U.S Vice President Joe Biden, left, speaks to the media after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016.
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The Obama administration will cut all US support for its Syrian Kurdish allies, which it considers the most competent rebel force fighting the Islamic State, if they do not comply with Turkish demands that they withdraw to the east of the Euphrates River, Vice President Biden said here Wednesday.
“We have no interest whatsoever in protecting anyone who has done harm to an ally, but we need to meet the standard legal requirement under our law”, Biden said, adding that only a U.S. court can extradite the Turkish-born Islamic cleric based on evidence.
Even as Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Ankara to promise American cooperation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared the USA has “no excuse” to refuse Fethullah Gulen’s extradition, and his Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, was issuing veiled threats about anti-American sentiment growing in Turkey if Gulen is not handed over.
At the press conference in Ankara, Biden said that the USA has “no, no, no, no interest whatsoever in protecting anyone who has done harm to an ally”.
On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country.
President Tayyip Erdogan had said Washington had “no excuse” for keeping hold of Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who Turkish officials say has operated a network of followers inside the armed forces and civil service to take over Turkey.
Turkish officials gave Biden a guided tour around the parliament, which was bombed during the coup attempt.
Biden told the news conference that Turkey had promised him that the rule of law would prevail during the investigation of the putsch. Ankara considers the Kurdish YPG in Syria as a hostile force.
He also says the United States would also not accept a Kurdish entity on the Turkish border.
Biden also praised Turkey for hosting 3 million refugees that have fled the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, noting that the effort has placed an enormous burden on the country.
Biden’s one-day trip to Ankara was largely aimed at repairing damage to ties caused by the botched coup and Turkey’s impatience over the failure of the U.S. to rapidly surrender Gulen.
He also noted that the evidence presented in Turkey’s extradition request was related to events before the July 15 coup.
“The US administration, President Obama and Mr”.
Aybet states in her op-ed that “t$3 here was already an ongoing investigation against Gulen before the coup attempt, and on May 26 the Turkish National Security Council officially labelled the organisation as a terrorist group – the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), to be disbanded as a primary threat to Turkey’s national security”.
Maintaining strong relations with Turkey is particularly important as the United States and coalition countries battle ISIS.
“Let me be clear, as clear as I possibly can”, Biden said, raising his voice to a near-shout.
“When you go into an American court you can not say “this is a bad guy”.
Biden and Yildirim both said they did not accept a new Kurdish entity on Turkey’s border inside Syria.
“This is devastating. Can you imagine this happening at home?”
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Writer Dorian Jones of the Voice of America observed at the beginning of this year when Biden was previously in Turkey there was quite a “full agenda” of issues to discuss then as well.
