by Oui
Sat May 13th, 2023 at 06:14:39 PM EST
Not the first nor only time Biden "misspoke" ... the attempted coup d'état
Türkiye is the bad boy within the NATO alliance ... "we are united" ...
After the US retreated from Afghanistan, Türkiye became an important regional player, just look at the Turkic people in Central Asia extending into China's province Xinjiang - see also Uyghur Freedom Fighters and Kunduz Mosque Attack on Oct. 8, 2021.
US alliance with Kurds in the Syria campaign has positive effect for the Kurds fighting for independence. You are well aware Israel has had long ties with the Kurds in Northern Iraq.
August 15, 2020
Turkey slams Biden's past call for U.S. to back Erdogan opponents | Reuters/Al Jazeera |
Turkey has condemned remarks made by US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden criticising President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and calling for support for the Turkish leader's opponents.
Biden made the comments in an interview filmed by The New York Times in December, but a video of the remarks only appeared on Saturday before going viral on social media.
Politicians from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and several opposition parties have slammed U.S. Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden over his remarks on Turkish politics
Biden's comments to New York Times editors, where he advocated a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and support for opposition parties, resurfaced in a video that made him the most popular topic on Twitter in Turkey on Aug. 15.
Biden, the former U.S. vice president, says in the video recorded on Dec. 16, 2019 - before he emerged as the Democratic candidate - that he is "very concerned" about Erdoğan's approach to Kurds in Turkey, his partial military cooperation with Russia, and access to U.S. 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 Times.
"He has to pay a price," Biden said at the time, adding Washington should embolden Turkish opposition leaders "to be able to take on and defeat Erdoğan. Not by a coup, not by a coup, but by the electoral process."
His remarks were slammed by numerous politicians in Turkey, with Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun saying that his comments "reflect games and an interventionist approach towards Turkey" and are inconsistent with current diplomatic relations.
"Nobody can attack our nation's will and democracy or question the legitimacy of our President, who was elected by popular vote," Altun said on Twitter, noting the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt.
Times of Israel - Video
Turkey condemns Biden's criticism of `autocrat' Erdogan | TOI/AFP - Aug. 15, 2020 |
Turkish presidential spokesman accuses presumptive Democratic candidate of `pure ignorance, arrogance and hypocrisy' over call to support opposition parties
Several officials of the main opposition CHP party quickly distanced themselves from Biden's remarks, calling for "respect for the sovereignty of Turkey."
Some Biden critics also expect a possible deterioration in already testy relations between Ankara and Washington if he manages to defeat Donald Trump in the US presidential election in November.
Erdogan, who in recent years has worked to cultivate a personal relationship with Trump, often lashes out at the US president's predecessor, Barack Obama. Biden was Obama's vice president.
Relations between Ankara and Washington were strained during Obama's second term, particularly in regard to disagreements over Syria and growing international criticism over freedoms and rights in Turkey.
Nov. 2014 -- Biden to meet with Erdogan as divide between US and Turkey widens | The Guardian|
Differences have arisen regarding ISIS, Cyprus and oil and gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, leading to questions of Turkey's reliability as an ally.
Aug. 2016 -- Is Biden's visit to Ankara the last chance for Turkey and America?
Brookings Institute |Kemal Kirişci on Tuesday, August 23, 2016 |
VP Joe Biden will be visiting Turkey at a time when the aftermath of the coup attempt on July 15 has reiterated deep anti-Americanism in the country. There are four reasons for this mood. The Turkish public and officialdom believe that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's initial response to the coup, when he called for "peace and continuity," betrayed the expectation of an "Egyptian-like outcome." The leadership has also stated that the White House statement, finally in defense of Turkish democracy, arrived only after it seemed like the coup attempt was failing.
Added to all this is the fact that Fethullah Gülen, the alleged mastermind behind the coup attempt, resides in rural Pennsylvania. These very quickly fed into a narrative that the United States either must have known about the plans and did not inform the Turkish government of the pending coup, or was actually directly involved in it
A former chief of staff of the Turkish military has also remarked that such a coup attempt would not have been realized without CIA's assistance. Lastly, Washington insists that Gülen's extradition hinges on whether Turkey can produce enough evidence that connects him to the coup attempt--a precondition that is aggravating Turkey's sense of betrayal.
The bloodiest coup | 11/08/2016
The international positions, especially the American position, were a shock to the Turkish government. It was expected that the US administration would issue an immediate position denouncing the coup and supporting the legitimately elected government. However, US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was asked about his position on the ongoing coup attempt in Turkey, during a press conference he was holding with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, at the end of his visit to Moscow dedicated to discussing Russian-American coordination in Syria, only expressed his hope. "That there will be stability, peace and continuity in Turkey" [2].
What made matters worse was that the US embassy in Ankara issued a statement on the night of the coup deeming that what was happening in Turkey was an "uprising" [3]. The next day, the White House issued a statement denouncing the failed coup attempt and purely supporting the "civilian and democratically elected" Turkish government [4]; The statement also urged all parties to the Turkish crisis to act within the framework of the law, exercise restraint, and avoid violence, bloodshed, and any actions that might lead to instability [5].
This position raised many questions among Turkish officials about the truth of the American position on what happened, and the matter reached the point where the Turkish Minister of Labor accused the United States of having "orchestrated" the coup attempt, while one of the editors-in-chief of newspapers close to the government wrote an article on the front page entitled " The United States is trying to assassinate Erdogan." [6] The US administration denied these accusations [7], and expressed that by refusing to grant political asylum to the commander of the Turkish Incirlik base, who was later arrested for his role in planning the military coup [8].
Erdogan Flies to Istanbul, Declares Coup Dead, and Vows Payback | Foreign Policy - July 15, 2016 |
After urging Turkish citizens to take to the streets to turn back an attempted military coup, Erdogan landed in Istanbul early Saturday to retake control of the country.
Turkey's state-run news agency says 1,800 special forces police officers have arrived in Istanbul from neighboring provinces. Anadolu Agency reported the officers have taken up positions in critical facilities and were patrolling the city.
The report said Istanbul Police Chief Mustafa Caliskan had ordered the shooting down of any helicopters flying overhead without warning.
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Al-Monitor: Tensions run high as Azerbaijan-Turkey alliance causes concern for Iran | Nov. 22, 2022 |
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Twitter Blocks Content In Turkey One Day Before National Election | Forbes - 2 hrs ago |
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