* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)
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Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın has responded to former US Vice President and Presidential candidate Joe Biden's remarks on President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Biden made these remarks in an interview in January.
Sharing a brief message in English, İbrahim Kalın has said, "The analysis of Turkey by Joe Biden is based on pure ignorance, arrogance and hypocrisy. The days of ordering Turkey around are over. But if you still think you can try, be our guest. You will pay the price."
The analysis of Turkey by @JoeBiden is based on pure ignorance, arrogance and hypocrisy.
— Ibrahim Kalin (@ikalin1) August 16, 2020
The days of ordering Turkey around are over.
But if you still think you can try, be our guest.
You will pay the price.
The remarks of Biden have been slammed by both the ruling party and the opposition, including main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, İYİ Party Vice Chair Koray Aydın and DEVA Party Chair Ali Babacan.
Statement by Presidential Communications Director
Turkey's Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun has also criticized the remarks of Biden in a series of tweets. Altun commented, "We believe that the current US administration would find these undiplomatic remarks unseemly of a presidential candidate of our NATO ally. Turkey is not a country that can be made a tool in domestic political games."
What did Biden say?
As reported by the New York Times, Joe Biden, the former US Vice President, said in the video that he was "very concerned" about Erdoğan's approach to Kurds in Turkey, his partial military cooperation with Russia, and access to US airfields in the country, a NATO ally.
"What I think we should be doing is taking a very different approach to him now, making it clear that we support opposition leadership," Biden said in the video and verified by a transcript published in January by the NYT.
"He has to pay a price," Biden said at the time, adding that Washington should embolden Turkey's opposition leaders "to be able to take on and defeat Erdogan. Not by a coup, not by a coup, but by the electoral process." (RT/SD)
