Biden's Negative Remarks About Erdogan Are Again 'fried' And Stirring Tensions With Turkey

US presidential candidate Joe Biden (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - Turkey, on Saturday, August 15, condemned Joe Biden's statement last year. At that time, Biden said the United States (US) should take a new approach in dealing with President Tayyip Erdogan's government, which is considered autocratic.

Biden, the Democratic Party's candidate for president of the United States, also said the US should support the opposition in Turkey. According to one Turkish government official, Biden's statement was a form of "intervention" in Turkey's internal affairs.

Biden's statement, cited by the New York Times in December 2019, has returned to viral on social media Twitter in Turkey. President Tayyip Erdogan has ruled Turkey for 17 years and fostered good relations with the US, even under President Donald Trump.

Biden, on a broadcast, said he was "deeply concerned" by Erdogan's attitude towards ethnic Kurds in Turkey. He is also concerned about the partial military cooperation between Turkey and Russia and Erdogan's access to US military bases in Turkey.

Biden expressed concern despite Turkey's status as an ally of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). "In my opinion, the steps we have to take will be very different from what is happening now, of course we have to support the leadership of the opposition," said Biden.

"He (Erdogan) has to pay for everything," said Biden, adding that the US should increase support for top brass from the opposition "so that they can keep up with Erdogan". "Not by means of a coup, not by means of a coup, but through elections," he added.

Regarding this, the Director of Communications for the Turkish Presidency, Fahrettin Altun, said Biden's statement "shows a playful and meddling attitude towards Turkey's internal affairs." He also said the coup incident failed in 2016.

"We believe this statement has no place in diplomatic relations with one of the presidential candidates of our NATO ally, the United States, and is also unacceptable to the current (US) administration," Altun said.

Although Trump and Erdogan meet regularly, diplomatic relations between Turkey and the United States have strained several times because Ankara buys Russian defense equipment. The US is also often at odds with Turkey regarding policies in Syria. The US also accused a state-owned bank in Turkey of helping Iranians avoid economic sanctions.

Turkey's main opposition party won last year's regional elections in the city of Istanbul, beating out groups supporting Erdogan's regime and the current ruling AK Party. However, poll results show the ruling group still has the support of most Turks.

Biden conveyed his stance on Turkey on December 16, 2019 before he ran as a candidate for the Democratic Party.