(AGENPARL) – lun 20 febbraio 2023 You are subscribed to Secretary’s Remarks for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available.
02/20/2023 10:47 AM EST
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Ankara, Türkiye
U.S. Embassy Ankara
QUESTION: Secretary Blinken, first of all, welcome to Türkiye.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you.
QUESTION: Thank you very much for joining us.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. It’s wonderful to be back here.
QUESTION: Well, I would like to start with the earthquake incident. Definitely, that was a huge two earthquakes that hit Türkiye, and we know that U.S. deployed rescue teams within hours and we know that many support came from the United States, NGOs as well.
I will ask the further aids, but I would like to start with your personal impression, because you were in the field yesterday and you saw over the whole area.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: That’s right.
QUESTION: You said that it’s hard to put in words, but I would like to push on you. Would you please explain what – what words that came into your mind when you first saw what happened in the region?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, thank you, and first let me say this: Our hearts, but also our hands, are with Türkiye in this moment. And before I got on the helicopter, and then after I got on the helicopter with Mevlut Cavusoglu to overfly the region today, I got a chance to meet with some of our first responders who are there, the search-and-rescue teams, the others who are doing everything they can with so many other countries around the world to help. And literally, we put our hands to this as well as our hearts.
But seeing this with my own eyes, flying over part of the region that has been so devastated, has an incredibly powerful impact because you’re seeing entire communities that have been leveled, have been flattened to the ground. You see this strange juxtaposition of buildings that are still standing and the building right next to it is gone.
And chance, fate, who knows, plays a part in that, but mostly, I think what I’m thinking is this: We see these numbers of the people affected, 40,000 or more killed, so many more injured, wounded, so many more without homes now. And what I was thinking flying over were these are not numbers, these are not abstractions; these are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, lives that were going on normally one minute, and then the next, the earthquake, and then the second earthquake comes. And I think you think almost automatically of your own family, your own children, your own loved ones, and imagine what it would be like to be in that situation. And it’s just the profoundly human element of this that is so powerful and so important. It’s also what motivates us to want to help our friends.
QUESTION: Okay. I would like to ask that – additional aids that you were – during the press conference, you said that the new aids are on its way —
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Yes.
QUESTION: — if we are not mistaken. You had a meeting with President Erdogan —
SECRETARY BLINKEN: That’s right.
QUESTION: — and also the Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. What are the first needs or what are the first steps that the United States will take? And would you please give a little bit more concrete parts of that new aid package?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Sure, sure. So, first of all, what we did initially was we put in about $85 million to the effort.
QUESTION: Right.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: And as you know, we had two search-and-rescue teams – one from the westernmost part of our country in California, the other from the easternmost in Virginia, almost 300 people on the ground trying to help find people and bring them out alive. But we also have recovery specialists who are there. We have more than, I think, 15 dogs that were looking to find people, more than a dozen helicopters flying from Incirlik to get to areas that you couldn’t reach by road to try to find people and help people.
QUESTION: Like moving back and forth.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: And moving back and forth and bringing supplies back and forth. I saw the effort at Incirlik itself where goods are coming in from all around the world and they’re going there and then they’re being loaded onto trucks – I had to chance to actually help put some things on a truck —
QUESTION: Mm-hmm, I saw the pictures, mm-hmm.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: — and moving out to where it’s needed. Yesterday, I announced an additional $100 million.
QUESTION: Right.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: And what we’re doing is we’re, of course, listening to the Government of Türkiye, what are the most urgent needs, and I think what —
QUESTION: What are they?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: And they are very – in a way, very straightforward. It’s shelter for people who have lost their homes or can’t get back into their homes, and in some cases, that means tents.
QUESTION: Right.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: In other cases, it may mean these larger containers that we’re looking at and working on. Of course, it’s medical supplies, it’s hygiene, portable toilets —
QUESTION: Right.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: — food as necessary to reach places that don’t have it, all of these things. And so all of this we’re doing in very close coordination with our partners in Türkiye.
QUESTION: Okay. After the devastating earthquake back in 1999 —
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Yes.
QUESTION: — when still the former president, Bill Clinton, was —
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Yes.
QUESTION: — in the region and he spent almost a week in the region as well in Türkiye, we wonder if President Biden will show the same solidarity with Türkiye in the upcoming days. Because we know that he is in Ukraine as we understood, so is there any chance that he can stop by in Türkiye?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: So I was actually with President Clinton in 1999. I worked for him.
QUESTION: Right.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: And I remember that very, very well, and that too was a powerful moment. President Biden wanted me to get here as quickly as possible. I’m here on his instructions to show, as best I can as well, our solidarity, our commitment. And I can’t speak to his schedule, but I can tell you that his commitment in terms of what he’s instructed our entire government to do is deep and real.
QUESTION: Okay. We will see. I would like to start about the bilateral issues that we need to talk about it, F-16 issue. You had a press conference today. You said that it’s hard to give a timeframe about the approval of the Congress for the F-16s. I understand that one of my colleagues asked you, what are you waiting for to give that official request – I mean the paper – and we had two questions on mind: If the United States administration waiting for the elections of Türkiye to get that approval and – to move forward, one part of this question. And the second part, it might be a relation between the approval of Türkiye and the membership of NATO with Sweden and Finland.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: So first, President Biden, our administration strongly supports —
QUESTION: Okay. We know that.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: — providing the F-16s to Türkiye, the modernization program. We think it’s essential for making sure that we have full, as we call it, interoperability between Türkiye and the rest of NATO.
QUESTION: Right.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: So I think this is a matter of importance for our alliance. It’s certainly a matter of importance for the United States. I can’t give you a timeline on when it will formally be presented to Congress. What I can tell you is I’ve been engaged in conversations with the leaders of Congress to make clear the strong views of the administration on the need to get the F-16s.
And it has nothing to do with elections in Türkiye, and from the perspective of our administration, it’s also not tied to the question of accession for Finland and Sweden to NATO. Although we believe that should happen as soon as possible, we don’t connect the two. But members of our Congress have concerns, and they have to approve any package, any sale. And one of the reasons that I’m spending time with Congress is to make sure that I fully understand their concerns and see how we can address them. And —
QUESTION: So you’re waiting for the best time to propose that paper?
SECRETARY BLINKEN: We are, and we’re waiting to make sure that the concerns of Congress can be effectively addressed. Because as much as our administration wants this to go forward, it can’t move forward without the approval of Congress.