Joe.My.God. LGBT News
Politico Europe reports:
When he ran for president, Joe Biden called Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan an “autocrat” and said the U.S should support Erdogan’s opponents. Now, with Erdoğan leading in a tight runoff race for the Turkish presidency, Biden and his aides are a chastened bunch.
When they’re willing to comment at all, they insist they’re not picking sides. “I just hope … whoever wins wins,” Biden said Sunday of the first-round vote in Turkey, a situation he subtly compared to his own 2020 election. “There’s enough problems in that part of the world right now.”
The Biden team’s awkward ambivalence reflects an uncomfortable reality. Yes, Erdoğan may be an illiberal ruler who has damaged his country’s democracy. But Turkey is also a strategically located NATO ally, and Russia’s war in Ukraine and ongoing strife in the Middle East means Washington can’t simply turn its back on the strongman.
Read the full article. Turkey’s election is set for a runoff at the end of the month after Erdogan narrowly failed to get 50% of the vote.
When he ran for president, Joe Biden called Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan an “autocrat” and said the US should support Erdogan’s opponents.
Now, Biden and his aides insist they’re not picking sides. https://t.co/Cls27Kvh2S
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) May 15, 2023