BACKGROUND PRESS CALL BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ON ACTIONS RELATED TO TURKEY’S INCURSION IN NORTHEAST SYRIA

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 14, 2019

BACKGROUND PRESS CALL BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ON ACTIONS RELATED TO TURKEY’S INCURSION IN NORTHEAST SYRIA Via Teleconference 6:44 P.M. EDT      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Good evening.  Thank you for joining this background briefing on today’s actions related to Turkey’s incursion in Northeast Syria.  This call is embargoed until its conclusion and is attributable, on background, to senior administration officials.      Today, we have [senior administration officials].  Each of our senior officials will give brief remarks, and then we will go into questions and answers.  With that, I will turn it over to our first senior administration official.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you.  And thanks to my colleagues from both State and Treasury.  This was truly an indefatigable effort over the weekend for all of our departments and agencies, getting us to the point where we could take action this afternoon.  And great credit -- great credit to our colleagues across the board.      As I’m sure you all know by now, as was announced by Secretary Mnuchin, NSA O’Brien, and the Vice President just now, the President spoke today to both General Mazloum and President Erdoğan.  He is fully engaged in the developments in Northeast Syria.  And we all firmly believe that the United States is the only party with the gravitas to arbitrate with both sides.      That said, the President took some very serious action today.  He signed an executive order authorizing the imposition of sanctions against current and former officials of the government of Turkey and any person contributing to Turkey’s destabilizing actions in Northeast Syria.      That was not the end of it.  The steel tariffs will be increased back up to 50 percent.  And the United States will also immediately halt negotiations being led by Secretary Wilbur Ross, who visited Turkey last month, with respect to a hundred-billion-dollar trade deal.      Given Turkey’s current economic weakness, the action today is deeply serious, and designed to focus Turkey’s attention on the gravity of the situation in Northeast Syria.  But we do remain committed to pursuing a negotiated resolution to the situation, which is why the President directed a senior-level delegation to depart for Ankara as quickly as possible to see what we can -- if we can achieve a deal.      The President is deeply committed to ending the unnecessary violence and loss of life in the Northeast.  He is particularly mindful of the plight of religious minorities and any other humanitarian atrocities that may occur.      So, with that, I will turn it over to my esteemed colleague from the State Department.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you.  Turkey’s going into Northeast Syria -- an area of surprising calm and tranquility in the middle of the chaos of Syria and the uncertain situation in Iraq -- has upturned one of the real success stories of the International Coalition to Defeat ISIS and also our overall Syria policy of a resolution to the long-running civil war and the containment and expulsion of Iran.  These are crucial diplomatic and security interests for us and for the region -- defeating ISIS, getting Iranians out, and a political solution.      So, what we’re trying to do now is, first of all, restore the situation as best we can via ceasefire, by a reconciliation of the various interests that are in play at this time in the Northeast, and ensuring that the various forces -- which involve not just our partner, the SDF; our own troops, who are still on the ground; the Turkish military and their associated and, in many cases, ill-disciplined and very violent militias; as well as Russian and Syrian forces -- to get them all to hold in place, and to then come forward with a set of plans to resolve the underlying reasons why Turkey went in to Turkey’s -- to meet Turkey’s security needs -- its legitimate security needs -- and the needs of the people of Northeastern Syria.      I’ll stop there.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  All right.  This is [senior administration official].  I’ll be very brief, in the interest of time.  So, as you all are aware, Turkey’s actions in Northeast Syria have made the security situation, as Secretary Esper has said, “untenable,” creating a significant increased threat to U.S. forces.   In accordance with the President’s directive, U.S. forces are currently executing a deliberate withdrawal from Syria.  I cannot go into timelines and operational details, so I would request you not waste valuable time on those kinds of questions.  I just can’t go into it.      This is all because Erdoğan refused to listen to our repeated warnings that a potential military action like this would cause widespread conflict and a growing threat to the region.      And I’ll just leave it there because I want to get to everybody’s questions.  Thank you.      Q    Hi, this is Yamiche Alcindor with PBS NewsHour.  My question is: Is this the President now trying to stop something that Republicans warned him and Democrats warned him was going to happen when he (inaudible) that he was going to be withdrawing or lowering the troops in Syria?  Is this not a problem that was created by President Trump’s own actions, and the administration is now trying to fix those actions?      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I would actually take issue with the premise of that question.  This was not something that was caused by an action of President Trump.  This was something that was caused by an action of President Erdoğan’s, who, after reported warnings that this was a bad idea -- that he shouldn’t do it; that the United States in no way endorsed this activity -- took a very, very rash, ill-calculated action that has had what, for him, were unintended consequences.      I continue to believe that the very small number of troops we had in the area that was being targeted was something -- as Secretary Esper has said -- we could not responsibly leave them there when the Turks were obviously geared to go in.      But make no mistake about it: This was an action of President Erdoğan’s.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And I just add, from a DOD perspective, that the forces that we -- the Secretary withdrew from the Northeast -- you know, that dozens of forces -- were in an area that was 40 kilometers long and 30 kilometers deep.  The idea that somehow those couple dozen forces would somehow be in a position to stop an invading army is just not logical, and it would be extremely dangerous to request those forces to achieve that mission.      So, rather than them being encircled and potentially being in the crossfire of an ongoing conflict, we had to focus on the force protection of those special operators.      Q    Hey, it’s Steve Holland, with Reuters.  When the President made his request or his demand to Erdoğan to have a ceasefire and stop the invasion, did Erdoğan give any indication that he would do so?      And, secondly: When will the Vice President leave on his trip to the region?      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Hey, Steve.  I think the President would not be willing to send a high-level delegation on short notice like this unless he was pretty confident there was at least a chance at getting to a ceasefire.  And, as I said in my opening remarks, his commitment to ensuring the safety of civilians is such that he’s willing to take that chance.      As you may have noticed, this was late-breaking news this afternoon.  We didn’t think it was possible a couple of hours ago; now we do.  So, I don’t have any details on travel for you yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we do.      Q    Thank you.          Q    (Inaudible.)      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  We can’t hear this question at all.      Q    Hi everyone.  This is Vivian Salama, from the Wall Street Journal.  I have two questions for you.  First, can tell us what the status is of the ISIS detainees?  There were some reporting -- it’s pretty clear now that it was false reporting -- that some detainees had escaped, who had been set free.  And if you could clarify that, that would be great.      And secondly, what is the status of our troops in Al Tanf?  Are they also going to be withdrawing, or is that not affected by the withdrawal in Northeast Syria?  Thank you.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I’ll start from DOD’s perspective and ask State to add anything else for the detainee question.      Look, we don’t have a large footprint in Syria, so we can’t be everywhere and know everything.  We are very concerned about the detainee -- potential for detainee releases from the prisons and as well as the IDP camps.      At the same point, we are -- we have to corroborate information on open media that you all see as well.  So, I can’t provide confirmation of specifics of the number of potential detainees that have been -- that may have potentially escaped over the last few days.  It continues to be a significant concern.  And we have good evidence that it has happened, but I can’t confirm it here for you today.      With respect to ATG, I think the President’s note -- or statement to the press today that he released highlights -- that we will continue, for the time being to stay at ATG.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, just to reinforce that, Vivian: You know, we had, up until President Erdoğan’s decision to disrupt the situation, a tenable detention arrangement in place.  His incursion disrupted that.  I think the President did mention that -- of the very high-value detainees, such as -- I think he particularly referenced the “Beatles” have been secured by our forces. So this is something we are extremely mindful of.  And in a touching example of inter-agency harmony, my colleague is 100 percent correct that ATG is not being discussed right now.      Q    Thank you.  Brian Karem, from Playboy.  I’d just like to verify -- if I could go back to first that you were asked -- I understand that it was Turkey that took the action, but does this administration in any way think that the action that it took in withdrawing our forces from that part of Syria may have led to the actions that Turkey took in Syria?  And what -- if you could further explain what we’re doing to make sure that the ISIS detainees are being held or not being released, it would be great.  I’d like to drill down on that as well.  Thanks.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  In terms of the impetus behind Erdoğan’s action, I would refer you to the Turkish government.  I think they’d tell you with complete confidence that nothing that we did, one way or the other, was going to deter the Turks from what they wanted to do in this case.      So I think moving, as my colleague put it, a couple of dozen of guys around in Northeast Syria is not exactly an impetus behind a major incursion like this.  Erdoğan was going to act, regardless of what we did.      In terms of the detainees, we have been deeply concerned about this issue for a long time.  We have tried very hard, over a period of months, to get the home countries for these detainees to take responsibility for them.  We think that is the logical resolution for this situation.  And we are all continuing to work with other partner nations who might be able to contribute.      But this has got to be a broad effort to take care of this problem.  This cannot be the United States alone as the world’s jailer (inaudible).      Q    (Inaudible) Erdoğan since the forces in Turkey moved into Syria?      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Sorry, I didn’t catch that.      Q    Has President Trump spoken directly with Erdoğan since Turkey moved its forces into Syria?      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  As the Vice President, the National Security Advisor, and the Secretary of Treasury just discussed: yes.  He talked to -- and I said it at the top -- he talked to both General Mazloum and President Erdoğan this afternoon.      Q    Thank you.      Q    Hi everyone.  Thanks very much for doing this.  It’s Nick Schifrin from PBS NewsHour.  [A senior administration official] mentioned the three U.S. goals in Syria that have been consistent over the last year plus.  I just wanted to make sure: Are those three goals still the same today?  And does withdrawing troops affect the U.S. ability to achieve those goals?  And when it comes to calling for a ceasefire and mediation, would you accept Russian mediation, if that’s what happens over the next few days and week, if that’s what the parties want?  Thanks.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  This is the State Department.  The overall goals of the United States in Syria are unchanged.  The three goals that the President gave us earlier this year remain in place.  That’s the defeat of ISIS, that’s the removal from Syria of all Iranian-commanded forces, and a political solution in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254.      The withdrawal of U.S. military forces is a change in the means that we use to try to achieve those ends.  It’s not a change in the ends themselves.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Operator, we have time for one last call.  We have to wrap up at 7:00 p.m. exactly.      Q    And, I’m sorry -- Russian mediation?  If you can still hear me.      Q    Hi, this is Jeff Schogol, with Task and Purpose.  The Defense Department official said that there’s an orderly withdrawal from Syria.  Did you mean all troops are leaving Syria, or that some were staying at Al Tanf?  And what is the timeline for withdrawing troops from Syria?      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  As the President made clear today in his statement, Al Tanf Garrison is not currently at issue in this withdrawal, (inaudible) withdrawal.      And, as I stated at the beginning, I can’t discuss operational details, such as timelines and troop placement inside Syria for purposes of force protection and operation security.      Q    And just one quick follow-up question.  Can you say that ISIS fighters have been -- we talked about ISIS detainees being freed.  Are ISIS fighters being freed?      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Again, from a DOD’s perspective, we’re continuing to monitor and to try to corroborate as much information as we’re seeing in open-source intelligence information or from other folks on the ground.  I cannot corroborate at this point exactly who may have been -- who may have broken out of the prisons at this point.      SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  All right everyone.  Thank you for joining today’s call.  As a reminder, the call is attributable, on background, to senior administration officials.  The call is now concluded and the embargo is lifted.  Have a good evening.                                 END                 7:00 P.M. EDT