Erdogan, Biden Discuss Iraq, Cooperatıon agaınst PKK in İstabul us
YAYINLAMA
GÜNCELLEME
Vice President Joe Biden paid a visit to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday and discussed ways to increase cooperation in the fight against the terrorist PKK as well as other regional issues, including Iraq. Biden visited the Istanbul home of Erdogan, who is recovering from surgery. The meeting lasted about two hours. In the meeting, Erdogan asked Biden about US intentions in Iraq, and the vice president said the US military pullout there did not entail American disengagement, because robust civilian initiatives will continue, a senior US administration official told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because of sensitivity of the discussions. Biden also stressed the US's commitment to assisting Turkey in its fight against the PKK, according to the official. Biden also expressed to Erdogan the hope that Turkey and Israel, US allies whose ties have deteriorated sharply, would seek opportunities to repair their relationship, the US official said. The American vice president also said he hoped Turkey would reopen a seminary that has trained generations of Greek Orthodox patriarchs. Biden later met with Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christian community, at his headquarters in Istanbul. Also on Saturday, Biden attended an international forum in Istanbul. "A free political climate is essential to economic innovation, and countries that try to censor the Internet are pursuing a ‘dead end'," Biden told a group of young entrepreneurs gathered in Istanbul on Saturday. The international forum, which drew hundreds of attendees, followed up on a meeting in Washington last year aimed at deepening ties between the United States and Muslim communities around the world. He praised Turkey, noting that the Muslim ally's economy has tripled in size over the last decade. Turkey's deputy prime minister, Ali Babacan, said Turkey was an example for the region of how Islam and democracy can coexist peacefully. "International theories are OK, but a living example is much more convincing," Babacan said. He referred to a "problem of political leadership" in some European countries, an apparent reference to the continent's economic turmoil as well as Turkey's frustration over its stalled bid to join the European Union.