REMARKS BY SECRETARY, TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER DAVUTOGLU AND QATARI FOREIGN MINISTER AL-ATTIYAH

FROM:  THE STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah After Their Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

U.S. Ambassador's Residence

Paris, France

July 26, 2014

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SECRETARY KERRY: I’m delighted to have a chance to be able to welcome my colleagues, the Foreign Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu and Foreign Minister of Qatar Khalid Attiyah, here to the American Embassy in Paris. And I’m going to say a couple of words about what we’ve been working on with respect to the situation in Gaza in a moment.

But first, I want to try to clarify something and announce, to some degree, for people who haven’t heard, news regarding our situation in Libya. The United States, together with other countries – one of them Turkey – have decided that because of the free-wheeling militia violence that is taking place in Tripoli, and particularly in our case around – a lot of the violence is around our embassy but not on the embassy. But nevertheless is presents a very real risk to our personnel. So we are suspending our current diplomatic activities at the embassy – not closing the embassy, but suspending the activities. And we have moved people on ground to Tunisia where they will then disperse to other places where we will continue our diplomatic activities in Libya.

We are deeply committed and remain committed to the diplomatic process in Libya. Our envoy will continue to be engaged with the British envoy and other envoys. And we will continue to try to build out of the election the legitimacy of the government formation and the efforts to end the violence. We call on all Libyans to engage in the political process and to come together in order to avoid the violence.

So many people died and gave so much effort to the birth of the new Libya, and we’re very, very hopeful that together all those people will recognize that the current course of violence will only bring chaos and possibly longer term difficulties. We will return the moment the security situation permits us to do so, but given the situation, as with Turkey – I think they moved some 700 people or so out – we want to take every precaution to protect our folks.

Now I want to express my appreciation for the enormous amount of work that both Foreign Minister Attiyah, Foreign Minister Davutolgu engaged in the last days to help bring about the short-term cease-fire that we all hope is going to be extended into a longer term cease-fire where people can get together and work on the way forward for a sustainable cease-fire, a longer-term effort to work out the difficult issues between the state of Israel and the Palestinian factions.

We’re very hopeful that that can happen, but I will tell you the progress that we’ve made was significantly contributed to by many people, and we’re grateful obviously for the Egyptian initiative, for the Israeli efforts initially, but also this particular effort now has been significantly assisted by the input of Qatar, the input of Turkey, and the willingness of these foreign ministers to work hard even though they were at a distance, and to engage directly with some of the Palestinian factions in order to try to help get us where we are today. They’re both committed to trying to work to continue further, and we very much appreciate that.

If you want to say something, Ahmet.

FOREIGN MINISTER DAVUTOGLU: Thank you, John. It’s a great pleasure to meet again, but this time we are meeting for a very tragic development in Gaza. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is terrible. I want to extend condolences to all those who lost their lives in this crisis and especially in these holidays approaching – Ramadan, Eid. We intensified our efforts to agree on a cease-fire; in less than 10 days all of our teams have working last two – three days. We worked in close contact with the – with Secretary Kerry and my dear colleague, Minister Attiyah. As a team, we worked together. Yesterday we had several telephone conversations, consultations, and today we are continuing here.

We wish to have a sustainable cease-fire, which we approached very closely until last month. Unfortunately, it was rejected by Israeli side – but still we are working very hard to reach the (inaudible), hopefully with the great effort – we all appreciate Secretary Kerry’s effort.
Now we have a short-term cease-fire, which is really a success of his effort, and supported by all of us. And I want to assure all the parties and, of course, both of our colleagues, allies, that Turkey will be working very hard to stop this bloodshed on the ground, to reach a sustainable cease-fire, and at the end of these efforts, to have two-state solution, which is the real solution for all these disasters and bloodshed.

Again, I want to express my thanks to my dear colleagues, Secretary Kerry and Minister Attiyah, for this joint cooperation and all those who contributed to this process, to this short-term cease-fire. And as a team, we will continue to work – Egyptian – Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, United States, and Israel and Palestinian groups – (inaudible) and Hamas, all of us split – Palestinian Administration – at the end of the day, our goal is to achieve sustainable cease-fire as early as possible.

Thank you. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. You have any --

FOREIGN MINISTER AL-ATTIYAH: Yes.

SECRETARY KERRY: Okay.

FOREIGN MINISTER AL-ATTIYAH: And I’d like again also to thank John and Dr. Ahmet for the effort of the past days to come to such agreement on humanitarian cease-fire. As from now, I won’t add more of what John and Dr. Ahmet says. For now, we will be working hardly to come to a point where we have cease-fire and the lift of blockade. The tragic situation of – was I think deserve now to have a free movement of goods, a free movement of trade, that they deserve now to have their own port – their sea port, so they can trade in and out, even though if it’s under the international supervision. But I think the time now comes that we have to have long-term solution for the people of Gaza. They’ve been suffering for a long time, and with the help of Secretary Kerry and Brother Ahmet and all the other international player who their input will be positive on this. I’m sure you will come to a stage where we can get a cease-fire and a lift of blockade in Gaza. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: So before we end, I want to just pick up on a couple of themes expressed by both the foreign ministers and on what I said last night. And I want anybody who cares about the Palestinian side of these issues to listen, and I want everybody in Israel to understand: we clearly understand – I understand that Palestinians need to live with dignity, with some – freedom, with goods that can come in and out, and they need a life that is free from the current restraints that they feel on a daily basis, and obviously free from violence. But at the same time, Israelis need to live free from rockets and from tunnels that threaten them, and every conversation we’ve had embraces a discussion about these competing interests that are real for both. And so we need to have a solution that works at this.

I understand that Israel can’t have a cease-fire in which they are not able to – that somehow the tunnels are never going to be dealt with. The tunnels have to be dealt with. We understand that; we’re working at that. By the same token, the Palestinians can’t have a cease-fire in which they think the status quo is going to stay and they’re not going to have the ability to be able to begin to live and breathe more freely and move within the crossings and begin to have goods and services that come in from outside. These are important considerations. Each side has powerful feelings about the history and why they are where they are. And what we’re going to work at is how do we break through that so that the needs are met and we have an ability to provide security for Israel and a future – economic and social and otherwise development for the Palestinians. That’s what this is about.

Thank you all very much.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.) Secretary Kerry, are you going back to (inaudible)?

SECRETARY KERRY: No.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS WITH UN SECRETARY GENERAL KI-MOON

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks With UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

July 21, 2014

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you tell us about the new aid that you’re announcing for Gaza today?

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me just say to everybody that, first of all, President Obama and all of us are deeply appreciative for the secretary general’s significant efforts to try to help bring about a ceasefire in the conflict in Gaza. And the secretary general has been meeting in the region, but he purposefully stayed over here a little extra time in order that we could meet and discuss ways in which we might be able to bring about or encourage the parties to embrace a ceasefire under the right circumstances.

We are deeply concerned about the consequences of Israel’s appropriate and legitimate effort to defend itself. No country can stand by while rockets are attacking it and tunnels are dug in order to come into your country and assault your people. But always, in any kind of conflict there is a concern about civilians, about children, women, communities that are caught in it. And we are particularly trying to focus on a way to respond to their very significant needs.

On behalf of President Obama and the United States, I’m privileged to announce tonight that the United States will immediately provide $47 million in order to provide direct humanitarian assistance of no other kind but humanitarian assistance to try to alleviate some of the immediate humanitarian crisis.

And meanwhile, we will work to see if there is some way to not only arrive at a ceasefire of some kind, but to get to a discussion about the underlying issues. Nothing will be resolved by any ceasefire, temporary or long, without really getting to those issues at some point. And that’s what we need to do.

Mr. Secretary General.

SECRETARY GENERAL BAN: Secretary Kerry, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a great pleasure to see you, and I’m very pleased to be joined by you today. Our joint efforts will, I hope, make a great contribution to ongoing mediation efforts by the parties in the region to end the violence. I would like to thank Secretary Kerry for his active engagement and the tireless commitment for the peace and stability in the Middle East, and in particular these days in Gaza and Israel.

Our joint efforts are rooted on three mutually reinforcing efforts. First and foremost, we must find a way to stop the violence. So many people have died. As the Secretary just said, it’s mostly civilian population, women and children. It’s very sad, it’s tragic. We have to do all what we can do. That is why I am here in support of the Egyptian mediation proposal, and I’m coming from Qatar where I met Qatari emir. And also, I met President Abbas in Doha. And I went to Kuwait and I had the very good meeting with the Kuwaiti emir who is now a chair of the League of Arab State summit meeting. Tomorrow I am going to Israel and Palestine.

And second priority should be that we are urging the parties return to a dialogue. I believe that all the options should be on the table so that they can address these issues through dialogue in a peaceful means without resorting to violence.

Thirdly, we hope that they will also address root causes of this crisis. There have been many dialogues and there have been many crises, but we have not yet been able to address all these root causes. I deeply appreciate and highly commend Secretary Kerry’s diplomatic efforts to have Middle East peace process. I sincerely hope that when a ceasefire is realized that you will immediately resume the dialogue at this time.

I full understand, fully sympathize the sufferings of the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza. These restrictions should be lifted as soon as possible so that people should not resort to this kind of violence as a way of expressing their grievances. At the same time, I fully appreciate the legitimate right to defend their country and citizens of Israel. Israel should also be able to live in peace and security without being endangered of their citizens.

I’m asking that Hamas should immediately stop firing rocket. While I understand all how, why Israelis has to respond militarily, but there is a proportionality. And most of the Palestinian people have been – most of the death toll are Palestinian people.

Therefore at this time our first and foremost effort should be focused on ending violence. I hope during Secretary Kerry’s and my visit in the region these days, we’ll be able to help the parties to agree to a ceasefire in a reasonable form and immediately return to dialogue and address the root causes.

And I really appreciate, again, your diplomatic efforts, and United Nations will spare no efforts. And I really appreciate your very generous humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. UN is trying to work to mobilize necessary humanitarian assistance as much as we can, as we have been doing in the past. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me just say in furtherance quickly – I would like to just say in furtherance of what the secretary general just said, we are both here in support of and in an effort to help get implemented the Egyptian initiative for the ceasefire. Israel and Egypt have encouraged that, and Israel has accepted that ceasefire proposal. So only Hamas now needs to make the decision to spare innocent civilians from this violence.

I know from talking to Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier tonight Israel is obviously going to defend itself, but he feels deeply, as does everybody, what – the pressures that this creates on civilians. But today, Israel lost more soldiers in defense of their country, and so Israel feels this as strongly as anybody. It is important for all of us to try to make certain that we do everything possible.

Hamas now has a decision. Only Hamas is out there awaiting the decision, and we hope they will make the right decision. The secretary general and I will both make certain that the issues that need to be discussed will be discussed if we go forward, but we must have an atmosphere within which people in all concerns and parties can come together to have those discussions.

Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY SAYS CONVICTION OF AL JAZERRA JOURNALISTS IN EGYPT IS DISTURBING

FROM:  THE STATE DEPARTMENT 

Conviction of Al Jazeera Journalists

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

June 23, 2014

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Today's conviction and chilling, draconian sentences by the Cairo Criminal Court of three Al Jazeera journalists and fifteen others in a trial that lacked many fundamental norms of due process, is a deeply disturbing set-back to Egypt's transition. Injustices like these simply cannot stand if Egypt is to move forward in the way that President al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry told me just yesterday that they aspire to see their country advance.

As I shared with President al-Sisi during my visit to Cairo, the long term success of Egypt and its people depends on the protection of universal human rights, and a real commitment to embracing the aspirations of the Egyptians for a responsive government. Egyptian society is stronger and sustainable when all of its citizens have a say and a stake in its success. Today's verdicts fly in the face of the essential role of civil society, a free press, and the real rule of law. I spoke with Foreign Minister Shoukry again today to make very clear our deep concerns about these convictions and sentences.

Yesterday, President al-Sisi and I frankly discussed these issues and his objectives at the start of his term as President. I call on him to make clear, publicly, his government’s intention to observe Egypt’s commitment to the essential role of civil society, a free press, and the rule of law. The Egyptian government should review all of the political sentences and verdicts pronounced during the last few years and consider all available remedies, including pardons.

REMARKS BY SECRETARY KERRY AND EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY AFTER MEETING

FROM:   U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks wirh Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry After Their Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Cairo, Egypt

June 22, 2014

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FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) I would like to welcome U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in his current visit to Cairo. And this visit (inaudible) time. Egypt is taking steady steps to (inaudible) the implementation of the roadmap, and after having fulfilled the second election (inaudible) elections, and the assumption of power of President Fattah – Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after having won a majority that reflects the wide spectrum of voters. These elections (inaudible) closely followed by several international observers, including the United States, (inaudible). I trust that Secretary Kerry, whom I’ve known personally when I was ambassador to Washington and he was head of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate – we both agree that the working relationship that we’ve had in the past in which we were used to having candid conversations and very (inaudible) will continue. We will work together to broaden these meetings and cooperation between both countries. This is the same spirit that prevailed once again during this visit.

Secretary Kerry met President Adbel Fattah al-Sisi today and they discussed (inaudible) meetings with him also were all held in a positive atmosphere, and we addressed several regional and international issues of shared concern. And we also agreed that we should mobilize our efforts to confront these challenges and threats threatening the region, and also to address some of the repercussions on international peace and security, and especially the situation in Syria and Iraq and Libya, and the faltering efforts on the peace front between the Israelis and the Palestinians. All these require close cooperation and continued cooperation between the U.S. and Egypt.

Our discussions also addressed bilateral issues on several fronts. And I can say that we have reached an agreement over the need to expend more effort in order to push our strategic relations between our two countries forward, to reflect the longstanding history. And this relationship has been based on shared and common interests and mutual respect in order to enhance the chances for building on the very strong relations between the two countries, and also reflecting the size – the important role of the U.S. and Egypt as a regional power.
We also agreed that we should work at the highest level to push our mutual relationship forward based on solid grounds and to clear it of any misunderstanding, in order to reflect the strategic nature. And we also agreed on the need to work sincerely towards removing any obstacles to its further development in the interests of both countries and both people.

I am certain that Secretary Kerry believes in the importance of the relationship between the two countries and the strategic depth, and I would like to reiterate that he personally is concerned to improve them even further. Once again, I welcome the Secretary John Kerry in Cairo and give him the chance to speak.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you very much, Minister Shoukry. I’m delighted to be back in Cairo. And I want to congratulate Sameh on his assuming the role of foreign minister of Egypt. And indeed, we have worked together previously, and I look forward to continuing that and working with him as both of us perform these functions as the ministers for foreign affairs of our countries.

I came here today to reaffirm the strength of the important partnership, the historic partnership between the United States and Egypt, and also to consult on the critical situations that we face in the region – obviously, particularly Iraq, Syria and Libya. After three difficult years of transition, the United States remains deeply committed to seeing Egypt succeed. We want to see the people of Egypt succeed, and we want to contribute to the success of the region.
As President Obama told President al-Sisi after his inauguration, we are committed to working together to fulfill the full promise of Egypt’s 2011 revolution, and to support the political and economic and social aspirations of the Egyptian people as well as their universal human rights. I reiterated that message in each of my meetings today as part of a broad and a very constructive discussion of the issues, including Israeli-Palestinian relations, Egypt’s return to the African Union, and confronting the shared threats of terrorism and extremism.

I want to thank President al-Sisi for a very candid and comprehensive discussion in which we both expressed our deep concerns about a number of issues, but most importantly our mutual determination for our countries to work together in partnership in order to deal with the challenges that we face.

I emphasized also our strong support for upholding the universal rights and freedoms of all Egyptians, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. We also discussed the essential role of a vibrant civil society, a free press, and rule of law, and due process in a democracy. There is no question that Egyptian society is stronger when all of its citizens have a say and a stake in its success. And I welcome the recent statements from President al-Sisi and his call for review of human rights legislation.

We discussed the economic challenges of Egypt and I made clear President Obama’s and the United States’s commitment to be helpful in that regard.

We also discussed, as I said earlier, the grave security situation in Iraq. Over the next week, I will make the same case with other leaders that I made to President al-Sisi today. ISIL, or DASH as many people call it here, its ideology of violence and repression is a threat not only to Iraq but to the entire region. This is a critical moment where together we must urge Iraq’s leaders to rise above sectarian motivations and form a government that is united in its determination to meet the needs and speak to the demands of all of their people.
For Egypt, this is also a moment of high stakes as well as a moment of great opportunity. Perhaps the greatest challenge that the new government faces is providing economic opportunity for Egyptians who seek and deserve a better life, including the millions of young people who have played an instrumental role in their country’s historic political change. Together with our international partners, including friends in the region like the Saudis, the Emiratis, the United States will contribute and work towards the economic support and transformation of Egypt, and work to help provide stability and an economic transformation for all Egyptians.

Egypt and its people have made clear their demands for dignity, justice and for political and economic opportunity. They just had a historic election for president, and there will be further elections for the parliament. And the United States fully supports these aspirations and the efforts of the government to help fulfill its obligations in that regard. And we will stand with the Egyptian people as they fight for the future that they want and that they deserve.
So we have a lot of work to do together. We know that. We talked about that today. And I think we really found ourselves on a similar page of changes that have yet to be made, promises that have yet to be fulfilled, but of a serious sense of purpose and commitment by both of us to try to help achieve those goals.

All of the things that are happening here are happening at a moment of extraordinary change in many parts of this region, and it is imperative for all of us to work cooperatively to try to address these concerns. Likewise, we talked about the challenges of Libya and the challenge that many countries face in this region of the spillover effect of terrorism, extremism that is playing out in various countries. That is true in Libya and that is true in Iraq. And both Egypt and the United States share deep concerns and a deep opposition to the challenge that these threats of radical ideology and extremism and what they present to everybody.

So we will continue to work. We will work hard to augment what is a longstanding and deep partnership between the United States and Egypt, recognizing that we both have things to do that we can do better and that we both will work to do so. But we will do so with a common understanding of the mutual interests that we share in standing up to the greatest threat of all to this region, which is the threat of these terrorists who want to tear apart rule of law and tear away an existing governance. And neither of us have an interest in allowing that to happen.
I’d be happy to answer a few questions.

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: Thank you. A question from (inaudible) Al Arabiya magazine. And my question is for you, Secretary of State. First of all, you said that the Egyptian relation with the Americans are strategic. And yet, there is maybe a decision to decrease the aid by 26 percent. Don’t you think this give (inaudible) message to the Egyptians that the United States is trying to dictate Egypt, trying to pressure Egypt in a certain way which takes the level of the Egyptian-American relations away from being strategic? Your comment about this.

And the second point, you mentioned terrorism as the main actually threat to the United States and to the region, the Middle East. And yet, although you – the United States is saying that they are claiming that they are having efforts to combat terrorism, they are refusing to give Egypt the (inaudible) that the Egyptian are going to use to combat terrorism in Sinai. Don’t you think there is a contradiction here between words and actually actions when it comes to Egypt, and why? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you for the question, and I’ll – I’m happy to answer both parts of it. On the first part of the question, President Obama and the Administration have proposed providing the full amount of aid, the $650 billion, that comes with the first certification, and the House of Representatives has passed that, and now it’s the Senate that had a slight reduction and a different formula. We will work that out, and I am confident that we will be able to ultimately get the full amount of aid for precisely the reasons that I describe – because it is strategic and it is important for us to be able to work together.

So I’m absolutely confident we will get on track there, as I am confident, to answer the second part of your question, that the Apaches will come and that they will come very, very soon. I had a conversation this morning even with Senator Leahy from here in Cairo, based on the conversations that we have had. I am very confident that we’ll be able to move forward and there are strong reasons for doing so. Those Apaches are focused on the issue of terrorism, and they will be used in a place where Egypt has been working very, very hard in concert with Israel and others, and with us, in order to push back against these terrorist activities.
So I think that the interests of American legislators – and I can speak to this having been one for many years – are to try and guarantee that the dollars, the taxpayer dollars of the American people that are being spent are being spent on things that Americans will feel is appropriate and meets their needs. It’s not an effort to dictate. It’s simply an effort to guarantee that that hard-earned taxpayer dollar is going to a purpose that the American people will support, and it’s really an issue of protecting that interest, not of trying to dictate to any particular country.

MODERATOR: The next question is from Margaret Brennan of CBS News.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, Iran’s Supreme Leader this morning accused the U.S. of trying to put yes men in power in Iraq, and said he’s opposed to U.S. intervention there. How is Iranian influence and backing of Maliki affecting the efforts to try to create a more inclusive government there? And what will your message be to Gulf leaders who do have influence on the ground in Iraq and may be able to stop some of the funding that is also flowing through to ISIS?
And following that, Minister, if you could tell us – U.S. officials say there are a lot of concerns about this country’s mass jailing of journalists, of those associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and of an epidemic of sexual violence. Can you tell us if there are any assurances that you can provide that your country will prevent those?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, with respect to the question of Iran and the Ayatollah’s comments, let me just say that the United States is not engaged in picking or choosing or advocating for any one individual or series of individuals to assume the leadership of Iraq. That is up to the Iraqi people. We have made that clear since day one. It is up to the people of Iraq to choose their future leadership. But we do note that the Kurds have expressed dissatisfaction with the current situation, the Sunni have expressed dissatisfaction with the current situation, and some Shia have expressed dissatisfaction. And Ayatollah Sistani very recently issued a statement in which he said that it was vital for the leadership of Iraq to be a leadership that did not have – did not continue the mistakes of the past and that was going to represent all of the Iraqi people.

So I think we are completely in sync with the people of Iraq, certainly with the expressed comments of various leaders. The United States would like to see the Iraqi people find leadership that is prepared to represent all of the people of Iraq, that is prepared to be inclusive and share power in a way that will maximize the ability of Iraq to focus on the real danger at this moment from an external source, which is ISIL. ISIL is a threat to all of the countries in the region. Even today in our conversation with President al-Sisi and with the foreign minister, both expressed deep concerns about the impact of a group like ISIL and what it means to the region. No country is safe from that kind of spread of terror, and none of us can afford to leave that entity with a safe haven which would become a base for terror against anyone and all, not only in the region but outside of the region as well.

So that’s what we’re focused on, and I think that’s – that really is a fair summary of not only our position but the position of other people in the region that I’ve heard.

You had a second part?

QUESTION: (Inaudible) to the Gulf countries (inaudible)?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, the – thank you, yeah. The message to any country from anywhere or any individual from anywhere is that there is no safety margin whatsoever in funding a group like ISIL. And we particularly discourage individuals in the region who may have been sending money through some innocent charity or through various backchannel initiatives under the guise that it’s for the general welfare and benefit of people who’ve been displaced, but then that money finds its way into the hands of terrorists. So we are obviously discouraging any kind of support to entities where it is unsure where the money is going or where it is specifically going to an entity like ISIL. And that goes to any government, any charity, any individual. We must not allow that kind of funding to be made part of the – part of this equation.

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter.) (Inaudible) that the Egyptian people, which has come through three years of transition and launched two revolutions in order to fulfill its own aspirations for a democratic state that takes into consideration the interests of its own people and achieve justice and prosperity.

Now it’s important that after having completed the second point on the roadmap and the approval or ratification of the constitution and the election of the president, it’s important now that we move forward to establish a state of – that respects the rule of law. And the Egyptian people fully respect and trust its own judicial system and its ability also to deal with transparency and full neutrality to deal with all the issues and make things right, and also to preserve rights. Therefore, anybody who’s being accused has the opportunity to have fair trial and a strong defense to prove his or her innocence. And we are moving within the framework of upholding the laws that would give people the sense of stability that they need in this regard.
With respect to violence against women, we believe this phenomenon has attracted great attention here in Egypt. And following some of the most painful events that have taken place recently, there has been a law that has particularly targeted this issue. There’s also been – civil society has strongly also opposed it and the government is working in order to preserve the place of women in society and to protect them against harassment. Women are an important part of society and it’s important for them to enjoy full protection.

MODERATOR: (Via interpreter.) This is Mohammed Madov from (inaudible).

QUESTION: Thank you. This is Mohammad Madov from October Weekly Magazine and the (inaudible) website.

Mr. Secretary, I’d like to ask you about what’s your comment on the disastrous situation in Iraq and Libya that have led many people to accuse the American administration of being responsible for this situation through its role in exchanging old regimes in the region. People think that led to division of the Arab armies, terrorism, and sectarian disputes and may lead to division of the Arab countries on sectarian basis.

(Via interpreter.) With respect to the American – U.S.-Egyptian Strategic Dialogue, is there any intention to further activate it?

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: I should go first?

SECRETARY KERRY: Go ahead.

FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) With respect to the Strategic Dialogue, this is very important initiative supported that further enhance U.S.-Egyptian relations, and we have discussed this issue during our negotiations. And we are in the process of making special arrangements to activate this initiative. This initiative will definitely positively contribute to (inaudible) the appropriate framework for this relationships in the interest of both countries in various fields. This dialogue covers all areas of cooperation between the two countries and the economic and social and also political front in the interest of the Egyptian people, and also will further enhance understanding and deepen shared interest between the two countries and get it to a point which – according to which our relations can move forward, and it also allows for the exchange of opinions on issues which require further dialogue.

MS. PSAKI: The final question --

SECRETARY KERRY: No, let me answer that if I may.

MS. PSAKI: Sorry.

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me make this as clear as I know how to make this clear. The United States of America was not responsible for what happened in Libya and nor is it responsible for what is happening in Iraq today.

What happened in Libya was that a dictator was attacking his own people and was threatening to go door to door to kill them like dogs. And the United Nations joined together in a resolution that they would have a mission to try to protect those people. And the people rose up and the people marched all the way from Benghazi, all the way to Tripoli, and they, in their own voices, in their own actions, decided they wanted a different life. And today, the United States is working with Egypt, with Tunisia, with Algeria, with Morocco, with Europe, with other countries in order to try to help Libya to be able to pushback against extremists who don’t want them to have that rule of law and that kind of life.

Let me be also clear about Iraq. What’s happening in Iraq is not happening because of the United States, in terms of this current crisis. The United States shed blood and worked hard for years to provide Iraqis the opportunity to have their own governance and have their own government. And they chose a government in several elections, and they just had another election recently. But ISIL – DASH – crossed the line from Syria, began plotting internally, and they have attacked communities and they’re the ones who are marching through to disturb this ability of the people of Iraq to continue to form their government and have the future that they want. This is about ISIL’s terrorist designs on the state of Iraq. And no one should mistake what is happening or why.
And the United States is prepared, as we have been in the past, to help Iraq be able to stand up against that. The President has made the determination, which is an accurate reflection of the American people who feel that we’ve shed our blood and we’ve done what we can to provide that opportunity, so we’re not going to put additional combat soldiers there. But we will help Iraqis to complete this transition if they choose it. If they want, they have an opportunity to choose leadership that could represent all of Iraq, a unity government that brings people together, and focus on ISIL. And I am convinced that they will do so, not just with our help, but with the help of almost every country in the region as well as others in the world who will always stand up against the tyranny of this kind of terrorist activity. That’s what’s happening in Iraq, and nobody should lose sight of it.

MS. PSAKI: The final question is from Jay Solomon of Wall Street Journal.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. Secretary Kerry, I was hoping if you could give us a sense of your meeting with President Sisi today. And did you obtain any assurances from the Egyptian leader that he’s committed to building a more inclusive government and providing more political space for Egyptian journalists, political activists, and the Muslim Brotherhood? As you probably know, more than 100 members of the Brotherhood were sentenced to death in recent days, and the trail of the Al Jazeera journalist is expected tomorrow, I believe.
And for Foreign Minister Shoukry, I was hoping you could describe in some bit your meeting with the Secretary on the situation in Iraq today. And is it the Egyptian Government’s position that Prime Minister Maliki in Iraq should resign because of his inability to reach out to the Sunni minority in that country? Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I had a very comprehensive discussion, Jay, with President al-Sisi about precisely those issues you’ve just raised and about many others. We talked specifically about Al Jazeera journalists. We talked specifically about the court system and death sentences. And I think it’s more appropriate for President al-Sisi to speak to those at such time as he deems fit and as is appropriate within the Egyptian process and system over the course of the next days and weeks.

But I will say to you that he gave me a very strong sense of his commitment to make certain that the process he has put in place, a reevaluation of human rights legislation, a reevaluation of the judicial process, and other choices that are available are very much on his mind, and that he’s only been in office for ten days, but he indicated to me that we should work closely, as we will, and stay tuned to what he is going to try to implement over the course of these next days, weeks, and months.

And as you know, that we think it’s important for the president to be given the opportunity – only ten days in office – to begin to get his cabinet moving and begin to focus on these issues. We have time to make that measurement and we will in the days ahead.
FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (In Arabic.)

MODERATOR: (In Arabic.)

DOD WILL CERTIFY TO CONGRESS, EGYPT IS MEETING OBLIGATIONS UNDER '79 EGYPT-ISRAEL PEACE TREATY

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Hagel Notifies Egypt of Upcoming U.S. Certification
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2014 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel informed his Egyptian counterpart yesterday that Secretary of State John F. Kerry soon will certify to Congress that Egypt is sustaining the strategic relationship with the United States and is meeting its obligations under the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty.

In a statement summarizing Hagel’S phone call to Egyptian Defense Minister Col. Gen. Sedki Sobhy, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said these certifications are required to obligate fiscal year 2014 funds for assistance to the Egyptian government.

“Secretary Hagel told General Sobhy that we are not yet able to certify that Egypt is taking steps to support a democratic transition,” Kirby said, “and he urged the Egyptian government to demonstrate progress on a more inclusive transition that respects the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Egyptians.”
Hagel also informed Sobhy of President Barack Obama's decision to deliver 10 Apache helicopters in support of Egypt’s counterterrorism operations in the Sinai, Kirby said.

“The secretary noted that we believe these new helicopters will help the Egyptian government counter extremists who threaten U.S., Egyptian, and Israeli security,” he added. “This is one element of the president’s broader efforts to work with partners across the region to build their capacity to counter terrorist threats, and is in the United States’ national security interest.”

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY EXTENDS PASSOVER HOLIDAY GREETINGS TO PEOPLE OF ISRAEL

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

On the Eve of Passover

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

April 14, 2014

---

On this Passover eve, as Jews around the world recall the biblical Exodus from Egypt and welcome a new season of hope in our time, I extend my heartfelt holiday greetings to the people of Israel. This holiday is about balance: the joy of families gathering around the Seder table and the potent reminders of people of all faiths who are still denied the liberty to observe openly.

I look forward to speaking soon with Prime Minister Netanyahu to convey my personal best wishes to him and his family and the people of Israel. I greatly appreciate the personal friendship we have built over many years and admire the leadership, courage, and commitment to peacemaking that he has shown in the face of difficult and complicated challenges in the past months. The story of Passover that will be read in Israel and around the world tonight reminds us that it has never been an easy feat leading the people of Israel to a better, safer place.

I am very pleased to be attending Ambassador Dermer’s Seder tomorrow night and joining in the spirit of this festival of spring and renewal. I hope we can all draw inspiration from the spirit of the ancient Hebrews who in the Exodus stood at the precipice of the Red Sea, trembling with terror but nevertheless filled with the hope that they too may enjoy freedom and fulfill their promise as a people. And as families and friends listen tonight as the youngest child asks the table, "Mah nishtanah? -- Why is this night different from all other nights?" I pray the answer will be: because this night will lead us into a year of renewed commitment to peace, freedom, and dignity for all of God's children.

SECRETARY KERRY, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER LIEBERMAN MAKE REMARKS AFTER MEETING

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Remarks With Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Before Their Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry
Secretary of State

Washington, DC

April 9, 2014

---

SECRETARY KERRY: Good afternoon, everybody. It’s my great privilege to welcome Avigdor Lieberman, the foreign minister of Israel, here to the State Department and to Washington. We have gotten to see each other at a number of different places now. We most recently were in Rome together where we talked about the issues before both our countries and the region.
And today, I’m really happy to be able to welcome him here. Obviously, we are working hard to try to find a way forward. And both parties indicate they would like to find a way to go forward in the talks. We obviously want to see that happen. We think it’s important for them and for the region. So we will, needless to say, talk about that.

But we also have many other issues to work on and cooperate on together. We will talk about Iran and the challenge of the Iranian nuclear program. The talks have been going on even this week, so we have a considerable amount to try to digest with respect to that process. And also the region, obviously, faces enormous challenges. Syria remains a humanitarian catastrophe, and it has a profound impact on Israel, on Jordan, on Lebanon, on the region as a whole. And we continue to face the challenge of removing the chemical weapons from Iran. I just literally hung up the phone a few minutes ago before I came out to meet the foreign minister. I was talking to Foreign Minister Lavrov and we were talking about the need for movement in Syria and the ability to complete the task.

So I’m very happy that the foreign minister is here today. This is an important time. The issues between us are of concern to both of us, are of enormous importance. And I want to affirm this: Our relationship with Israel, as everybody knows, is an historic and deep one. We remain totally committed to the security of Israel. We have a friendship that is, I believe, a bond that’s unbreakable, and I’m really happy to have the foreign minister here at this important time. Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER LIEBERMAN: Thank you. First of all, thank you for the very warm welcome, and as you mentioned, we have a lot of items on our bilateral agenda. But first of all, I would like to express my appreciation for your efforts, for your commitment to our state, your efforts to resolve our long dispute with the Palestinians. We know and everybody in Israel knows that you are really a very close friend, reliable friend, and now we’re in the midst of a very crucial process.

And I think that you and us have the same desire to achieve comprehensive solution, to achieve final status agreement. We’re ready to sacrifice a lot for this goal. We proved our desire to achieve real peace with our neighbors, not only as a lip service, but in all our agreements that we signed with Egypt, with Jordan. We gave up territories three and a half times more than our territory today – Sinai, half of Judea Samaria, Gaza Strip. And I think that we really – we are looking for the same positive approach from the other side, and we think that any unilateral steps, they only can undermine all our efforts.

Of course, the biggest challenge for us, for all our region, is the Iranian issue, and I hope that we will discuss, of course, the Iranian issue. And of course we are (inaudible) now to the huge concern with Syria and what happens within Syria. The spillover of the Syrian conflict is all around us. And we are monitoring and following the situation in Syria, of course, and it’s a new – a very serious challenge for our country, and again, thank you for your efforts and for your commitment.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Avigdor.

FOREIGN MINISTER LIEBERMAN: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Welcome. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN GEN. DEMPSEY SUGGESTS CHANGES COMING IN MIDDLE EAST ALLIANCES

U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meets with senior members of the Institute for National Security Studies in Jerusalem, March 31, 2014. DOD photo by D. Myles Cullen  

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Dempsey Sees Possibility of New Alliances in Mideast
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

JERUSALEM , March 31, 2014 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says he sees the possibility of new alliances emerging in the Middle East, springing from the on-going instability across much of the region.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey is in Israel to discuss issues of mutual strategic interest with Israeli defense officials.

Dempsey told reporters that current instability across the Middle East provides opportunities, to include “an outreach to other nations who may not have been willing to be partners in the past.”

Dempsey arrived in Israel yesterday and immediately went into meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. Israeli Army Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, the chief of the Israeli General Staff, is hosting Dempsey.

In his meetings with Israeli officials, Dempsey said he’s trying to step away from reacting to the daily headlines in order to look at the region strategically.
The Middle East is experiencing a period of instability affecting Egypt, Syria, Iran and other areas, which is having an impact on the strategic landscape.

This, Dempsey said, is causing countries that may not have agreed on much in the past to realize they have a common cause toward regional instability.
Dempsey pointed to the Persian Gulf states as an example. They “may not have been as open-minded about the potential for cooperation with Israel in any way,” he said.

“What we discussed,” he added, “was the possibility that there were opportunities that would present themselves because of the instability around them that could create a different web of alliances than existed before.

“What I’m suggesting,” Dempsey continued, “[is] the possibility of new and different alliances in the region in response to this instability.”

The chairman said he’s neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the Mideast situation.

“I think there are enough issues across the region in common that it should provide an opportunity for greater cooperation,” Dempsey said. “So our allies become allies with each other.”

For example, many nations have discussed strategy to counter al-Qaida. “Al-Qaida is adapting regionally because we’ve succeeded in putting pressure where they used to operate with impunity,” Dempsey said. “What you see now is al-Qaida core is much less capable, but there are other organizations that have branded themselves with the al-Qaida ideology.”

The al-Qaida network crosses the region, and this has caused the United States to come together militarily with like-minded and interested parties to discuss everything from intelligence sharing to capacity building to foreign military sales. All of these things put pressure on the group.

The chairman called this just one example of an opportunity that didn’t exist before.

Combating Iranian moves in the region could provide other opportunities, he said. Iran is involved with arms trafficking, building surrogate networks and launching cyber attacks.

“It seems to me that as threats evolve so, too, do our systems of alliances to deal with them,” Dempsey said.

Military officials from many countries and at many levels are having these conversations “so we can be a network to confront networks,” he said.
“Sometimes we’ve been accused of not leading enough,” he said. “I have found both a great appetite and a great acceptance for our military leadership, especially in things like building partner capacity, which ultimately is the greatest strategic hedge against risk in the future -- far more so than any direct action.”

SECRETARY KERRY SAYS HE IS "DEEPLY TROUBLED" OVER THE MASS DEATH SENTENCES IN EGYPT

Mass Trials and Sentencing in Egypt

Press Statement

John Kerry
Secretary of State

Washington, DC

March 26, 2014

I am deeply, deeply troubled by the sudden and unprecedented decision by an Egyptian court to issue preliminary death sentences for 529 citizens after a quick mass trial. It simply defies logic. There are many avenues of legitimate review for this judgment and I urge the appropriate Egyptian authorities to remedy the situation. This news simply does not reflect the values and goals to which the interim government has aspired publicly and privately.

The need for due process assumed greater urgency with the start of a new trial for nearly 700 more people in the same courtroom where the earlier judgment was rendered after a two-day summary proceeding in which the defendants were tried as a group rather than on the merits of individual cases. Many of those defendants were not even in the courtroom. It is impossible to believe that such a proceeding satisfied even the most basic standards of justice.

The interim government must understand the negative message that this decision, if upheld, would send to the world about Egypt's commitment to international law and inclusivity.

For three years, Egyptians have demanded responsive leadership that protects human rights and promotes economic opportunity. Many lost their lives in that struggle. Adhering to the new constitution and maintaining a criminal justice system free of intimidation and political retribution are essential functions of a legitimate government. I urge the interim Egyptian government to reverse the court ruling and ensure due process for the accused. Anything less would dishonor the bravery of all who sacrificed their lives for democratic values.

COMMENTS ON EGYPT'S CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

FROM:  STATE DEPARTMENT 
Egypt's Constitutional Referendum
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 17, 2014

Egypt's turbulent experiment in participatory democracy the last three years has reminded us all that it's not one vote that determines a democracy, it's all the steps that follow. It's a challenging transition that demands compromise, vigilance, and constant tending. The draft Egyptian constitution passed a public referendum this week, but it's what comes next that will shape Egypt’s political, economic and social framework for generations.

As Egypt’s transition proceeds, the United States urges the interim Egyptian government to fully implement those rights and freedoms that are guaranteed in the new constitution for the benefit of the Egyptian people, and to take steps towards reconciliation.

The brave Egyptians who stood vigil in Tahrir Square did not risk their lives in a revolution to see its historic potential squandered in the transition. They've weathered ups and downs, disappointment and setbacks in the years that followed, and they're still searching for the promise of that revolution. They still know that the path forward to an inclusive, tolerant, and civilian-led democracy will require Egypt’s political leaders to make difficult compromises and seek a broad consensus on many divisive issues.

Democracy is more than any one referendum or election. It is about equal rights and protections under the law for all Egyptians, regardless of their gender, faith, ethnicity, or political affiliation.

We have consistently expressed our serious concern about the limits on freedom of peaceful assembly and expression in Egypt, including leading up to the referendum, just as we expressed our concerns about the dangerous path Egypt's elected government had chosen in the year that lead to 2013's turbulence. The United States again urges all sides to condemn and prevent violence and to move towards an inclusive political process based on the rule of law and respect for the fundamental freedoms of all Egyptians.

As we have said from the beginning, we strongly believe that permitting international observers to monitor and report freely on electoral events is important in building confidence in Egypt’s political transition.

The preliminary assessments of Democracy International and the Carter Center underscore the challenges ahead, including Egypt’s polarized political environment, the absence of a fully inclusive process in drafting and debating the constitution ahead of the referendum, arrests of those campaigning against the constitution, and procedural violations during the referendum, such as campaigning in proximity to and inside polling stations and lack of ballot secrecy.

We strongly encourage the interim Egyptian government to take these concerns into account as preparations are made for presidential and parliamentary elections.

The work that began in Tahrir Square must not end there. The interim government has committed repeatedly to a transition process that expands democratic rights and leads to a civilian-led, inclusive government through free and fair elections. Now is the time to make that commitment a reality and to ensure respect for the universal human rights of all Egyptians.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE 100TH ANNIVERSARY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's 100th Anniversary Celebration

Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
National Women in the Arts Museum
Washington, DC
December 9, 2013

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you. Thank you very, very much. I much appreciate your welcome. I will inform you that Winston Churchill once said the only reason people give a standing ovation is they desperately need an excuse to shift their underwear. (Laughter.) But I will believe that you had a much more noble goal. (Laughter.)

Stuart, thank you. Stu, you are a marvel. And I tell you, I’m honored to be introduced by Stu Eizenstat. He is a great, really one of our sort of unsung heroes and treasures in our country for the remarkable work that he has always done and – (applause). Absolutely. I got to know him pretty well. His pro bono work that he’s done for years to help Holocaust victims and their families be able to recover the assets that were taken from them during the horrors of World War II is one mark. But I’ve seen him in his roles at the White House with the Carter Administration, the Clinton Administration.

And I will never forget when I was in Kyoto working on the global climate change treaty, Stu came flying in, literally, I think from Switzerland, where he’d been negotiating to pick up the negotiation responsibilities, which had, frankly, not been thoroughly and properly prepared in an appropriate way. And he kind of picked up this negotiation at half capacity, and I was stunned by his negotiating skill, his ability, and he put together an agreement – it’s now a matter of history that we had a difficult Senate that never did what it should have done, but this guy did what he was supposed to do and he did it brilliantly. And we are lucky to have public servants like him, so I thank him again for his great work. (Applause.)

President Penny Blumenstein, thank you very much. She was telling me back there that nobody gets her name right. I told her I will. (Laughter.) But she says she’s called Bloomberg and Blumenthal and a whole bunch of things whenever she gets introduced. Alan Gill, thank you for your great stewardship as CEO. And to every single one of you, thank you for an extraordinary job as civic-minded, good citizens of our nation who recognize a global responsibility. It’s an honor for me to be to be here to help you mark 100 years of the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. And I said to Penny when I came in here, I said, “You don’t look 100 years old.” She said, “I feel it some days.” (Laughter.) So we thank her for her commitment to this effort. I know what it takes to do this.

Some of you may know that the bond between the State Department – and Stuart referred to this a little bit in his introduction of me. The bond between the State Department and the JDC has been a longtime association and it runs deep. Stu described to you how Henry Morgenthau had a profound impact on the startup and what happened, and it responded to the needs of Jews at that time who were locked in the struggle of the Ottoman Palestine and Eastern Europe. And ever since then, it has performed – you have performed – brilliantly.

Today, you work alongside the State Department, USAID, and Congress, and embassies on a worldwide basis – the 70 nations that Stuart mentioned a minute ago – is really quite extraordinary. We collaborate superbly on infrastructure programs that foster economic development and growth in communities in Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Latin America. We work side by side and provide humanitarian relief. And again, Stu talked for a moment about what happened. I am heading to the Philippines the day after tomorrow and to Vietnam, where we are engaged. But obviously, Typhoon Haiyan has left just stunning devastation across the Philippines, and your relief effort – JDC effort – in a short span of time has already contributed $1.4 million in aid to that effort.

We, the United States – I speak for President Obama, who as you all know has gone off to Nelson Mandela’s funeral – I gather tomorrow you will hear from the Vice President and then later from Jack Lew, Secretary Lew. But all of us are deeply, deeply grateful for the incredible sense of responsibility that is manifested in your generosity and in your commitment in order to make a difference around the world. You have provided relief to millions of people from every corner of the globe, all of whom are in desperate need of a helping hand. And part of the mission – and I should thank, actually, Chair Andrew Tisch, who – where did Andrew go? He’s sitting somewhere. Andrew, thank you for your great friendship to me and many years of involvement in this kind of thing.

But the ways in which all of you in the doing of this also support Jewish life around the world. Throughout history, of course, but particularly right now you are involved in ways that connect young Jewish men and women to their communities and that inspire them to address social challenges. The job training programs that you’re creating to address unemployment, the steps that you’re taking to alleviate hunger and poverty among the neediest Jews in the world, including in Israel, where despite the stunning growth and amazing prosperity that has been reached by so many, still sees about 25 percent of the country living under the poverty line. And the contributions that you continue to make to the Jewish community are changing lives everywhere.

I want to say a few words to you about another way in which hopefully we in the government are trying to also preserve and nurture Jewish life. And I’m talking about Jewish life in the state of Israel. I know this is not a political group in any way, but it would be a shameful omission if I didn’t honor the fact that everybody here obviously comes here with a passion for the preservation of life in Israel, and more importantly for the long term, the possibility of peace and of stability.

We are deeply committed to the security of Israel and of the well-being of the Jewish people by virtue of that. (Applause.) From the support that we’ve provided as a nation before I was in government, shortly after I’d come back from Vietnam, from the support we provided during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, to the hundreds of millions that we have contributed to help develop weapons systems like the Iron Dome as well as the military technology that we provide the Israelis with today, the United States has long viewed Israel’s security as absolutely fundamental to our own.

So when it comes to the range of issues that face the region today, there can be, in my judgment, no doubt – there should be no doubt – about where the United States stands. We stand squarely beside our Israeli friends and allies, and that bond is ironclad; it will never be broken. (Applause.)

This morning, I talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Bibi and I know each other really well now. We’ve known each other for about 25 years, maybe even 30. I knew him when he was in Cambridge, Massachusetts on an interval in politics that some of us have had occasionally. And I have visited with him many, many times, both when he was in office and out of office, and likewise for me. I just got back from what I think was my eighth trip to Israel since becoming Secretary of State, and I leave the day after tomorrow and I will be having dinner with Bibi again on Thursday night. So this is a commute, folks, nowadays. (Laughter.)

I want you to know that every single time that big blue and white plane that lugs me over there comes in for a landing at Ben Gurion Airport, I truly feel in my gut, for reasons of friendship as well as affiliation that Stu mentioned, how precious and how vulnerable and how real the security challenge of Israel is. It’s an extraordinary nation which, when you fly over it and you see what has been blooming out of a desert and built in this short span of time, is absolutely stunning. And when you compare GDPs and per capita incomes and other things to other nations that were in the same place in 1948 and 1950 and ’52 and see the differential today, it tells you a remarkable story of accomplishment and capacity.

I want to make it clear today that we are deeply committed going forward to honoring the bond and honoring those security needs. And I want to reiterate something that President Obama and I have said many times, and I underscored last week when I was in Israel and I underscored again two days ago when I spoke to the Saban Forum here in Washington. And that is: We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon – not now, not ever. And I promise you that. (Applause.)

Now, I know that some people are apprehensive and wonder sort of have we somehow stumbled into something or created something where in fact the Iranians have pulled the wool over our eyes and we’re going to not know what they’re doing. Let me just say to you very simply: I’ve spent, as Stu said, almost 30 years in the Senate. I chaired the Foreign Relations Committee. I understand military and security issues. And I understand the fundamental basics of – as does the President and most of the people around us – what is necessary for a nation to prove it has a peaceful nuclear program. And I can’t stand here today and tell you that the Iranians are going to do what they need to do. But I do know that Israel is actually safer today than it was the day before we made the deal, because in this deal they have to destroy all of their 20 percent enriched uranium; they have to hold their 3.5 percent low enriched at the current level; they are not allowed to install any new centrifuges; they have to allow us daily inspection inside that secret mountaintop, Fordow; they have to allow us daily inspection in Natanz in the nuclear plant; they have to allow us regular inspection in the heavy water reactor that has the potential of plutonium; they are not allowed to install any further nuclear components into that construction site; they cannot test additional fuel; and we are allowed to go into the storage sites and manufacturing facilities of all of their centrifuge production facilities – all things we couldn’t do before we made this first step agreement.

Because of what we’ve done while we negotiate the final comprehensive agreement, which is what Bibi wanted in the first place, we will actually be setting their program backwards, expanding the amount of time that it might take if they were to try to break out. That means we have more time to respond, more time to know what is going on. That is why I can say to you in good conscience I believe Israel is safer today than it was before. Now, does that mean this will be successful in the long run? I don’t know. But here’s what else I do know: If we aren’t successful, if we get to the end of these six months and they don’t do the simple things you need to do to prove your program is peaceful, then we will have kept united the P5+1, we will have shown the global community our bona fides to attempt to give them an opportunity through diplomacy to do what they need to do, and we will not have taken any sanction off the table. We can ratchet them up when we want. We will go back to Congress, we will ratchet them up, we will ask for additional sanctions. And if needs be, if we cannot get this done on time, we will take no other option, military or otherwise, off the table. So I am confident that we are going to approach this with a view to making Israel more secure.

Let me also say to all of you there are other issues that go to Israel’s existential security, and none more so than the ticking time bomb of demographics in the region and the realities of the de-legitimization campaign that has been taking place for some period of time. I believe, as President Obama does, that Israel will be far more secure if we can also put to test the possibilities of the two-state solution. And so we will continue to attempt to do that despite the skepticism, despite the cynicism in some quarters, that that day can never come where you would actually achieve a two-state solution with two peoples living side by side in peace and security.

I believe, though, that it remains a possibility. And it seems to me that for all of you, for anyone who cares about the security of Israel – and all of you do – for anyone who cares about the future, as I know all of you do, and engaged in the activities you are here at the JDC, you must also believe that peace is possible. And as these tough but very critical negotiations continue, I hope that you will understand we will continue to consult, we will continue to work closely, we will do everything in our power to make sure that our friends in Israel are comfortable with the direction we’re moving in and are part of it.

And I talk to Bibi at least two or three times a week. We are hand in hand and mind in mind trying to figure out how to do this in a way that protects the security of Israel, that establishes the sovereignty and dignity of an independent and viable Palestinian state. If it was easy, it would’ve done a long time ago. It isn’t. But I think the effort is worth it.

And I know why it’s worth it. I spent a lot of time – when I first went to Israel in 1986, I spent an entire week, and I traveled everywhere. And this wonderful fellow by the name of Yadin Roman, who’s the publisher of Eretz Israel magazine, was my guide and took me around. And he was brilliant, and he knew the history of everything and told me all the details of everything I was seeing. And I went up to Kiryat Shmona, and I went down into a bomb shelter where kids had to run and side from the Katyusha rockets. And I visited all the different religious sites – Christian and Muslim and Jewish, obviously. Went to the Wailing Wall, left my note, which I’m still working on. And visited – tried to swim in the Dead Sea, cloaked in black mud, everything else. And climbed Masada, which is one of the most stirring things I’ve ever done in my life, because we had this huge debate on top of Masada. And Yadin provoked us, purposefully. And he gave us the whole history of Josephus Flavius and told us all the writings in this great contentious debate about had these Jews really died there, had they in fact been there at this moment, or did they escape because they didn’t find a whole lot of skeletons, and people were wondering what happened.

Well, we had this long debate. And I’ll tell you, even before that, I had this marvelous experience of flying a jet out of (inaudible) air base. I’m a pilot. I love to fly. And I persuaded this ace colonel from the war to take me up in a jet, and he got it cleared in Tel Aviv. Somehow they let me do it. And they won’t let me do it now, but it was fun then. And I remember taking off, and he said, “Okay, it’s your airplane the minute you get up in the air.” I went up above the air, and I remember he – I was turning, and he said, “Senator, you better turn faster; you’re going over Egypt.” And so I turned the airplane and came back. And we did some aerobatics, and I was doing a loop, and I went up – way up high and came down. And as you look, you put your head back and catch the horizon underneath you. And I looked, and I looked out and I could see all the way out in the Sinai, all the way down in the Gulf of Aqaba. I could see all the way over into Jordan. And I said to myself, “This is perfect. I’m looking at the Middle East the right way, upside down – (laughter) – and I can understand it now.”

But after the debate on Masada, we took a vote, and we all voted unanimously that it happened exactly the way it is recorded, that they had fought and died. And at the end, Yadin took us to the edge of the precipice. And there, where a lot of the air force, I understand, and other military are sworn in and take the oath, we yelled across the chasm, “Am Yisrael chai.” (Applause.) And the echo came back. And I will tell you, it was stunning to hear that echo. You sort of felt like you were listening to the souls of the past tell you Israel is going to survive. And that’s why, my friends, you have a Secretary of State who gets it, who understands this mission. And with your help and your support, we’ll get it done the right way.

Thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY MAKES REMARKS WITH EMIRATI FOREIGN MINISTER AL NUHAYYAN

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks With Emirati Foreign Minister Abdallah bin Zayid Al Nuhayyan After Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
November 11, 2013

FOREIGN MINISTER ABDALLAH: (Via interpreter) Good morning. May peace be upon you. I’d like to start by welcoming His Excellency, U.S. Secretary of State and close friend John Kerry. There’s no doubt that the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State to the United Arab Emirates at this time and under these conditions, especially following the meetings in Geneva, was a very strong message to the extent of the closeness of U.S.-UAE relations.

And I believe that it was a fruitful visit, a successful visit, especially the visit with Crown Prince yesterday, in which we exchanged several points of view on several issues, whether the discussions in Geneva or the situation in Syria or developments in – the positive developments in Egypt. And undoubtedly the visit of our close friend, John Kerry, to Cairo was a very positive message and it reveals the extent of international support and the U.S. support and encouragement to the roadmap in Egypt.

And lastly, we also had the opportunity to discuss the developments in the peace process, which the Secretary of State has been exerting great efforts in. And I would also like to say that it is the most important and most forceful effort on the part of a U.S. Administration to push the peace process forward. My friend, John Kerry, thank you very much, and you’re most welcome.

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good morning, and a special thank you to you Your Highness. (Inaudible) I thank you also (inaudible) Foreign Minister Abdallah bin Zayid Al Nuhayyan (inaudible) people who had (inaudible).

I also want to thank His Highness Muhammad bin Zayid for the depth of the conversation we had last night, as well as a very good dinner and a long walk together and some time to really dig into the issues of the region and create better understanding of our mutual efforts and interests with respect to those.

It’s wonderful to be back in Abu Dhabi. My visits, regrettably, wind up being sort of much too brief, and I’ve been invited to come back and spend a little time sometime when I can really get to share some of the life of the city and the region and I intend to do that.

His Highness and I spoke today about the strong, enduring relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, and this is a relationship that is based on a joint commitment to security and to stability in the region. Today we talked about our shared efforts to end the war, the violence in Syria, to address the humanitarian crisis and bring about a peaceful resolution to the civil war in Syria, which has cost way too many lives of so many Syrians and which is breeding increasing extremism, radical religious extremism and terrorists who are a threat to all of us, to the region and to the peace and security and stability of Syria itself.

We appreciate the UAE’s leadership in supporting the Syrian Opposition Coalition and its commitment alongside our international partners to convening the Geneva 2 conference as soon as possible. And both of us are encouraged and pleased to be able to take note of the fact that yesterday the opposition voted to go to Geneva 2. This is a big step forward and a significant one, and we will continue to work on the humanitarian and other issues that are of such immediate crisis. A negotiated solution is the best way to increase the stability throughout the entire region, and it is the only way to end the bloodshed as soon as possible and give the Syrian people the future that they deserve.

His Highness and I also discussed the developments in Egypt. I was pleased to be there at the beginning of this journey, and we discussed our belief that Egypt’s transition to a stable, inclusive, and ultimately democratic, civilian-led government that respects the rights and freedoms of all Egyptians is critical not only for that country but for the entire region. We agreed last night in our discussions with His Highness Muhammad bin Zayid as well as today in our discussions to work together not down the road, not figuratively, not in the future but now, immediately, to work together in order to create specific efforts that we can jointly work on as well as with the Saudi Arabians and others in order to transform economically and politically the Egypt that needs to emerge. We share a belief in the importance of Egypt to the region and we want to make sure that the interim government does succeed.

We also agreed that as it succeeds, part of the definition of that success is the need to implement reforms and to protect universal rights and transition to an inclusive election process that respects the rights of the people of Egypt.

Finally, I’m also provided an update of the meeting of the P5+1 in Geneva, and I made it clear that while we made progress – good progress, very significant progress in narrowing the gaps between our partners in the P5+1 and Iran – this is not a race to complete just any agreement. No deal is better than a bad deal I have said many times, as has President Obama. But through diplomacy, we have an absolute responsibility to pursue an agreement. The sanctions were put in place to bring about negotiations. How irresponsible it would be to the concept of diplomacy, as well as the potential of any future use of force, if we have just put the sanctions on and then ignore the opportunity to have a negotiation. Having a negotiation does not mean you’ve given up anything. It means you will put to test what is possible and what is needed and whether or not Iran is prepared to do what is necessary to prove that its program can only be a peaceful program

As President Obama has said clearly since day 1, he will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, that the United States is committed to protecting our security and the security of our allies from the unthinkable consequence of what would happen were they to secure such a weapon. We also are well aware, more than conscious, of the instability that would be triggered in this region were that program to continue and not be peaceful.

It’s also worth asking everybody what would happen if we don’t find a diplomatic path forward. Obviously, Iran will continue to ramp up enrichment activities and advance on the plutonium track, while we would risk losing the international coalition that has been built up to keep Iran isolated. That also is a risk of not pursuing the negotiation.

I want to emphasize this very, very strongly to my friend, Sheik Abdallah, as well as to all people in this region, and that is that we have a strong strategic relationship that has been built up over many years. It is also a friendship and the United States will do nothing in negotiating with Iran that will change that relationship. I want to make that clear.

I thank His Highness again for welcoming me to Dubai. I emphasize that the President has said publicly at the United Nations that United States of America will into the future, as long as he is president, make certain that we will stand up for and defend our allies in this region against any kind of external threat or attack.

So this is a strong strategic relationship, and I look forward to continuing our important dialogue on many issues of regional concern and to strengthening the relationship that the United States value very deeply. Thank you.

MODERATOR: So due to time restrictions, we’ll be taking two questions only – one from the local media and one from the international media. The person in the second row? Third row.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) from Gulf News. In spite of the American assurances, there are fears at the popular and government levels in the Gulf Cooperation Council concerning improved relations with Iran, which would weaken strategic relations with the U.S. These fears are still standing and the assurances are also there. But they change between – from time to time. At the local level, local companies have paid a heavy price for their adherence to the sanctions on Iran. What are the American assurances in this area, that the sanctions, when lifted, will not be selective and vary from place to place? Thank you.

MODERATOR: John, do you want to take that question?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you. Thank you for the question. And in many ways I think I tried to address that question in the course of my comments a moment ago, but I’m happy to reemphasize and to repeat as strongly as I can. President Obama is a man of his word. When he ran for president, he said that he would do whatever was necessary to go after al-Qaida and Usama bin Laden. And when somebody asked him, “Does that mean that you’d be prepared to cross into Pakistan and even chase him there, would you do that?” And he said, “I will do whatever is necessary if I have information that protects the security of the United States.” He was criticized for that. His opposition said you’re naive and you don’t understand. But guess what? The President of the United States got that information and he acted on that information and he did what was necessary. And so today Usama bin Laden is no long with us and most of the leadership and most of the core of al-Qaida within Pakistan is gone – most of it.

Now there’s still threats in other parts of the world, and the President is continuing to address those threats. Currently, working with Saudi Arabia with respect to the challenge in Yemen. Working with Somalia and has made great gains with respect to the transformation taking place in Somalia. The President remains committed and has just asked me to negotiate a bilateral security agreement with the President of Afghanistan, which will mean there will be a sustained American presence if the Loya Jirga accepts is. There will be a sustained international security force presence in Afghanistan to secure what has been worked for so hard over so many years.

The President kept his word. The President said we would wind down the war in Iraq and he wound down the war in Iraq. The President said we would hold Qadhafi accountable and not permit him to be able to attack civilians in Benghazi, and he did it. The President made a decision that he would go in and attack in Syria in order to hold Assad accountable to not use his chemical weapons. And before he had to finally pull that trigger or make that decision, he made his decision, but before he had to actually execute, we were able to strike an agreement to get all of the weapons out, which has actually goes further than would have achieved otherwise.

So every time the President has said I’m going to do something he has done it. He is stating clearly: Iran will not get a nuclear weapon. That is a centerpiece of his foreign policy and he will not bluff. As he said to me point blank when I became Secretary of State, I asked him about it. He said, “I don’t bluff.” This is our policy.

Now he also has said his first choice is diplomacy. It should be any responsible leader’s first choice. Nobody should rush to war. I fought in a war. I know what war is like. Nobody should rush to war. War should be the last resort. War should be only the failure of diplomacy. But the President is prepared to defend the notion that it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapons program, because we all know what happens if that happens. It is a threat to Israel, it’s a threat to the region, it is the threat here, and we will see other countries that chase a weapon. And that will make a more dangerous world.

Now Iran has said that its program is peaceful. The Supreme Leader says he has issued a Fatwa, the highest form of Islamic prohibition against some activity, and he said that is to prohibit from Iran from ever seeking a nuclear weapon. What we are seeking to do is transform that Fatwa into a legal code that universally is acceptable so that we can in fact prove that the program is peaceful. And I have said to you today on behalf of the President of the United States, and the President has said for himself in his speech at the United Nations, that he will continue to defend his friends and allies in this region, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, others. He will defend them against external attack. That is the promise of the President of the United States, and as I stand here as Secretary of State, as long as I am Secretary of State, that is also our policy, my policy, the policy of the State Department, representing the President of the United States in executing it. So these aren’t just words.

In international diplomacy, you don’t just stand up and say something and it’s meaningless. This is a policy from a powerful nation and a friend of this region and friend of the United Arab Emirates. And when I come here to say that this is the President’s policy, it is the President’s policy and he will stand by it.

So we will continue to work on this and with respect to the sanctions, we know that the United Arab Emirates and others have paid a great price. Just today in our conversation I learned that it has gone from some $23 billion of business down to $4 billion. That’s a huge sacrifice. So we have real partners in the United Arab Emirates with respect to the sanctions, and that’s something that the United States Congress and others need to take note of as we think about where we are going in the future.

We will continue the sanctions regime – our hope is that in the next months we can find an agreement that meets everybody’s standard.

Now I want to say one word – you didn’t ask this – but I want to say one word about it, because I’m reading the press that tries to – has been indicating some sort of lack of agreement among the P5+1 or something to that effect. That’s just not correct. The P5+1 was unified on Sunday when we – on Saturday – when we presented a proposal to the Iranians. And the French signed off on it, we signed off on it, everybody agreed this was a fair proposal. There was unity. But Iran couldn’t take it at that particular moment; they weren’t able to accept that particular agreement.

So hard work was done, progress was made. The P5+1 was united. There is a gap still between what language may be appropriate that they’re prepared to accept, but the concept that we are all working on we have absolute unity on, that we cannot have a weapons program and we must have guarantees that we’re being clear enough in what is required so that this is not if and not possible and not speculative, but absolutely certain that we know the road ahead is well defined and can protect the interests of everybody.

FOREIGN MINISTER ABDALLAH: (Via interpreter) About the course of the negotiations (inaudible) with the size and the speed of the consultation between us and the United States and the rest of the P5+1 concerning the conduct of these negotiations or the previous round of negotiations. Not just the conduct of the negotiations, but also with respect to the discussion on the future of these discussions and how they can be developed further.

There is no doubt that this is a very difficult period in the negotiations, but we are aware and believe that the best solution to the nuclear file in Iran is through political and diplomatic discussions, and we hope that Iran would be able to reach soon the vision or develop the – soon the vision that there is no option but to be clear and transparent concerning its nuclear weapons program – not just with the P5+1 but also with the IAEA. We feel there are positive indications, but there is work and effort – significant work and effort that the Iranians would still have to expend.

I believe we only have one more question left.

MODERATOR: The gentleman in the third row with the blue shirt.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary, the Prime Minister of Israel as you know is calling world leaders to marshal opposition to an interim deal with Iran. Other Israeli leaders are rallying Jewish groups who oppose it, and you’re returning to Washington tonight to face a restive Congress. Are you concerned that in this 10-day pause before you reconvene in Geneva that enough opposition will build up that may scuttle the progress you made and make an interim deal impossible?

And to the Minister, you expressed confidence with the consultation and encouraged the P5 to continue pushing toward a deal. Would you support a deal that granted Iran the right to enrich uranium? And as a follow-up, on Syria if I may, at the beginning of this trip in Saudi Arabia, your neighbor expressed – this is to the Minister – strong concerns about U.S. policy in Syria. Did you hear anything from the Secretary today that assuaged your own concerns about U.S. policy in Syria?

And then lastly for the Secretary, are you concerned, sir, that the Saudis and the Emiratis may simply go their own way with Syria, leading to potentially dangerous results that the U.S. would then have to deal with. Thank you both.

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me deal with the last question first, because I want to get that off. No, I am not concerned. I believe we have a very clear understanding with respect to the goals, what we’re trying to achieve. The United States continues to support the opposition in many different ways. We are providing significant assistance. We want to coordinate as closely as possible with our friends, the Saudis and the Emiratis and others. I think we both agree that we need to get a couple of other actors in the region – not us actually – but others to be unified.

But the Saudis, Emirates, the United States, Jordanians, are very clear about what groups ought to be receiving support, how we ought to proceed, what we ought to be doing, and we all agree that we see no way that Assad has an legitimacy to be able to continue to actually bring the country together and lead it with any kind of legitimacy whatsoever. So we’re very much, I think, in agreement with respect to that and the direction.

With respect to Prime Minister Netanyahu and his position, yesterday, Under Secretary Wendy Sherman went directly to Israel in order to brief the Israelis in full on precisely what the negotiation is entailing, what the terms are. My hope is – look, I’ve worked very closely with the Prime Minister Netanyahu particularly in these last months. He has been very constructive in working on the things we’re trying to do with respect to Middle East peace. I have enormous respect for his political acumen and his deep concerns about the security of his country. We share those concerns.

For 29 years, just a little shy, I spent in the United States Senate, I have a 100 percent voting record of defending Israel. And I’m not about to change my feelings about what we need to do to provide security for Israel going forward, even as I work on this process. But I believe the Prime Minister needs to recognize that no agreement has been reached about the end game here. That’s the subject of the negotiation. The sanctions were put in place in order to bring about a negotiation, because the first order of business of any super power is to exercise its power thoughtfully and respectfully. And if we had to turn to a military option because we are left no other option, we must show the world we have exhausted every possible remedy and opportunity.

Nothing is given up in a first step that freezes the program and even sets it back. While you begin to negotiate to see what is possible with respect to the proving of a peaceful nuclear program. That is the tough negotiation. And Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and all other countries – particularly the P5+1 partners – will be sharing and working that information and process if we get there in an effort to find an agreement that everybody could feel comfortable with. So the time to oppose it is when you see what it is, not to oppose the effort to find out what is possible.

And I would just say very respectfully that what we need to do here is recognize that we’re very knowledgeable about nuclear programs and nuclear possibilities. We share intelligence very closely with the Israelis on this topic. We’ve been meeting constantly with the Israelis to understand exactly Iran is today in its program. And we are confident that what we are doing can actually protect Israel more effectively and provide greater security to Israel. And we look forward to having an ongoing dialogue and conversation in a very civil and appropriate way with the Prime Minister, with our allies and deep friends, the Israelis, in an effort to try to see what can be achieved here.

There is no existing right to enrich for anybody. The NPT does not grant a right and it does not prohibit a right. Therefore, whatever might or might not happen in the future is subject to the negotiation and subject to what is possible in terms of limits, scope, verification, complete and total transparency and accountability for what might or might not happen. We don’t know yet what those possibilities are.

So that is why you need to have a negotiation. No one should ever fear a negotiation, because it takes two parties or more, if there are more, to say yes. And until they say yes, there’s no agreement and nothing to fear. So I would say to everybody the President has been clear, there is no rush to a deal, and no deal is better than a bad deal. That is our governing principle. And there may be a difference of opinion in certain people in the end as to what’s bad and what’s good, but this is subject to enormous global scrutiny.

Experts all over the world will look at these judgments and they will decide is this real or is it not real? Does this put somebody at risk or does it not put them at risk. And we much at least trust the process enough to put it to the test. That’s all we are trying to do.

FOREIGN MINISTER ABDALLAH: I believe that there are – there is exaggeration, that the U.S. and its allies in the region and its relationships is subject to some tensions. There might be difference in opinion or about some steps, but there are no differences over the comprehensive strategy concerning issues in the region. Regardless, irrespective of the nature of these issues, there might be differences in opinion or tactics, and this happens between states. So let us be clear: I believe that the media or at least some leaks in the media have made these differences in opinions as though they are differences over strategy between the U.S. and the – its regional allies.

I would like to assure you on this issue that the relationship is in its best shape between the U.S. and the UAE and the visit by my friend Secretary of State to the Emirates is the best proof to the strength of this relationship. And what we heard today confirms that.

With respect to enrichment, and I would like to talk about the nuclear programs in general, the UAE has a very transparent nuclear program and we believe that the UAE nuclear program is the standard according to which regional countries should abide by. This standard represents, first of all, we in the UAE have accepted not to enrich first of all. Second of all, we have also agreed not to retreat after once the uranium is extracted. With respect to these two standards, the two elements of our strategy we believe that possession of a nuclear weapons – weapons program that is peaceful is something attainable by everyone and is open to everyone if these countries are willing to abide by the NPT and also with the additional protocol.

So in this case, there is no fear. Everybody benefits. And the best proof is that the UAE program is today witnessing not just international acceptance but also in partnership with international parties and it is one of the programs that most attracts other countries to sign agreements with UAE. When a friendly country like the U.S. comes to us and agrees – reaches an agreements with the UAE – and makes it as a golden standard for its agreements with other countries. This is another proof that we are following the right path.

So if we can see such an approach spread in the region, I’m sure this fear will not be there.

(Inaudible), thank you very much for your support and your friendship.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you for coming.