To save data, can Core Data provide a fully functional SQLite database that is queryable? Can it do all the SQL searches that it needs to?

I understand that Core Data is a wrapper of the underlying data structures. If I'm using Core Data to create a SQLite database, am I able to access a fully featured SQLite database with Core Data? In other words, am I able to use SQL queries to sort and search my database. Is the Core Data framework simply an abstraction layer over a SQLite database?