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Alleged War Crimes in Syria Posted on Social Media; Interview with Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish Presidency Spokesperson; U.S. has Quietly Reduced Troops in Afghanistan Despite No Peace Deal; Interview with Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive of Afghanistan, on U.S. military Withdrawal; Expo 2020 Dubai. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired October 24, 2019 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Tonight, two exclusive interviews as America retreats from the world. We are connecting you to the
newsmakers in the places where that is happening.
We speak to the chief executive of Afghanistan and a top adviser to Turkey's president. Fact: strongman diplomacy taking a victory lap.
Turkey, Russia and the United States all patting themselves on the back, waking up today exactly where they want to be in northern Syria.
Now shocking new video appears to show Turkish-backed militia committing what some U.S. officials are calling war crimes. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh
starts our coverage this hour. We must warn you what you are about to see you may find disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Arabic).
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The gruesome videos keep coming but not just the normal brutality of war.
Something, uglier, more radical.
Scenes of the Syrian rebels Turkey is backing abusing here the corpse of dead Syrian Kurdish female and male fighters Tuesday near Tal Abyad. Rebel
leaders said they had arrested and would punish the fighters behind this.
A U.S. official had said these fighters backed by Turkey, are mostly extremists, former ISIS and Al Qaeda and from the start they were accused
of savagery. This is the widely circulated video of the murder of Kurdish activist Tavrin Halaf (ph), a bodyguard beaten before execution.
We found their vehicle heavily shot up and discarded on the highway. Startling acts of violence like this have made many reassess exactly who
Turkey is using to try and execute its goals here in northeastern Syria.
An autopsy report CNN can't independently verify said that the widely traveled activist was dragged by her hair and beaten with a blunt object on
her head before being shot to death.
Some of the videos rebels had posted of themselves add support to the theory that Turkey was in such a hurry to build militia to fight for them
it did not vet out extremists. It may be now liable for war crimes.
JAMES FRANKLIN JEFFREY, U.S. ENVOY ON SYRIA: We have seen several incidents which we consider war crimes.
MARK ESPER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I've seen reports as well. We are trying to monitor them. They are horrible. And if accurate -- and I
assume that they are accurate -- they would be war crimes, as best as I know the law of land warfare.
[11:05:00]
ESPER: So I think all those need to be followed up on. I think those responsible should be held accountable. In many cases, it would be the
government of Turkey who should be held accountable for this because we cannot allow those things to happen.
WALSH (voice-over): Turkey and the rebels have rejected many accusations and often post media of how life has returned to normal under their control
and some, with their behavior here though, posted on the rebels' own Telegram channels, is now distant to ISIS's old videos.
Turkey has loyal rebel forces in Idlib province, which Western intelligence has said it is now unfiltered by Al Qaeda. But it is unclear which units
of rebels Turkey is using.
Will these men stop when Turkey tells them to?
Will Turkey tell them to?
And what sort of society will they build?
Will it have a place or reject ISIS? -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Irbil, northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH: Now I should point out that Turkey has said those accusations that civilians have been killed by forces loyal to it are, quote,
"disinformation," and it has always insisted that it uses moderates to prosecute its goals in and around Syria.
But you have to look at these videos and the startling fact that NATO members now are accusing each other of using proxies that commit war
crimes, U.S. officials saying these Syrian rebels Turkey is backing are behind war crimes. You couldn't get much more of a stark accusation than
that.
It brings to mind the essential potential future problem here, that we have Syrian rebels of dubious roots and ideology operating in quite a large
swath of Syria now with Turkish military protection behind them and ISIS on a resurgence, using the vacuum and the chaos to potentially get more of a
foothold.
These two groups are not that ideologically apart, it seems, according to what we've been told. So the theory, of course, will be, down the line, if
they geographically near or find each other on the battlefield, whether or not they give each other more momentum and we go back to the main reason
why the U.S. and so much of the coalition came into Syria and Iraq in the first place, that's to kick ISIS out of a territorial stronghold -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Sam, as it remains unclear who these Turkish-backed rebels are and whether they are extremists with links to ISIS and Al Qaeda, this
operation in Turkey being described by the U.S. -- sorry, in Syria -- being described by the U.S. and Donald Trump as a victory by his man with the
Syria file as a tragedy.
We're about to speak to one of President Erdogan's top advisers.
But what is the perspective about what is a Kurd just south of where you are at present in northeastern Syria?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, from the Turkish perspective, their version of events chimes rather strongly in many
ways with Donald Trump.
Although, they take responsibility for what they would suggest has been a highly successful operation with minimal civilian casualties, that they say
is a counterterrorist operation because they consider the Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces to be linked to Kurdish terrorist groups
with a longstanding history here in Turkey.
They say they want to establish a safe zone. And Mr. Erdogan, the Turkish president, has repeatedly said he wants to send or encourage 3.6 million
Syrian refugees that are currently being hosted in Turkey to return to Syria into that very safe zone.
So for now, they are saying, the Turkish authorities, that they are absolutely not extending it any further than the agreed 32 kilometers in
into that territory.
There are now joint patrols with Russian military police and Turks along the border areas. And the Assad regime has also been able to send its
forces into key areas to try to maintain a degree of territorial integrity.
All of this in geostrategic terms means the Russians and Assad regime, perhaps accidently, given the longstanding animosity with Turkey, have
benefited or are benefiting from this change of events, the withdrawal of the United States and the suppression at least of the SDF.
What's not clear, Becky, is whether the SDF are going to get out or agree to get out in time to meet the deadline that falls sometime on Saturday for
the cessation of hostilities that would allow them to withdraw outside the buffer zone. There have been sporadic clashes between Turkish-backed
forces and the SDF inside that zone.
[11:10:00]
KILEY: And that really is going to be a crunch point, if they are still there with military force, the Kurds and SDF, inside that safe zone, then
the Turks have made it clear they will once again return to the offensive - - Becky.
ANDERSON: Sam Kiley is on the ground in Turkey. Nick is in Irbil in Iraq.
Let's then head to the very center of this story. One of the closest men to Turkey's president, Mr. Erdogan, is acting as his spokesperson. We
connected with him at the cusp of Turkey's offensive in northeastern Syria and now just back from Russia, he joins me live from Ankara for what is an
international exclusive.
Sir, thank you for that. The U.S. president claiming credit for what he calls a victory in Syria. His man in charge of America's Syria file
describing what has happened on the ground as a tragedy, a tragedy he says that Turkey owns.
Your response?
IBRAHIM KALIN, TURKISH PRESIDENCY SPOKESPERSON: Well, what is tragedy is really the fact that the U.S. has, since the Obama administration period,
supported, armed and financed the terrorist network in Syria.
We've tried very hard -- and the person who said this is a tragedy knows this very well inside, out -- to reach a deal with the U.S. on this issue
and we've tried for months and for years. We've raised our concerns about our national security. Our president has raised issue at every platform.
We cannot let a terrorist network establish some kind of a corridor or state-like structure along the Turkish-Syrian border. But unfortunately,
our calls have fallen on deaf ears. We've said and they know very well that, so-called SDF or YPG in Syria is PKK in Syria. Everybody knows this.
Until a year or so ago, all the CIA, the State Department reports clearly registered YPG as the PKK Syria branch. What is ironic and tragedy is the
fact United States is arming and supporting a Marxist, Leninist separatist terrorist organization in Syria.
You've said the fight against ISIS, in fact, can be carried out with other elements such as the Free Syrian Army, other local elements, non-PKK Kurds,
Turkish soldiers. We made that offer many, many times.
Coming back to this recent operation that we began on October the 9th, we said all along that this is serious because YPG, PKK in Syria, is gaining
ground, occupying non-Kurdish Arab towns, forcing people to flee, getting all these weapons from the United States free of charge, all in the name of
fighting ISIS.
But the reality is that as we have seen on the second day of the Peace Spring operation, they let about 800 ISIS prisoners free.
Why did they do that?
Because they used ISIS prisoners to blackmail the United States and Europeans, claiming that without them, the fight against ISIS will not be
successful. It's to the contrary.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: OK, let me just stop you for a moment.
KALIN: Basically, their actions on the ground also prove that they were not genuinely interested in fighting ISIS but rather creating some kind of
autonomous region with a clearly separatist agenda.
ANDERSON: OK. Let's just interrogate some of what you have just been discussing. Let's start off with the perception here from a Kurdish group.
I just spoke to the representative to the U.S. for the Syrian Democratic Council. Have a listen to what he just told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASSAM ISHAK, SDC PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE: Turkey is not holding to its commitment and what it has promised vice president Pence when he was in
Ankara. There are human abuses against all Syrians there, especially against religious minorities. And they had promised to protect the
religious minorities.
But religious minorities of all faiths have been suffering since these extremist pro-Turkey forces have captured this region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: He is echoing what the Secretary of Defense has told CNN about the fact that the U.S. believes that there have been war crimes committed.
He says that war crimes are being committed by Turkish-backed forces on the ground and has also said these militia are acting just like ISIS. Your
response, sir.
KALIN: Well, first of all, we take allegations of war crimes, any kind of executions, very seriously. If there are cases, as claimed, as alleged
here, they will be investigated thoroughly.
[11:15:00]
KALIN: Our soldiers have always been very careful. The militia we supported in Syria also have been careful in not attacking the civilians.
When we began this operation, a lot of people, countries, officials, analysts and others have claimed that the civilians will be harmed,
hundreds of thousands of people will be fleeing. The Kurdish people will be attacked. The demography will change.
None of that happened. Compare it with what happened in Raqqah, where 4,000 civilians were killed. Compare it with what happened in Mosul where
anywhere between 9,000 to 11,000 civilians were killed in operations. They've been recorded.
They've been documented in reports by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others. I will refer to another report by these two human
organizations about a year and a half ago, where they said, based on evidence, what YPG did in some of the areas, in fact, amount to war crimes
because they razed villages to the ground.
They forced people to flee. Coming to the issue of the religious minorities, it's really ironic that this group is using the Christian
minorities as a selling point to the American public and to the Trump administration as if they are the guardians of this community.
To the contrary, just listen carefully to what the Christian original domestic Syrian communities have been saying very loudly. Listen to the
president of the World Aramaic Council of Syrian Aramaic and Syrian Christians.
In fact, they've been saying it's YPG that kidnapped Christian children and enlisted them in their ranks to fight against Turkey, against other
opposition forces. They used churches just recently, actually. They bombed the church, tried to blame it on Turkey -- but let me finish.
Because now you're putting this man -- you know I'm at the same level as this gentleman who speaks for a terrorist network, who claims to protect
Christians in Syria.
(CROSSTALK)
KALIN: We have protected the Christian minorities when we opened our doors to almost 4 million Syrian refugees over the last five, six years. We've
never asked anybody their religion or ethnicity or their religion.
Kurds have come. Arabs have come. Sunni Muslims, Christians have come to Turkey. Just listen to what our own Christian minorities have been saying
over the last 10 days in Turkey. The Armenian church, the Aramaic church, the Syrian church, these are some of the oldest churches in the world, by
the way and they've been praising our operation.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Can I press you on a number of other points?
We will run out of time. Sorry.
KALIN: You're giving the floor to these people to spread this nonsense.
ANDERSON: OK. Let me just move on because I've got a number of other points I think are really pertinent to discuss. But I thank you for the
points you have made.
I just want you to have a listen to what President Trump said about escaped ISIS fighters, something you alluded to as we started this conversation.
Hold on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There were a few that got out, a small number, relatively speaking and they've been largely recaptured.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Donald Trump says a few. His Defense Secretary and envoy to Syria say over 100. You say many more.
Where are they?
Have they largely been recaptured, as the U.S. president says?
When we spoke at the beginning of this offensive, you were quite categorical about the fact that, if ISIS assets were to escape, that Turkey
would ensure that they were recaptured.
KALIN: We have fought against ISIS over the last three, four years like any other nation. In fact, we have eliminated over 3,000 ISIS terrorists,
cleared that area from our border and there are no ISIS terrorists along the area.
There are no terrorists in the area that we have secured from YPG. To the east of Euphrates, again, I ask a very simple question.
Who let these ISIS prisoners loose on the second day of the operation?
That prison was under YPG control. This began before we even reached this area or we reached any agreement. The YPG let them loose. Read the
statements by these ISIS prisoners, some of whom spoke to the media. They said in the middle of the night, YPG fighters came and told them just get
out.
Suddenly they said they were surprised, didn't know what was going on. So they told them, YPG told them to just get out. They left. Then YPG came
back and burned down those so-called prisons.
[11:20:00]
KALIN: Now our people, in fact, captured around 196 of those released ISIS prisoners. We're going after ISIS, not YPG. It's very clear that they are
just using the ISIS prisoners as a bargaining chip to really blackmail the United States, European nations to sell this to the Western world that they
are there to fight ISIS.
The reality is that some people are accusing some of these militia, Free Syrian Army and others. They were the ones who fought against ISIS and
eliminated them in the Euphrates Shield operation.
When they eliminated 3,000 ISIS fighters or when they fought against ISIS related groups in the Idlib area, they were praised. When they took action
to clear this area, they are suddenly barbarians. Explain to me the logic.
ANDERSON: Sir, we will continue this discussion. I need to take a quick break. We've a lot more to discuss about exactly what is going on on the
ground and what happens next after this.
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ANDERSON: Returning to the crisis in northern Syria, U.S. president Donald Trump has congratulated himself for leaving, quote, "this long bloodstained
sand." He said it's no longer the United States' job to police the world. Other nations, he says, must step up.
Well, Turkey and Russia have seemingly done so. Joining us is the Turkish president's spokesman.
Thank you for sticking with us. I want you to explain, if you will, exactly what Ankara's strategy is from here on in.
KALIN: Well, two things. One is to clear our border from all terrorist elements, whether it's YPG or ISIS. We will continue to fight against
ISIS. We do not want ISIS to come back in any form or shape, militarily, ideologically. They've done more harm to Islam and Muslims than any other
terrorist network together with Al Qaeda, Shabaab and others. For us, they're no different.
[11:25:00]
KALIN: They are just terrorists. They've killed, in fact, more Muslims in Syria, Iraq and Jordan. So we'll continue to fight against them as we have
done in the past.
But we will also fight against the PKK in Syria, which is why YPG, because you cannot fight one terrorist network with another. You cannot pick and
choose and say, these are good terrorists, these are bad terrorists.
The U.S. has been involved in this ill-conceived policy for many, many years. Just remember the so-called policies during the Cold War in the
early 1980s and 1990s. They all failed.
Now here, unfortunately, this ill-conceived Obama policy, continued under the Trump administration, is creating problems for the Americans, for the
Syrians, for everyone. This is the number one goal, to clear these areas from all terrorist elements.
The second one is to create conditions for the refugees to go back to where they've come from in the northeast Syria, along the Syrian-Turkish border,
to the east and west of Euphrates.
Over the last two years, about 362,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey have returned to their homes. They didn't go back to areas under YPG because
they didn't feel safe. They didn't feel that, you know, they will be treated humanely. They will be under oppression.
Now we are working on the second phase. Obviously the first phase is still under way, to create conditions for the refugees so that they can take off
some of the pressure from us. We are hosting about 400,000 refugees.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Let's talk about those refugees.
How quickly do you envision those refugees back in Syria?
And with Russian boots on the ground at present, the Kremlin says Turkey will steamroll the Kurds if they don't leave.
So are the Kurds cooperating?
KALIN: Not the Kurds, obviously. Again, a correction in terminology. We're talking about YPG moving out of these areas, not the Kurds. We don't
have any problem, you know, with the Kurds.
Unfortunately, I have to respond to some of the remarks that President Trump made last night in his speech while thanking our president for this
deal and for taking care of the refugees.
He also thanked in the same breath, this terrorist, who's a convicted criminal, I don't even want to mention his name, who's on a red bulletin,
thanking him and thanking his troops, et cetera. I mean, this is really mindboggling. Placing a NATO ally at the same level as a terrorist
network. It's just unbelievable. This is not acceptable.
Secondly, Turks and Kurds have lived in this region for hundreds of years. We have lived in peace. Kurds are part and parcel of this region, of our
country. There are millions of Kurds living in Turkey, in Syria, in Iraq, in Iran. We have good relations with all of them.
But we have a problem with the terrorists claiming to represent the Kurds. They don't represent the Kurds. Everybody knows that. Maybe a small
minority are supporting them but they have other agendas. So we have to clear this in regards to the agreement with the Russians.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: How are you ensuring that you can separate those who are fighters from those who are civilian Syrian Kurds on the ground?
KALIN: According to the agreement that we reached on October 17th, in fact, the Americans will make sure that YPG leave this area. So we're not
dealing with them. It's the Americans dealing with them on the ground.
So it's according to the agreement, it's their obligation to get them out of those areas.
But as we speak, just a few hours ago, you know what happened?
In three villages within the area that we agreed upon, YPG refused to leave and, in fact, had a drone attack on some of our troops there. Now they're
claiming that we are violating the agreement, we are -- no, to the contrary.
It's YPG that refuses to leave from the designated areas that we agreed in the October 17th agreement. Now they want -- they refuse to leave and they
attack our soldiers and then claim that we are attacking them. I mean, you see this incredible smear campaign of disinformation going around. In
regards to the Russians --
(CROSSTALK)
KALIN: -- two days ago.
ANDERSON: Let me just get you to have a listen -- go on. Sorry, finish your point.
I was going to say, it's the Russian responsibility to get YPG. So we're not dealing with them. It's the Americans and Russians.
ANDERSON: Let's talk about the Russians. Let's talk about the Russians. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The job of our military is not to police the world.
[11:30:00]
TRUMP: Other nations must step up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Without name checking Russia, Mr. Trump saying other nations must step up. Well, Russia's Middle East clout does seem to be growing
quickly. The agreement with Turkey being the latest example.
Has President Putin replaced the United States as the power broker of this kind of wider Middle East?
And how much extra pull do you think Russia has gained in Syria from this agreement?
KALIN: Well, we have two agreements, one with the Americans, one with the Russians. The part that we did with the Americans covers a certain area.
The other areas, we tried to have this agreement with the U.S.
It didn't work. They were not honest. They continue to support and arm YPG while we were talking, while, in fact, our soldiers with American
soldiers were having joint patrols. They continued to arm YPG.
Why?
On the one hand, the U.S. president said on several occasions, not just once and this was confirmed by many experts, that the ISIS caliphate has
been destroyed. In spite of this declaration almost a year ago, the U.S. continued to supply arms to this terrorist network.
Why?
Now the part that we didn't get with the U.S. we got with the Russians. It's very simple.
The question is, where is NATO?
When YPG attacks Turkish soil, it is not Turkey's land. It's NATO land being attacked.
Where is NATO's response?
I think President Trump is right when he said other nations have to step up to the plate. Yes, he has a point. One simple question. You have about
2,000, 3,000 ISIS prisoners, many of them European citizens.
Why don't the European countries take them back?
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: OK. With that --
KALIN: They're not taking them back.
ANDERSON: We are -- I hear what you're saying and we've heard a similar refrain from President Erdogan. I'm going to have to leave it there. I do
appreciate your time. The perspective extremely important as we continue to cover this story.
Up next, a seemingly endless war in Afghanistan. We have an exclusive interview with the country's three-time presidential candidate following
news that the U.S. is quietly withdrawing its troops from the country. That after this.
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[11:35:00]
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TRUMP: Let someone else fight over this long bloodstained sand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: We've heard some strong words from Donald Trump on Syria but it's not just Syria he wants out of. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I ran on the basis we're going to bring our great soldiers back home, where they belong. We don't have to fight these endless wars. We're
bringing them back home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The U.S. is still involved in its longest-ever war in Afghanistan, entering its 19th year just this month. Although, the
original combat mission Operation Enduring Freedom ended in 2014, it is still deadly there.
Over 8,000 civilians have been killed or injured so far this year alone. Dozens, including farmers and wedding goers, killed by the U.S. Still,
America wants to keep 8,600 troops in Afghanistan, for now at least, despite the lack of a peace deal with the Taliban. Even as troops pull
out, Afghanistan still a big deal in American politics.
On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made an unannounced visit, meeting the chief executive of the country, Abdullah Abdullah. I want to welcome
him right now. He joins us from Kabul for what is an exclusive interview.
Sir, thank you for joining us. Nancy Pelosi with you in Afghanistan.
What was it that the Speaker of the House wanted to learn at this point?
ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, AFGHANISTAN CHIEF EXECUTIVE: Thank you, Becky. The Speaker and also chairpersons of different committees of the Congress were
here. We had extensive discussions.
This was a bipartisan delegation. Of course, they did have questions about the presence of troops, homeland security, the outcome of the elections and
whether this will lead to more stable and peaceful Afghanistan and so on and so forth.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Well, let's talk about those elections, sir. Afghanistan voting in a presidential election almost a month ago. Let's talk about those
elections. You've run for president for a third time and we hear the final results aren't expected now until November the 7th. That's still some time
away. Your own team has alleged voter fraud.
What do you believe is going on?
ABDULLAH: The election commissions, both are doing their job at this moment. They're looking into things that happened. This was for the
second time but the nature of it was different this time around.
We have used biometric devices, the election commission has used biometric devices because of the earlier problems in the elections, including in the
parliamentary elections. There is a sort of -- amongst the public, there's a sort of mistrust over the process.
But we will draw the monitor and observe every step towards cleaning the elections and the transparent outcome.
ANDERSON: "The Guardian" newspaper recently quoted a senior anonymous Afghan source, and I quote, "If a crisis in state leadership meant the U.S.
cut security and development aid, the Afghan state can't finance itself for a couple of weeks, let alone months or years.
"That will make the collapse of the state inevitable, even though it's not in the interest of anyone but terrorists."
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON: Sir, is this fearmongering or do you share that view?
Is that a genuine possibility?
ABDULLAH: Unfortunately, the war continues. We are faced with hardheaded enemies, daish in Al Qaeda specifically. The Taliban are also continuing
with their fight. And they have not agreed to the peace process. And there is, of course, dependence on the support of the international forces.
Also, there's economic dependence. The country has been at war for the past 40 years. We are not at a stage to claim that we are self-reliant and
it will be some time to come before we could step forward and rely on our own feet.
So at the moment, the presence and the support is important for the continuation of the war against Al Qaeda, daish and also as long as Taliban
are not -- are continuing using violence to achieve objectives.
ANDERSON: Let's talk about this stalled peace deal as it were. The United States has, of course, quietly reduced the number of U.S. troops in
Afghanistan by 2,000 over this year. President Trump cancelling talks with the Taliban last month. Those were talks that the Afghan government was
not involved in, not at that point.
What is the latest on a peace deal with the Taliban right now?
ABDULLAH: There has been a pause in the talks and there have been efforts under way already recently amongst the allies and partners of Afghanistan,
recently in Europe and the U.S. special envoy will travel to the region to try to facilitate an environment for direct talks between Afghan delegation
and the Taliban.
The Taliban earlier had refused to talk to the Afghan government. We also believe that delegation should be inclusive, not only the Afghan government
but the other political parties and political leaders and different walks of life should be represented in that delegation.
ANDERSON: With that, sir, we're going to have to leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us, talk elections and the possibility of
a peace deal going forward. Thank you, sir.
We're going to take a very short break, folks. On the other side, the UAE counting down to the massive Expo 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REEM AL HASHIMY, UAE MINISTER OF STATE FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION: Come and explore the entire world in a room, in one space and find out how
beautiful it is.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Up next, we'll speak with the woman in charge of making Dubai dazzle for the big event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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MARIAH CAREY, SINGER: Thank you to all of you in every emirate for being part of the one year to go countdown celebrations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Mariah Carey there in the UAE, marking one year to go to Expo 2020, hosted here in Dubai in the UAE. The six-month mega event expected
to attract millions of visitors to the country.
A short time ago, we found out the United Nations will be there with a pavilion. Expo 2020 calls itself an alliance of art, music, fashion and
science with a lineup boasting live music, comedy, acrobats, fashion shows, digital theater, make your own robot, extreme sports.
Yes, a year out from the start of the spectacle then I went down to find out how preparations are coming along.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Talk me through this site, because the last time I came here, Your Excellency, this was a building site.
(LAUGHTER)
HASHIMY: This was all desert sand. And those trees over there, which are ash trees around 80 years old, were the only thing standing. Everything
we've built will remain after the expo is over.
So in a way, we are building the city of the future. We are just making sure it also has to accommodate a world exposition for six months in 2020.
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HASHIMY (voice-over): Today I stand before you delivering what is my key to be one of the most important speeches of my life.
ANDERSON (voice-over): UAE minister of state for international cooperation Reem Al Hashimy has been in the driving seat at Expo 2020 since the mega
project's inception.
HASHIMY (voice-over): This state has touched all of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Dubai has become the first Middle Eastern city to win the right to host the world expo.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Take me back to the process of putting a bid together and the winning of this event.
HASHIMY: We put the bid through November 27, 2013. I had my 3-month-old baby with me. We won and it was an incredible moment.
ANDERSON: Meantime, your oldest is now 6.
HASHIMY: Exactly.
ANDERSON: 6 and 3 months.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): How many people have been involved to date in the construction?
HASHIMY: So at the peak, we've had 44,000 workers. In terms of manhours, we've had about 130 million manhours. So a really significant amount of
attention on our workers' welfare. We've looked very closely at ensuring that health and safety standards are topnotch. They are, after all, the
heroes of this project.
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ANDERSON: (INAUDIBLE).
You are one year away from welcoming the first visitors to this site. Walk me through the key challenges that remain in order for this site to be
ready to welcome those visitors.
HASHIMY: The site will be ready. The challenge now moving forward is how do you make sure when visitors come here, you're creating memories, you're
ensuring that for the first time a world expo has come to this part of the world, has come to Dubai, has come to the UAE?
How do you ensure that people who visit and we're anticipating 25 million visitors, walk away saying, oh, my God, what an opportunity of a lifetime?
We really enjoy that. We will never forget that.
ANDERSON: How difficult has it been to maintain the momentum behind the scenes for this project when times are tougher than they were when this
project was launched?
And how do you ensure the $33-odd billion of positive economic impact for the UAE post-2030?
HASHIMY: We play the long game, Becky. Economies or economics are cyclical in nature. It gets better, it gets worse, over time, though,
we've put in place the necessary fundamentals to ensure that we continue to be an important center, if you will, between east and west, north and
south.
[11:55:00]
HASHIMY: This is really key.
ANDERSON: To ensure this is not a white elephant -- and there have been instances in the past with expos that just haven't worked -- what have you
learned from other countries holding this world exhibition?
And how do you avoid those pitfalls?
HASHIMY: So we planned for 2030. We looked at what the city and the country does not have. We're bringing the metro here. We're bringing the
conference and exhibition that's currently in downtown Dubai over here.
But we're also not impatient, Becky. We recognize that things aren't light switches. Things need to develop organically. We're putting in a system
that helps support SMEs. We're looking at how do you help support the fintech industry. This is all in legacy. And we're using the expo as our
launching pad for some of these things.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): The theme, connecting minds, creating a future, then designed to foster a spirit of creativity and innovation and not just
in the UAE. In a region beset with roiling politics, she says, Expo 2020 will be apolitical. Iran is participating and so is Israel. And Qatar is
invited.
HASHIMY: Everybody is invited. And we hope they do all come. Our conviction is that this region needs and this region wants and this region
deserves stability and progress and hope. We're not looking at a return on investment at the expo itself because it's been built for much longer than
that. And its vision is for way beyond.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Pretty spectacular. All that and two exclusive interviews for you this couple of hours. We've connected your world for you. Good night.
See you Sunday.
END
