allegations, because they're longstanding allegations that he's trying to subvert the political process in Turkey.
MR TONER: Sure. Honestly, Elise, I'm not sure what our history of contact has been with him. I can try to get more information for you.
QUESTION: Can you – but can you also take the question about these longstanding allegations that the Turks have --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- and whether also you think that whether some of these – (a) has there ever been any investigation into him and (b) do – is there any – do you think that there's any validity to some of the allegations that the Turkish Government is using the attempted coup as a pretext to go after him, despite the evidence?
MR TONER: Well, that's – so I can answer that, and how I would answer that is we certainly hope not.
QUESTION: I mean against him in particular.
MR TONER: You can't – right, no, I mean – and that's what I think – so first of all, I will take your question about any previous contacts that we've had with him or concerns that we've had with him, and I'll try to get you an answer to that.
But in answer to whether the Erdogan government is using him as some kind of scapegoat or using the coup as a way to target him or go after him, that's why it's so important that we go and work through the established process as dictated by the extradition treaty, and we've been clear that that is an evidence-based process. So it's not for us to pass judgment on what may be behind the motivations and whether it's legitimate or not. We just have to look at the evidence and make a judgment based on that.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MR TONER: I'll get – yeah, sure. Go ahead, Matt, and then I'll get to you.
QUESTION: It's still on Turkey, yeah.
QUESTION: Turkey.
QUESTION: Yeah.
QUESTION: Just follow up what you just said, Mark. You said that you are going to evaluate according to the documents presented to you about the Gulen's involvement with the coup. So you have been presented some evidence regarding tying him to the coup?
MR TONER: So I'm not sure – I think you might have just walked in; I apologize if you didn't hear it. So at the top of the briefing I just talked about – and Josh actually spoke to this at White House. We have received some documents, materials --
QUESTION: I know that. But the question is --
MR TONER: So we're not – yeah, please.
QUESTION: Was it also the evidence within that documents that tie him to coup?
MR TONER: Well, again, I think we're still analyzing what these documents entail and whether they entail or constitute a formal extradition request.
QUESTION: You also said that you have offered your sources for the investigation, you also said yesterday --
MR TONER: Resources.
QUESTION: Resources. Has Turkey communicated with you? Are they interested in --
MR TONER: That's a good question. I'll try to get an answer for that, whether they've followed up on that with us.
Matt, did you have other – are we off Turkey? And then I'll get to --
QUESTION: Yeah, two extremely brief ones. The Secretary's remarks in Moscow that you were talking about before, did he – maybe I misheard because I wasn't here, but did he not say that he hoped for continuity? Was that one of the words that he used?
MR TONER: I believe so.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR TONER: And I apologize. I wasn't actually here. But I think that's the phrasing. I don't have it front of me, Matt, so it's partly --
QUESTION: Okay. All right. And then just lastly, and I think you're probably going to refer me elsewhere, but I have to ask about --
MR TONER: Sure, of course.
QUESTION: -- Incirlik and the power situation there.
MR TONER: Okay.
QUESTION: Literally the power situation there.
MR TONER: Yeah. (Laughter.) No, that's very true.
QUESTION: The electrical power. I'm told that this is – while normally would be handled by DOD, that it has in fact become a political, diplomatic thing because of the situation and the tensions there, and that really it's going to require a political determination by Erdogan or one of his people on the civilian side to get this back up and running. In light of that, I'm just wondering if this is something that you're aware of that might have come up between the President and – the two presidents in their call, or if this is something the embassy is working on.
MR TONER: So I'm not aware that it came up in the actual call between President Obama and President Erdogan. My understanding is that the power was indeed cut. It was running and it may still be running on its backup generator, and has been able to sustain operations based on that generator power.
QUESTION: Yeah, but for how long?
MR TONER: Yeah, that's a good – I was just about to say --
QUESTION: The power should be running out soon, right?
MR TONER: So right, there are redundancy measures in place specifically for this kind of outage or this kind of instance, and we're working through several options to kind of – to continue, rather, those generator options if they're unable to restore commercial power.
QUESTION: Such as?
MR TONER: I don't have the specifics. And that – here's almost where I'd have to --
QUESTION: Solar?
QUESTION: But Mark, do you think it's been --
MR TONER: (Laughter.) But, sorry, I just --
QUESTION: Windmills?
MR TONER: So just to speak broadly, and then I really will refer you to the Department of Defense, who is obviously on top of this and concerned with it – along with, as you noted, our embassy is providing whatever assistance they can provide – but U.S. Central Command has made appropriate adjustments to operations, obviously to minimize any impact that this might have on overall counter-ISIL operations.
QUESTION: But Mark, do you think it's been deliberately kept off?
MR TONER: I don't think – again, I don't have a determination one way or the other. I don't believe so, no.
QUESTION: Really? Because, I mean, we've heard from some corners of the government that they do think it's – whether it's intentional or not, it's really causing you a problem, and if they don't put it on – they don't put the power back on soon, that you'll have to make other arrangements. I mean, it sounds – I don't know if it's being overblown, but it sounds like a pretty serious – if they're --
MR TONER: No, I would say that power supply is always critical.
QUESTION: Is it an issue of power supply, or is the – are the Turks blocking your ability to get stuff done out of Incirlik that could affect the coalition?
MR TONER: Well, so first of all, to my knowledge and understanding, it is simply a matter of power supply that was cut off. I believe --
QUESTION: Do you think it's solely based on the actions of the attempted coup, or is this now – are they holding Gulen hostage something?
MR TONER: I believe – no, no. Our assessment is that it was based on the – it was a result of the coup attempt. But I don't have specific details. I'd refer you to the Department of Defense, who are really keeping abreast of this.
But in answer to your broader question, well, of course. I mean, if there's no power at Incirlik or if we remain on generated power – generator power – that's going to be a problem going forward. But again, U.S. Central Command is looking at that and obviously has contingency plans in place to address that.
QUESTION: I understand about the contingency plans, but it seems like it's more of a – I mean, I'm wondering if – is it purely a power issue or is this now a diplomatic issue that needs to be dealt with by the highest levels of government?
MR TONER: Again, my understanding is that it's a power issue.
Please.
QUESTION: At first, the coup attempt was being described as amateurish, poorly planned, et cetera, and it never had a chance. But today a different version is emerging that it came quite close to succeeding. So I had a two-part question. One, what is your assessment of it? Was it amateurish or was it something very serious? And the second part of it is to the extent that it was very serious and the Turkish Government – the individuals in it – feel that they are threatened, are you concerned that in order to bolster their standing and their position within the country, they'll appeal to anti-American sentiment, which is widespread in the Muslim world – that that will be something they'll resort to?
MR TONER: So the first – answer to your first question is we don't know. Turks are looking at it, investigating this. I mean, look, it was clearly serious enough to cause a major disruption and, for at least a number of hours, cause grave concern that the democratically elected Government of Turkey had been overthrown or was about to be overthrown. So, I mean, it was a serious incident or effort in that sense. But I think the investigation – let's let it play itself out, and as we get more information, we'll have a better assessment. But that's really for the Turkish authorities to speak to.
Your second question was about whether anti-Americanism is a concern. It's always a concern. We --
QUESTION: But the – that they feel really threatened, then they'll play that anti-American card.
MR TONER: Well, look, I mean, my response to that would – simply to restate the fact that Turkey has been a longstanding ally of the United States, and the United States is a friend and a partner with Turkey. That doesn't mean we agree across the board on everything; certainly we don't. But we have a strong common agenda with respect to global issues, and I think we also have a strong belief in the value of democratic values and traditions. We've been very candid about speaking when we have concerns about some of those – when we feel that some of those democratic values or democratic traditions are under threat, but we have a strong relationship with Turkey, and I certainly would reject any insinuation, as I did earlier today, that the United States is in any way involved, is in any way complicit with any such effort to overthrow the democratically elected Government of Turkey. And on the contrary, as I said, we stand strongly on the side of the Erdogan government.
QUESTION: So Mark, do you think that this Gulen issue is – could become a major issue between you and Turkey?
MR TONER: I mean, it – one of the reasons I've been stating and restating the fact that this is a legal process based on evidence, not driven by political agendas or what have you, is to simply underscore the point that wherever we come down on this, it's not – this is not a political decision. This is not something we do want to have in any way, shape, or form affect our relationship with Turkey. What we'll – what we will do and what we can pledge to do is study the evidence, look at it, weigh the evidence, adjudicate it according to the best legal standards that we have, and make a decision, as I said, based on the evidence. I think we have to be very mindful of the fact that emotions are running high in Turkey right now, and that's understandable. So we certainly don't want it to ever become a political issue.
QUESTION: So – and so it's not a political issue already?
MR TONER: Well, again, I think we've – in our conversations and the Secretary's conversations with his counterparts, we've been very clear that – to say that there is a process in place, we will look at this if you – once we have a formal request, and we will respond appropriately.
QUESTION: I just want to be clear.
MR TONER: Of course.
QUESTION: So the State Department and the Justice Department reviews this at the same time, and then Secretary Kerry makes the call on what happens in the end?
MR TONER: So – sorry. So, yes, in coordination with Department of Justice, Department of State will review and process the requests to and from foreign governments, and I'm speaking broadly now about the extradition process. So this – we work with the Department of Justice reviewing, processing requests by foreign governments to extradite fugitives. And we advise on obligations set out in extradition treaties. And we do – the Department of State does make final determination on whether or not to surrender anyone to a foreign country under – after a U.S. district judge or magistrate judge has determined that the charge underlying the extradition is justified.
QUESTION: And this process can take up to years or months?
MR TONER: I don't have a timeframe for you. It does take a while. It's not going to be an overnight situation.
QUESTION: Mark.
MR TONER: Yes.
QUESTION: Thank you. On --
QUESTION: Can we stay in that region?
QUESTION: On North Korea – on North Korea --
MR TONER: (Laughter.) Apparently not. I'll get back to you, I promise.
QUESTION: Sure.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR TONER: Go ahead. You've been waiting.
QUESTION: As you know, that the North – yesterday, North Korea launched three Scud ballistic missile into east coast in South Korea. Regarding on this, North Koreans continued a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. What is the United States position on this? Is – do you have any additional --
MR TONER: Well, we strongly condemn yesterday's missile tests. They violate UN Security Council resolutions that explicitly prohibit North Korea from using or launching or using ballistic missile technology. This is just another in a series of provocations that raises the concerns of the international community and, frankly, only strengthens our resolve to continue to put pressure on the leadership of North Korea to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program, but also to hold it accountable for the kind of actions that it's undertaken that, frankly, threaten international security.
So we're going to keep the pressure on. We've got a strong sanctions regime that we strengthened even further after – recently after missile tests – or nuclear tests, rather. And we're going to continue to apply pressure and we'll continue to call on North Korea to stop its provocative actions and respond to the international community's concerns.
QUESTION: U.S. have any individual or additional sanctions to North Korea or --
MR TONER: No, nothing at this point. I don't have anything to preview or to add at this point. But look, I mean, we're always looking at ways we can continue to apply pressure, and what we talked about, frankly, is the sanctions are pretty severe right now. What matters is how we enforce those sanctions and that actually involves better coordination among all the countries in the region, and that includes China. We've talked quite a bit about that.
Please, Nike. Yeah.
QUESTION: Can we stay in the – Armenia? Do you have anything --
MR TONER: Kind of in the – (Laughter.)
QUESTION: -- on what happened – yes, neighbor of Turkey – do you have anything on --
MR TONER: (Off-mike.)
QUESTION: -- what happened in Armenia? The militants is attacking a police building and --
MR TONER: Yeah, not a great deal. I mean, look, first of all – you're talking about the police station --
QUESTION: Right.
MR TONER: -- hostage situation. I mean, we offer our thoughts and prayers to the families of the police officers who were killed or injured during – I think the incident took place Sunday in Yerevan's Erebuni district. We obviously condemn strongly the use of violence to effect political change in Armenia or anywhere. We encourage Armenian authorities to handle the situation with appropriate restraint, but again, our condolences go out to those police officers who lost their lives in the attack.
QUESTION: Given --
MR TONER: Please.
QUESTION: Given the geographic proximity, are you concerned – is the United States concerned what happened in Turkey may be an inspiration, may be inspiring neighbors or other countries to do a similar thing?
MR TONER: Sure. I mean, frankly, it doesn't even have anything to do with the geographic proximity. I hope not. We would hope not. Using military force or force to overthrow a government is – a democratically elected government, is always a bad idea. We want to see political change through democratic processes. And so we would certainly want to caution anybody who thinks that violence is a plausible way to achieve any political aims.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR TONER: In the back. What's that? I'm sorry, Matt. You got – your --
QUESTION: Well, I'm just curious --
MR TONER: Your smirk is rising.
QUESTION: No, it's not a smirk. I'm just puzzled.
MR TONER: Of course.
QUESTION: You condemn the use of violence to effect political change in Armenia or anywhere? Really?
MR TONER: What am I --
QUESTION: Can you think of anytime in the recent – in our lifetimes when the United States has not only not condemned the use of violence to effect political change but actually supported it?
MR TONER: Again, I'm sorry – I'm not trying to be dense here, but I mean, I – situations are complex in many parts of the world, but I think it's a pretty common dictate of ours to say that there's no military solution to any crises, political or otherwise.
QUESTION: Okay. Can I ask you about Syria?
MR TONER: Please, of course.
QUESTION: Just for a second, considering there's a lot of violence going on there.
MR TONER: Yeah, that's a great example.
QUESTION: I'm wondering if you have seen or you're aware of this beheading of a child by a group that is supported by the United States.
MR TONER: Yeah. No, thanks. We've obviously seen the reports, and we just can't confirm. We're seeking more information. We understand from unconfirmed reports that the group, the Free Syrian Army, has appointed a commission to investigate the incident and that they've made arrests of those allegedly involved. I'd refer you to – it's Al Zinki, I guess, is the group --
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: -- for additional information. But I can only say that it's an appalling report, and obviously, we're very concerned certainly if it's accurate. We're trying to get more information and more details.
QUESTION: Okay. Is that the kind of thing that could – that if you're – if you are able to confirm it and if you do get – if you're able to back up the reports --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: Is this the kind of thing that would affect assistance, U.S. assistance to this specific group but also just in general to the FSA?
MR TONER: Well, I think we'd take a – if, as you said, if we can prove that this was indeed what happened and this group was involved in it, I think it would certainly give us pause.
QUESTION: It would give you pause?
MR TONER: Well, give us pause about any assistance or, frankly, any further involvement with this group.
QUESTION: So, in other words, so it will draw – there will be some kind of consequence if you're satisfied that this actually happened?
MR TONER: I can't – again, I can't say what that consequence will be, but it will certainly give us, as I said, serious pause and we'll look at, frankly, any affiliation or cooperation with this group we may have going forward, if these allegations are proven true.
Yes, Samir. And I'll get to you, I promise.
QUESTION: On his meeting with President Abbas, is the Secretary going to provide Abbas with any new thinking or new ideas?
MR TONER: It's a fair question. I don't have a lot of detail going into the meeting. That's obviously a few days away. I think it's more just an opportunity for him to update and talk to President Abbas about where we stand with regard to these issues and the two-state solution and efforts to reach a two-state solution. We have the French proposal out there. We've had meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu. So I think it's a chance for the Secretary to sit down with Abbas and both hear what his thinking is but also to share our thoughts on possible ways forward.
Please. Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: On – just on the Palestinians.
MR TONER: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: The prime minister of Israel has complained rather forcefully about a monument that the PA just erected to a person who the Israelis say is a terrorist, who was also responsible for killing an American citizen. I'm wondering if you have any thoughts about that.
MR TONER: Matt, I don't have any particular – I'm just – I wasn't aware of that. I mean, I would – I mean, my response in general would be obviously we don't want to see any kind of efforts to glorify any individuals who are involved in any acts of terrorism. But I don't know specific – I'd have to get more specifics about this monument.
Please, sir, in the back.
QUESTION: About Secretary Kerry's visit to London --
MR TONER: Okay.
QUESTION: -- you said he meets with top foreign policy leaders of Europe to discuss a range of issue.
MR TONER: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: So is the Ukrainian issue a point of that discussion as well as Russian aggression?
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: And do you have any details of that?
MR TONER: So I don't have a readout of the meeting to the point whether I know that they specifically discussed Ukraine. I can imagine that it did come up, if not in his meetings today then certainly with his bilaterals with foreign minister – Foreign Secretary, rather, Johnson. And also, obviously, he met in recent days with EU High Representative Mogherini.
And frankly, Ukraine is always a topic of discussion and where we stand in terms of ongoing violence but also in terms of implementing Minsk. And I know that on July 18th, there were some series of attacks in eastern Ukraine that frankly raises concerns anew. I think that seven members of Ukrainian armed forces were killed and 14 were injured. This is the highest number of casualties on a single day in the past year, and it endangers the ceasefire and Minsk implementation. So I think we're all concerned about it.
And this was also – I would go back to last weekend. He was in Moscow and he did talk with Foreign Minister Lavrov and with President Putin about the need to fully implement Minsk so that we can conclusively end the fighting in eastern Ukraine.
QUESTION: Do you think that the agreement that you reached with the Russians on Syria, that the Russians are using this as pretext to kind of take advantage of the – you know what I mean? Like while they're being more – while they're promising to be more cooperative in Syria, they feel that – they feel that they're taking that as a yellow light to --
MR TONER: Not necessarily. I think we've been somewhat successful in separating the two issues.
QUESTION: I mean, you really don't think that they're – you really don't think that they're playing Ukraine off of Syria?
MR TONER: I mean, I don't know if I would connect the two. What I would probably just say is we've been continually concerned about the lack of follow-through by the Russians in implementing Minsk. Whether that's involved or some kind of counteraction to their efforts in Syria, frankly we've been concerned and disappointed by their lack of follow-up with regard to the cessation of hostilities and the political process in Syria. So I don't know if I can make a direct correlation or a tit-for-tat comparison like that.
Is that it, guys?
QUESTION: No, I've got just a few.
MR TONER: Okay.
QUESTION: They'll be quick though.
MR TONER: Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: About Iran.
MR TONER: Oh, yeah.
QUESTION: Yesterday in response to the story out of Vienna on the – this document – the Iranian --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- R&D document. You said in a written comments --
MR TONER: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: -- that there is no secret document or secret deal. The supposed secret document appears to be --
MR TONER: You're taking my line. I was just going to reiterate that forcefully from that --
QUESTION: Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out what exactly is it in your mind --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- and the mind of people in this building that constitutes "secret."
MR TONER: Well, I mean, look, this is a fair question.
QUESTION: Because --
MR TONER: It's a --
QUESTION: -- later on it says --
MR TONER: Go ahead.
QUESTION: -- this plan is an IAEA Safeguards Confidential Document, meaning it is not public. "Not public," to me – I don't care what you want to call it – if it's not public, it is in some sense secret.
MR TONER: So look, let me attempt to answer this question. So I think my response, our response, was simply to say that this wasn't a document that was somehow unknown to the P5+1, that was somehow unknown to those who are implementing the JCPOA or the IAEA, and certainly it was not something that was unknown to Congress. This is a, and as you note, an IAEA safeguards confidential document, and that means it's not in the public sphere. But it's also – and again, we're drawing assumptions here on what this document is, but as you note, it's Iran's – most likely Iran's R&D plan. And that was thoroughly vetted and reviewed by the P5+1 as well as the IAEA. So this – I think what we're pushing back on is the sense that this is somehow some new document to drop that changes --
QUESTION: Well, it's not new in the sense --
MR TONER: -- the parameters or changes our expectations with regard to Iran's nuclear program past year 10.
QUESTION: It's not --
MR TONER: Sorry.
QUESTION: It's not new in the sense that it was, yes, completed back in July. But it is new in the fact that nobody outside – and there's no suggestion that the IAEA or the P5+1 didn't review or sign off on this. There's also no suggestion that members of Congress who might have known – might have had an interest in it might – would have been able to see it. But no one outside that knew what it was or knew its contents.
MR TONER: But this is part --
QUESTION: Did they? No.
MR TONER: Sorry. Okay.
QUESTION: So that's the – it's the information in the document that is new to the public.
MR TONER: To the public.
QUESTION: Right?
MR TONER: I'm not going to argue that. Yes, that's true.
QUESTION: Okay. So is it safe to assume, then, that, since you say that it was reviewed and that the Administration has full confidence that allowing Iran to operate second and third-generation centrifuges and escalating up their usage in years 11 through 13 of the deal will not have any impact on their ability to – on their breakout time capability after year 15, when the restrictions on the stockpile – excuse me – restrictions on the stockpile, uranium stockpile, lapse?
MR TONER: So we're confident that Iran's enrichment capacity in the years after, I guess, year 10 – the initial decade of the JCPOA – will undergo measured, incremental growth that is consistent with a peaceful civilian nuclear program. And if, for whatever reason, Iran tries to pursue a military nuclear program, we're confident that we have the safeguards in place and the access in place to the information, to the data, to the material that we need to watch that we can detect that. So --
QUESTION: Until – even after year 15?
MR TONER: Even after 15.
QUESTION: Okay. So – but you're not concerned the --
MR TONER: But again, part of the agreement here – sure.
QUESTION: You're not concerned, though, that allowing them or giving them the ability to spin these centrifuges, second and third-generation centrifuges, would give them the expertise, experience to crank it up once they're no longer constrained in other areas, especially the stockpile?
MR TONER: But again, I think what it is is we're – so there's kind of two aspects. One is this was always part of the agreement that Iran could begin to develop after year 10, consistent with a peaceful civilian nuclear program.
QUESTION: Yes.
MR TONER: Under the JCPO – under – sorry.
QUESTION: Yes, that --
MR TONER: Under the IAEA's watchful eye --
QUESTION: That – it says that in --
MR TONER: Yes.
QUESTION: -- actually in the JCPOA.
MR TONER: Sorry. Yes. That's correct.
QUESTION: But this document is not in the JCPOA, but --
MR TONER: No, but this is --
QUESTION: -- is the details of what that --
MR TONER: Sorry. But this is part of its – my understanding is it's part of – right, it's part of Iran's commitment to – I'm looking for the – what the terminology is. But anyway, it's about Iran trying to comply with IAEA standards going forward to develop a peaceful nuclear program and that they're – part of that involves them coming up with this quote/unquote "R&D plan" and submitting that to the IAEA.
QUESTION: Right.
MR TONER: Yeah. Sorry.
QUESTION: Which no one in the public knew about until yesterday, correct? The contents of it.
MR TONER: That's right. But --
QUESTION: Okay.
MR TONER: But it was shared with P5+1 members; it was shared with the IAEA.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MR TONER: I understand it was not in – it was – no, it was not in the public domain.
QUESTION: All right. And then just also on Iran, the comments by Foreign Minister Zarif today. I don't know if you've seen them. Pretty dismissive of the United States – they can't do a damn thing.
MR TONER: Look, I mean, we try not to wade into what we consider to be remarks that play to domestic audiences in Iran and --
QUESTION: Well, okay. So you don't think that they – that he actually means this because he was just saying --
MR TONER: We're confident that we have all the safeguards, all the access that we need to successfully monitor and, if needed, to restrict Iran's ability to pursue a nuclear weapon.
QUESTION: And these don't concern you at all?
MR TONER: I mean, look, it's not helpful, but he's playing to a domestic audience.
QUESTION: Just one single question.
MR TONER: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: How do you see Turkey right now? Do you see it – consider it stable after the coup, or --
MR TONER: It's a fair question. It was a pretty dramatic, cataclysmic event in the political sphere of Turkey – well, heck, in the whole – and beyond the political sphere. And so – but we believe that the government has taken initial steps to restore calm and stability, and I think what's critical in the coming days and weeks is that it also takes steps to assure that Turkey's democratic traditions and values are also sustained, because that is what brought people out in the street. That is what the Turkish people hold dear and we want to see preserved, and we certainly don't want to see any military coup or attempted military coup restrict that in any way.
Thanks, guys.
QUESTION: Thank you.
(The briefing was concluded at 3:14 p.m.)
DPB # 127
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
