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QUESTION: Secretary Kerry, what exact steps do you want to see Turkey and Israel take to achieve the normalization to which they are committed to? Do you have a specific timeline in mind? Do you want to see things done before Prime Minister Erdogan comes to Washington next month? Are you troubled by the somewhat triumphalist tone that has been taken in Turkey after the agreement, the billboard posters of a downcast Prime Minister Netanyahu looking at the ground?

And on the Almaty talks, do you see – given that Catherine Ashton says there’s been no narrowing of the gaps, you’re still far apart, do you see any point in continuing the conversation, particularly ahead of the Iranian elections?

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me answer the second part of the question first, and then come back. With respect to Almaty, Lady Cathy Ashton and Under Secretary Wendy Sherman have made it clear that there was somewhat of a gap that remains, obviously, as a consequence of the discussions that they had in Almaty. And I think that we would hope that we might have been able to move that somewhat closer. But the door is still open to doing that, and yes indeed it is important to continue to talk and to try to find the common ground.

I think the President has made it clear, and I would reiterate today, that this is not an endless process. This is not something where you can play to the clock. You can’t just delay and talk for the sake of talking. So we would repeat to Iran it is our desire to have a diplomatic solution, but this choice really lies in the hands of Iranians. If you have a peaceful program for nuclear power, as a number of nations do, it is not hard to prove to the world that it is peaceful. Those other nations do that today.

The reason that Iran is increasingly finding itself isolated and in a position of being sanctioned is because they have chosen – they have chosen – not to live up to the international requirements and standards with respect to verification about their program. And the international community – not the United States, not a religion, not one particular philosophy, but countries under the United Nations and through the international community have come together and asked Iran, if your program is peaceful, please take the steps that are rational in order to prove it to the world. Now, that’s what we’re waiting for.

But as I said earlier and repeat again, this is not an interminable process. So we hope that out of Almaty will come a narrowing of some of the differences. Diplomacy is a painful task, and a task for the patient. And you need to take the time to work through some of these things. Obviously, there is an election. That complicates the choices with respect to the politics of Iran. And we’re aware of that. But we will continue, the President is determined to continue to pursue the diplomatic channel. We will continue to have discussions through the P5+1 process. And we remain open and hopeful that a diplomatic solution can be found.

Now, with respect to the Israel-Turkey track, it is not for the United States to be setting conditions or terms with respect to what the Prime Minister’s schedule ought to be or what the requirements of Turkey are with respect to that process. We have said, and we say again, we would like to see this relationship that is important to stability in the Middle East, critical to the peace process itself, we would like to see this relationship get back on track in its full measure. To be back on track in its full measure, it is imperative that the compensation component of the agreement be fulfilled, that the ambassadors be returned, and that full relationship be embraced. But it’s not up to us to discuss the timing; that’s up to the parties themselves. There’s going to be a meeting shortly, and I’m confident that there will be goodwill on both sides.

The Foreign Minister has expressed to me very clearly in response to an inquiry by me that they have taken steps to try to prevent any kind of sense of triumphalism. It has not come from the government. In fact, there has been limited response by the government itself, and I think it’s important for everybody to take note of that. I think the Government of Turkey has responded sensitively and thoughtfully to this, and they would like to see – and I’ll let the Foreign Minister – obviously, he will speak for himself – they would like to see this process as the building block that they worked hard, incidentally. Foreign Minister Davutoglu and I worked hard together to try to make sure that this was something that could take place. And the President and the Prime Minister, the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Turkey, and the Prime Minister of Israel all came together and engaged in this phone call for a purpose.

Now, if one or two people or a few people break out and make comments, that should not cloud the overall benefit and courage which accompanied the choices that were made on both sides with respect to this issue. And it’s my hope that people will keep their eyes on the bigger goal, which is the relationship, the possibilities of peace, and putting the past into the past. Now, for the families, I would say to them we know what it’s like to have lost people in any kind of situation where you think somehow it was wrongful. And we have ways of dealing with that. The government is working hard in order to address that. Our sympathies go to those families, and we hope that in the days ahead, that this issue can be appropriately resolved and put behind us so that we can move forward to the larger strategic challenges that we face.

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