Ramping up rhetoric, Turkey's Erdogan chastises U.S. over democracy
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey October 20, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
By Dirimcan Barut and Tulay Karadeniz
ISTANBUL/ANKARA
(Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan showed no retreat from a
diplomatic row with the United States on Saturday, castigating
Washington for what he said an "undemocratic" indictment against his
security detail.
His
comments may further dash hopes of a quick resolution to an on-going
diplomatic crisis between the NATO allies. Both Ankara and Washington
have cut back issuing visas to each other's citizens as ties have
worsened.
"They
say the United States is the cradle of democracy. This can't be true.
This can't be democracy," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul.
"If
arrest warrants are issued against my bodyguards in absentia ... in the
United States, where I went upon invitation, excuse me but I will not
say this is a civilized country."
A
U.S. grand jury in August indicted 15 Turkish security officials over a
brawl between protesters and Erdogan's security personnel during the
Turkish president's visit to Washington in May. Erdogan has said the
indictment was not binding for Ankara.
The
row deepened after Turkish authorities arrested two U.S. consular
staff, both Turkish nationals. In May, a translator at the consulate in
the southern province of Adana was arrested and two weeks ago a Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) worker was detained in Istanbul.
Both are accused of links to last year' failed coup. The U.S. embassy has said the accusations are baseless.
Turkish
police want to question a third worker based in Istanbul. His wife and
daughter were detained this month last week over alleged links to the
network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for
orchestrating the abortive putsch. They were later released.
COUP, KURDISH MILITIA
Turkey
has been angered by what it sees as U.S. reluctance to hand over the
cleric Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999. U.S. officials
have said its courts require sufficient evidence to order his
extradition.
Turkey
has also been enraged by Washington's support for the Syrian Kurdish
YPG militia in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey regards the YPG
as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
On
Saturday, the U.S. embassy issued statement reiterating its stance on
the PKK and its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in an apparent response
to criticism from Erdogan.
"The
U.S. government works together with Turkey in the fight against
terrorism and maintenance of stability in the region," it said on
Twitter. "The PKK is listed among foreign terror organizations. Ocalan
has been jailed in Turkey for his actions related to the PKK. He is not a
person to be respected."
On
Friday, Erdogan criticized the United States over a huge banner of
jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan unfurled in Syria's Raqqa
by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. The banner was raised at a ceremony to
mark Raqqa's capture from Islamic State in a campaign spearheaded by the
YPG.
"How
can the U.S. explain the poster of Ocalan in Raqqa? Is this the way
they are cooperating with us in the struggle against terror?" Erdogan
said. "You are not standing by us against terrorism."
Ocalan
has been in jail in Turkey since 1999 on a treason conviction. More
than 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have died in the fighting since
the PKK took up arms against the state in 1984.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union.
(Reporting by Additional reporting by Yesim Dikmen; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Ros Russell)
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