Biden: "US considers Turkey as a friend and partner"

US Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the Hurriyet daily prior to his three-day visit to Turkey which started yesterday. Biden said that he agreed with Gul who has recently defined the Turkish-US relations as unprecedentedly healthy and that both Turkey and the US shared a common strategic vision, although they occasionally differed from each other in terms of tactics. Biden added that the US considered Turkey as a friend and partner as part of a comprehensive strategic agenda which consists of threats of the 21st century faced by NATO, global economy, prevention of an increase in nuclear weapons, European missile defense, the changing Middle East, terrorism, as well as bilateral trade and investment links between Turkey and the US. Biden added that the US and Turkey have been maintaining a strong and common undertaking in order to end terrorist activities everywhere, including Turkey, and that the US government which has listed the PKK as a foreign terrorist organization has been working in cooperation with Turkish and Iraqi officials in order to help prevent the PKK attacks. As for the Syrian issue, Biden said that the Syrian regime should give an end to oppressing its own people and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should resign, adding that Turkey has displayed an example of real leadership with regard to the issue. Biden will travel to Istanbul tomorrow to attend the 2nd Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Speaking about the summit, Biden said that it has emerged from the commitment made by President Barack Obama during his visit to Cairo in 2009 in order to encourage economic and social entrepreneurship and provide the young people with economic opportunities in countries predominantly consisting of a Muslim population, adding, "President Obama and I appreciate Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's willingness to host the second session of this important meeting. This was particularly to the point, because Turkey has been continuing to grow with its dynamic economy, despite difficult global economic conditions."