BACKGROUND PRESS CALL
BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
ON PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING SYRIA
Via Telephone
1:39 P.M. EDT
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, everyone, for joining the call this afternoon. Just as a reminder, the contents will be on background, attributed to a senior administration official, and the contents of the call are embargoed until the call is complete.
With that, I'll turn it over to [senior administration official].
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you, everyone. I believe most folks on the call probably saw the President's remarks earlier today. I'm not going to repeat those. They were strong remarks and speak for themselves.
I will give you just a little bit of background and then open up for questions. As you know, Turkey informed the administration this morning that the five-day pause that had been called for on the October 17, 2019, agreement ended, and it turned into what was referred to in the agreement, in paragraph 11, as a "halt" of Operation Peace Spring.
And so, the agreement had the effect that we had hoped, that the President hoped it would have, as well as, I believe, the parties.
The President, earlier today, spoke with General Mazloum of the SDF. The SDF, he reported, had many of their fighters spared and many of their people spared from combat and death or injury. He was very thankful for the efforts and for the pause, which allowed the SDF to withdraw safely, for the most part, from northeast Syria, from the safe-zone area.
I also want to note that, at the time that I went to Ankara with our team, with our delegation, and at the time that the Secretary and the Vice President were there, there were widespread reports of rocket attacks from Syria, into Turkey, that had targeted Turkish civilians and citizens. The Turks had claimed that there were over 20 citizens -- of their citizens that had been killed as a result of these rocket attacks and more than that number injured. That rocket fire into Turkey has now also, as a result of the pause and now the halt of the operation, that has ended.
So in light of the foregoing, the President did lift the sanctions that had been imposed on Turkey on the, I believe, the 18th and 19th. We are looking forward to good relations with Turkey, which is a NATO member. We also look to continue a good relationship with the Kurds in Syria. We're obviously hoping for the best in Syria, and we'll continue to work with Turkey, with the Kurds, with our allies who are also engaged in the region, to ensure that civilians are protected, that religious minorities, including Christians and Yazidis and others who have been the targets of past attacks by ISIS and others, are protected. And we're going to continue to work for peace and stability in the region.
So, with those comments, I'll now open up to questions.
Q Hi, thanks so much for doing the call today. I was wondering if you could help us understand the President's remarks about trying to protect the oil in the Kurdish area of Syria, what the U.S. interest is there. And right now, that oil -- most of it -- is going to the Assad government, so whether or not that's the trade that the U.S. is trying to protect.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, thank you for that question. Look, the reason that the United States has been in Syria is to defeat ISIS. The physical caliphate was defeated in an extraordinary effort -- as a result of extraordinary efforts by American service men and women, as well as our coalition partners in that fight.
The President has stated that we are going to have a residual force in the region to protect areas that in part contain -- or hold the oil fields, as well as the base down at Al-Tanf, in southern Syria. Those are important areas to allow us to constrain the resurgence of ISIS. And there is some artillery benefit, of course, to Kurds and other Democratic Forces being in control of the oil.
As far as how the oil will be sold and that sort of thing, that's something that we'll certainly look into and we'll monitor going forward. And we'll keep a close eye on that.
So, eventually, the goal of the administration, the goal of the President -- as he made very clear today -- is to have all American troops out of Syria, and that's something that we believe will ultimately happen. But, in the meantime, we are going to have some residual forces in the appropriate areas in Syria to ensure that the dramatic victory that the President and the United States and our coalition allies won against ISIS remains and -- remains in place.
Q Hey. Thanks for doing the call. How many troops are you talking about as part as this residual force? And secondly, what is your understanding of the Russian role in this safe zone? And are you concerned about it?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi, Steve. Look, I'm not going to get into the number of soldiers that we're going to have deployed in any specific area. There are soldiers that are being moved. Some soldiers are being moved out of what is the area of operations near the border. Some will go to Iraq, some will go to other places. How those soldiers will be dispersed, I'm not going to get into for their own safety. Those are operational issues that, at some point, Steve, Pentagon may want to address. But that's a question that is better given to the -- or, asked to the Pentagon.
But we'll make sure that wherever our soldiers are, that they have proper force protection, both air cover and that they'll have the necessary assets on the ground to protect themselves.
And, I'm sorry, Steve, what was the second part of your question?
Q What is your understanding of the Russian role in this safe zone now? And are you concerned about it? Are you wary -- watching them warily? Or what, exactly?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Look, I think we always watch the Russians warily, wherever they are. And so, the deal between Turkey and the Russians is something that's between them. We did not have any role to play in that. The area that we had worked with the Turks on was roughly the area between Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, down to the M4, M10 highway. And that's the area from which the SDF force were successfully evacuated -- both the wounded and the fighters. And that's the area where the operations have ceased.
To the extent that the Turks are making other deals with the Russians, I mean, we -- you know, we caution our friends in Turkey and all others to be careful about whatever those deals are.
We will closely monitor how the rights of the affected populations are in those areas. And we call on all sides -- whether they're Russians, Syrians, Turks, Kurds -- to prevent the forcible removal of civilians from their homes and to avoid the use of military force, especially when it's in the cities and the residential areas.
Q Hi. Yes. Could you please just talk a little bit more on that point, I think, you were just referring to there, the forced relocation of civilians? How will the United States keep an eye on that? Do you consider this to be a form of ethnic cleansing? And if so, what will the United States do about any perceived war crimes or ethnic cleaning that may take place?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, Anne. You know, as of now, I don't think we've seen any evidence of ethnic cleansing. And so, you know, that's obviously -- that would be a very serious thing if it took place. We'll monitor the situation in Syria closely. We have plenty of means and methods to do so. I know that the press will be watching it closely as well. And we would, you know, discourage -- strongly discourage any side from forced population removals and ethnic cleansing. I mean, that's just something that doesn't belong in the 21st century.
And so, I hope that won't happen. We've been told by our Turkish colleagues that there are no such plans. And so it's -- I don’t expect it will happen. And I think that any side that thinks, in this day and age, that they can get away with ethnic cleansing is sorely mistaken. So, that's something we'll definitely keep an eye on.
As far as war crimes, we would expect, if there are war crimes that are committed or there are allegations of war crimes, you know, with -- and whoever committed war crimes, I mean, those are things that should be documented and investigated. We would expect the militaries of the countries involved to investigate any allegations of war crimes that take place in areas that they control. And it's something, again, we'll keep a close eye on.
But there's no place in today's world for ethnic cleansing or war crimes. Those are incredibly serious and they're things that we'll keep an eye on.
Q Hi, thank you for this. My question is about relations with Turkey. You said that you are looking forward to good relations with Turkey. But yesterday, Special Envoy James Jeffrey was very critical in testifying before Congress about President Erdoğan's decision to invade Syria. Do we just pick up and move back? Are we going to resume trade talks with Turkey? Are we going to allow them into the F-35? What happens?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, that’s a great question. And, look, I don’t think it's just Ambassador Jeffrey that was disappointed in this military operation that Turkey undertook. I was disappointed. I think the President was disappointed. Many of you probably saw the letter that he sent to President Erdoğan. I think he spelled out very clearly his own disappointment at the military operation. But the reality is, the operation took place. There was fighting that broke out as a result of it.
And the President stepped in and negotiated both a temporary ceasefire that now appears to be permanent, as the President said. "Permanent" is somewhat of a loaded term in the Middle East, but it’s a -- the President stepped in when he needed to and helped save a lot of lives -- Turkish lives, Kurdish lives, civilian lives, lives of soldiers on both sides. So we think that's a victory.
We're appreciative of the fact that the Turks have appeared to live up to their end of the bargain. We're appreciative of the fact that the SDF appears to have lived up their -- to the things that they told us they would do.
So, look, Turkey is a very important country. It's a country of almost 90 million people. It sits in a strategic location between the Eurasian landmasses. It's a member of NATO. We have, you know, hundreds of thousands of Americans in Turkey. We have thousands of U.S. troops -- soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines -- in Turkey. Turkey is a treaty ally of the United States. So, look, we want -- as the President often says, we want good relations with everyone. And we would certainly like to have good relations with Turkey.
You pointed out a couple of issues: the F-35, the S-400. Look, the United States has made it very clear: As long as -- if Turkey makes the S-400 operational or continues to purchase the S-400, or makes other significant military purchases from Russia, that’s inconsistent with them being part of the F-35 program.
My hope is that the Turks would decide not to move forward with their S-400 program, and that they would come back to being what we would consider standard practice for other NATO countries and not having major Russian weapons systems as part of their defense structure.
So, look, we think there's room to move forward with a good relationship with Turkey. We want to have a good relationship with Turkey, and we want to have a good relationship with, you know, all of our member countries in Europe -- or NATO member countries in Europe.
Q Hi, thanks for doing this. Two questions. One, have you heard anything from Turkey about whether they would agree not to move forward with the S-400? And the second question: Jim Jeffrey told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this morning that the safe zone was 130 kilometers wide, but the Turks say it runs the length of the border. So, can you clear that up?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah. So, on the first question on the S-400: Look, we've certainly had many conversations, both public and private, with respect to the S-400. We think it's a very bad idea for Turkey. It's certainly a bad idea for NATO. And we've conveyed that to the Turks, and we'll continue to have conversations with them -- private conversations with them to express our displeasure.
And, as you know, there's legislation in Congress and there's a lot of concern on the Hill regarding this issue. There's concern within the administration regarding this issue. So, that’s that. That's something that we'll continue to take up with the Turks and hopefully get a resolution that’s good for Turkey and good for the United States.
But there's -- again, we can’t -- you know, Turkey will not be able to participate in the F-35 and potentially other programs with NATO or with the United States as long as the S-400 is there.
And, I'm sorry, your second question related to the safe zone and the length of the safe zone?
Q Yes. Jim Jeffrey said it was 130 kilometers, but the Turks say it runs the whole length of the border.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure. So all I can refer to is the joint statement that we had on October 17th with the Turks, and that related to the zone that was under Turkish control. That was roughly between Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, and going down the M4, M10 highway. So that was the area that we were referring to, that our agreement referred to.
The Turks are obviously in the process, as we've seen, of trying to work out other arrangements and other safe zone arrangements in other areas with the Syrian regime or with the Russians, or both of them, to determine how those portions of the border will be patrolled or how they'll move forward in other areas outside of the area that was the subject of our joint statement with them.
So I can’t really comment on those areas. I’m sure the Turks would like to have a much broader, longer safe zone. But, you know, we’re referring to the area where we had influence over the SDF and had influence with the Turks and were able to come to an agreement to evacuate folks from that safe zone area. We’ll have to wait and see how things work out between the Turks and the Russians and the Syrians with respect to the rest of that border region.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, John, with that, we’ll take one more question.
Q Hey, thanks very much for doing this. I just want to just kind of double down on Deb’s question. You know, what the Turks are describing seems, to me, an abrogation of the deal that you and Turkey had. You know, you guys have talked about that 75-mile-wide box. You just talked about a Turkish-controlled YPG had to leave. Jim Jeffrey has repeatedly said that, outside of that box, Turkey doesn’t control the area and the YPG does not have to leave. And a senior administration official, even before Jeffrey talked, said yesterday that, “Look, halt means halt. They have to stop within that box."
So what I’m trying to understand is: Why does the Turkish-Russian agreement that gives Turkey, you know, basically an indefinite military presence along the entire length of the border, hundreds of miles wide -- why does that not abrogate the U.S.-Turkey agreement and what Turkey promised not to do when you guys were there? Thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, listen, our agreement was with respect to the area that Turkey controlled at the time that we had the -- that we made the agreement. That was the agreement. And they’ve lived up to it, and the YPG and SDF forces have lived up to what we asked them to do. And the operations in that area have stopped.
But the Turks don’t control the other areas. The other areas that we’re talking about on their left and right flank, on both sides of that -- people are calling a “box” or the “safe zone” -- those are controlled by the Syrians and the Russians. And, you know, the Turks are going to work out their own agreement with the Syrians and the Russians. Those are not agreement -- we’re not party to those agreements. We’re not part of that. And from what I understand, is that the -- and what from what I’ve seen -- but again, this is what I’ve seen open source in the press, is that similar arrangements are being made for YPG or SDF fighters to leave those areas.
But, again, ultimately, that’s going to be -- you know, those are issues for the Russians and the Syrians who control the ground to deal with the Turks on. It doesn’t have anything to do with the agreement that we have with Turkey.
And I’ll just raise one final issue. I know we’re not doing any more questions. I know I’ve seen some reports about the issue of ISIS fighters -- what the status is of ISIS fighters.
My understanding, and what we’ve been told by various parties in the region, including General Mazloum, is that the SDF continues to hold the vast majority of the ISIS fighters that were under -- that were being detained; that those ISIS fighters remained under SDF lock and key.
We have made it very clear to the SDF and to the Turks that, because of this military operation that was commenced by Turkey, that Turkey now has responsibility to ensure that any ISIS fighters that were released or escaped as a result of those military operations, that’s a responsibility for Turkey to round anyone up.
The SDF has undertaken commitments to us to make sure that the ISIS fighters are -- remain detained. It’s obviously a fluid situation on the ground. We’re monitoring it closely. We have assets in the region and we’ve got good relations with the various parties on the ground.
And so we’re keeping a very close eye on the on the situation with the ISIS fighters. There are a lot of different numbers that are floating around in the press. I’m not sure where they’re from -- you know, a hundred fighters were released, twenty fighters were released or escaped; ten fighters were out there.
Look, we’re doing everything we can to monitor that situation very closely. But we have very strong commitments from the parties that are on the ground in control of the actual areas, whether it be Kurdish or Turkish, that ISIS fighters will be kept under lock and key. And then, to the extent that they are released, that they will be hunted down and recaptured.
So we’re keeping an eye on that issue. And if we have any further information on it, we’ll get back to you and let you know.
Thank you all very much. Pleasure to talk to you. Look forward to doing this again soon. Take care.
END 1:59 P.M. EDT
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