Al Jazeera Conducts Exclusive Interview With U.S. Secretary Of State John Kerry At Global Entrepreneurship Summit; Secretary Kerry Provides Insight Into The U.S. Position On Syria And Relations Across The Middle East

DOHA, Qatar, June 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Al Jazeera Media Network ("AJMN" or "Al Jazeera") today announced that Al Jazeera's Washington, D.C. bureau chief, Abderrahim Foukara, conducted an interview with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit ("GES") underway in Silicon Valley this week, covering new insights into the Obama Administration's views on the war in Syria and other critical issues in the Middle East.  Al Jazeera is the international broadcasting partner to GES.

Al Jazeera provided highlights of the interview through live coverage on its @AJALive and @AJArabic twitter feeds during the interview and onwards. The 12-minute interview will air in full on the Al Jazeera Arabic program "Min Washington" on Tuesday July 5^th at 11:05 PM ET and will be re-broadcast on Wednesday and Thursday of that week. Additionally, excerpts are currently running on Al Jazeera's news programs in both English and Arabic, and being included on AJ+, the Network's widely viewed online news platform. It will also air in full on Al Jazeera English.  Highlights of the interview include:  

• In response to questioning if the Obama Administration had taken more robust action against President Assad -- would Syria not be where it is today…Secretary Kerry said: "Hypotheticals are so easy to play with. The fact is that we are fighting DAESH. We are fighting Nusra. We are fighting against the designated terrorist groups and we are making headway in that effort. Now the Assad regime needs to heed the advice and counsel of those who are supporting it and begin to live by the standards of the cessation of hostilities. And I think it's important for us to continue to put the pressure on them in order to make that happen and that is what we will continue to do."
        
• Discussing pressure in the wake of the letter signed by 51 U.S. State Department diplomats urging military strikes against the Government of Syria, Secretary Kerry said: "I don't feel pressure. The pressure I feel is what motivated me to go to Vienna last November and begin to put together the international Syria support group and work towards peace. I mean five years of war, 450,000 people plus dead, and people tortured and gassed and barrel bombed -- that's enough pressure. That's enough motivation to get something done. I respect the process of the fifty-one. We have a decent channel for a purpose so people can express themselves. It's not supposed to be aired publicly, it's supposed to be a private channel but that's okay, I think we can have a conversation."
       
• Responding to Foukara's question on upset by Saudi Arabians about the U.S. nuclear agreement with Iran, in which Foukara noted: "You say mending things with Iran does not come at the expense of your alliance with Saudi Arabia. Do you feel something is lost in translation between Washington and Riyadh in this regard?"
  
  Secretary Kerry responded: "Honestly, I think this is either an exaggeration or a misinterpretation. The Saudis have told us again and again that they supported the agreement. They support what we have done and support what we are doing today, which is making certain that any country is not engaged in meddling in another country's affairs. We have intercepted weapons that were coming down into Yemen. We have sanctioned where we thought it was necessary because of missile activity. We are working very hard to try to see if there is a peaceful way to resolve these differences."
       
• On attendance at GES, Foukara asked: "If you are in a country that's being pulverized by war such as Syria or Yemen or Libya, why would you possibly be interested in what goes on here at GES?" Secretary Kerry said, "It's a vision. You have to have a place you want to go and leaders need to be providing people with that vision. Now obviously we have to end the war. We are trying very hard, working with the Russians, with our 66 nations in our coalition. We are trying to find a political path to end the war but this kind of entrepreneurial activity will be critical to the rebuilding of Syria, the rebuilding of Yemen, the rebuilding of Libya."

Al Jazeera's "Min Washington" is a weekly roundtable show on American political and cultural affairs that offers viewers in-depth and well-informed analysis of US matters and their impact on North Africa and the Middle East. During Abderrahim Foukara's eight years as host of "Min Washington," he has interviewed a wide range of prominent U.S. politicians and public figures, including U.S. Presidential Candidate and previous Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Al Jazeera Coverage from GES:  Al Jazeera's leading journalists have been covering breaking news and information from GES, as well as conducting interviews with a wide range of speakers and attendees, including the first ever AJ+ Facebook Live interview with Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel.

As previously announced, Al Jazeera intends to expand its existing international digital services to broaden its digital presence into the U.S. later this year.

ABOUT AL JAZEERA

Al Jazeera Media strives to deliver content that captivates, informs, inspires and entertains. Launched in 1996, Al Jazeera was the first independent news channel in the Arab world dedicated to providing comprehensive news and live debate.  It challenged established narratives and gave a global audience an alternative voice - one that put the human being back at the centre of the news agenda - quickly making it one of the world's most influential news networks.  Since then the network has added new channels and services, with more than 70 bureaus around the world and a reach into 305 million homes worldwide.

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SOURCE Al Jazeera