Turkey condemns Biden's remarks on Erdogan, says it is based on 'pure ignorance'

Turkey on August 16 condemned remarks made by US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and warned him that he ‘will pay the price’. According to international media reports, Biden in an interview last December criticised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and called him an ‘autocrat’. While his comments did not provoke much reaction when they were published back in January, a recent video of the interview, however, triggered an angry response from Ankara. 

In the interview, which was filmed by The New York Times, Biden reportedly criticised Erdogan’s policy towards the Kurds and advocated supporting the Turkish opposition. As per reports, Biden said that he thinks that a ‘different approach’ should be taken towards the Turkish President. He also added that it should be made clear that the US supports opposition leadership. 

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Biden reportedly said that it was necessary to ‘embolden’ the Turkish President’s rivals to allow them to take on and defeat Erdogan. He added that ‘not by a coup’, but by the electoral process. Once the video surfaced on social media, Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin took to Twitter and condemned Biden’s comments. Kalin also said that Biden’s analysis is based on ‘ignorance, arrogance and hypocrisy’. 

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Opposition party calls for ‘respect for the sovereignty’ 

Not only the ruling party, but Turkey’s opposition party also condemned Biden’s comments. As per reports, Ankara’s main opposition CHP party, whom the Turkish government regularly accused of being in the pay of foreign powers, also distanced themselves from Biden’s remarks. They reportedly even called for ‘respect for the sovereignty of Turkey’. 

Amid the tensed relationship between Ankara and Washington, several critics now believe that Biden’s comments might deteriorate the relations between the two more. Erdogan has been cultivating a personal relationship with US President Donald Trump, however, he has often lashed out at the former US President Barack Obama. When Biden was the Vice President, relations between Ankara and Washington were also strained, particularly in regard to disagreement over Syria and growing international criticism over freedoms and rights in Turkey. 

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