BACKGROUND PRESS CALL
BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
ON THE VISIT OF PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN OF TURKEY
Via Teleconference
6:05 P.M. EST
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi. Good evening, everybody. And thanks for joining us for the call today. We want to take a few minutes -- my name is [senior administration official].
We want to take a few minutes to preview President Trump's upcoming meeting with President Erdoğan of Turkey, tomorrow at the White House.
Today's discussion will be led by [senior administration official] at the NSC, and [senior administration official].
A brief reminder that today's call will be on background, with attribution to a senior administration official, and embargoed until that call ends.
And today's run of show is [senior administration official] and [senior administration official] will lead off with brief remarks, and then we'll take a couple of questions.
So, go ahead, [senior administration official]. Over to you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks so much. You know, Turkey’s cooperation is critical protecting U.S. interests in the region and beyond. It is a key ally and has been for nearly 70 years.
The President is committed to direct engagement and diplomacy where it is most critical: Erdoğan himself. He believes in working the hardest on the hardest issues. Full and frank engagement is essential to addressing the challenges facing this relationship.
Again, this is nearly a 70-year alliance. It has helped both of our countries through very, very dark times. We are not going to throw it away lightly if there is a way forward. This administration believes in engagement. We are engaging.
And now, [senior administration official], I turn it over to you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you. And I apologize now that my title is so long that "senior administration official" comes as something of a relief. (Laughter.)
Obviously, we support this important visit and the President's emphasis on diplomacy as his chosen path to resolutions of conflicts. And we have to keep the lines of communication open from our perspective from the Middle East/North Africa shop on Syria. It's a highly dynamic situation that we continue to monitor closely.
Going into the meeting, the President's priorities for northeast Syria in particular are clear. We want to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and to prevent humanitarian atrocities against religious and ethnic minorities -- for example, Christians, Yazidis, and Kurds. Notably, preventing the resurgence of ISIS is a critical component in this effort. And so those are going to be our priorities for tomorrow.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you. Okay, so, Operator, if you could queue of questions, we have time for a few. Thanks.
Q Yes. Hi. Can you hear me? Hello, can you hear me?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, ma'am. Please, go ahead.
Q Oh, yes. Sorry. This is Nadia Bilbassy with Al Arabiya Television. Thank you for doing this. Just had a quick question -- two questions. Number one, Turkey has been demanding that the U.S. stop coordinating with the SDF on the ground. Is this something to be discussed? Because a senior administration official at the State Department just said that the U.S. will continue working with the SDF. I'm wondering if the White House has a different point of view.
And also, will the Russia -- purchase of the Russian defense system, the S-400, will it be also a demand from the White House that Turkey will stop using them, or at least delay it for a few years? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi, Nadia. Thanks for this question. In terms of our relationship with our Kurdish partners on the ground, obviously that has been ongoing. And the President has had very public communications with the head of the SDF, General Mazloum. There is no intention for that cooperation to end. So I think I am fully in support of my State Department colleague's position on this.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That’s right. And on the second part of your question, Nadia, look, I think it is a very good one. This has been an issue for the United States and Turkey for several years dating back to the last administration. This is one of those very tough problems that the President believes in trying to address head on.
Now, the good news is, as he's outlined publicly, there's tremendous upside in this bilateral relationship in economic terms, a key part of which is the F-35 and Turkey's role and potential role in the F-35 program.
But to get there, we, as allies, need to resolve this issue of the S-400. One has to move, and then the other has to move.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Next question, please.
Q Hi, my question is: Have you had any indication at all from Turkey that they will reconsider the position on the S-400? This is Laurie Mylroie with Kurdistan 24.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, Laurie. You know, as I think you might expect, though you might be disappointed, we're not going to talk about sensitive diplomatic discussions. What I do think is that the President and President Erdoğan in all of their engagements, in all of their conversations, are very, very frank about how these things need to be resolved and what the preferred solutions are. We're just sussing out some of the overlap.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Next question, please.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi, it's Vivian Salama from the Wall Street Journal. Thanks for doing this, guys. So, most of the questions I wanted to were asked, but I'm curious if you're optimistic about even making much headway on the S-400 issue tomorrow, and especially when Turkey comes in quite angry over the congressional resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide.
I mean, going into this, do you feel like you're actually going to make some progress on some of these key issues, including the S-400, when that issue was hanging over and has clearly has irritated the Turkish government (inaudible)?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, Vivian. I mean, I think it's fair to say that there are irritants on both sides. And it's one reason we think this meeting is so important that we are together at the highest level with our Turkish counterparts to, as my colleague said, figure out where we have overlap so that we can make progress.
On the congressional legislation, obviously we have no control over that. That was the House of Representatives speaking in a fairly, I would say, unambiguous way on their views on that topic. And I think that is an important reality that we have to take into consideration as we approach the meeting. And I think that’s very important for the Turkish government to recognize as well.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, I think it's absolutely helpful for the Turkish government to understand where Congress is on this in a bipartisan fashion, and that the President is charting a diplomatic course with that behind him.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Next question, please.
Q Hi, this is Steve Herman from the Voice of America. I wonder if the President plans to raise the issue of human rights with President Erdoğan. There was legislation introduced today by two Democratic senators joined by a member of the Boston Celtics from Turkey that had some pretty strong language in it. Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, Steve. I mean, I think we've consistent with the President, and the Vice President, and the Secretary of State, National Security Advisor O'Brien in raising human rights issues in every engagement. As I said at the top, we are very concerned, from my perspective, about the situation in northeast Syria with regards to religious and ethnic minorities. And we will continue to raise those issues at the highest level and make sure the Turkish government is fully aware of how important that is to the United States.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And there will be issues -- human rights issues, like religious freedom issues, within Turkey, the President will touch on also.
Q Thanks for this. I wanted to ask: I know that this is about diplomacy and having these talks, but is there any expectation that there will be some type of deliverable tomorrow? It seems like, on issues like the S-400 and even, you know, on U.S. cooperation with the Kurds in Syria, that both sides seem kind of diametrically opposed right now. So where do you see overlap happening? And do you think that there will be some actual, kind of, tangible agreements coming out tomorrow?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'm sorry, could you please tell me your name and your --
Q Ayesha Roscoe. I'm sorry, I'm Ayesha Rascoe with NPR.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay, thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, Ayesha. You know, I think you have touched on it precisely yourself, which is that diplomacy is the key here. That is our overriding means, objective in this engagement. We certainly do, as NATO Allies, have tremendous overlap in our strategic and operational frameworks. It is, from my point of view, short of -- part of the -- a shame, and due to a whole variety of factors that over the past, say, five or so years, this relationship has flipped to, as you quite rightly point out, today, where there are a number of issues where we seem to be at loggerheads.
I outlined earlier that the trade deal is something that we both benefit tremendously by. The Turks know that as well. But to get there, we have to kind of un-slide some of these other Jenga sticks, so to speak, to make sure that you can get the President's projected target of $100 billion.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And I would just add to that, Ayesha. I mean, we don’t have the luxury of only having pre-cooked meetings that have pre-determined outcomes. There are enormous potential deliverables for this meeting that we want to see realized. And that, however, is not solely up to us.
Q Hi, thanks for doing this. This is Joel Gehrke from the Washington Examiner. I wondered, does the Pentagon believe that Turkey's incursion into northern Syria warrants congressional sanctions or any of the individual diplomatic and economic measures from NATO Allies that Secretary Esper mentioned in October?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hey, Joel, I would defer that question to the Pentagon. You know, we've been, as I said, stressing our diplomatic engagement -- supporting the Vice President and his efforts, two weeks ago in Ankara. And so I would refer you back to Secretary Esper on that.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay, ladies and gentlemen, the embargo is lifted. We thank you for your time this evening. Have a good day.
END 6:17 P.M. EST
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