Turkey: Protesters rally against Joe Biden, signs say ‘Yankee Go Home’
Turkish protesters rallied against the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden, most waving banners saying ‘Yankee Go Home’. In Istanbul, Biden was set to speak on reducing the energy dependence on Russia and announced aid to Syrian refugees.
screenshot RT video of protests
Around 300 people chanting “Biden get out. The country is ours,” took to the streets in Istanbul on Saturday. The event had been organized by the Youth Association of Turkey which also “greeted” three US Navy sailors last week stating a similar “Yankee, go home!”.
Speaking at the Atlantic Council’s energy security summit in Istanbul on Saturday, Biden called on Europe to continue diversifying its energy supplies to reduce dependence on Russia.
“Now, now, now is the time to act,” Biden said according to AP. “We have been aware that this single source of energy has been a problem for a long time… But my message is not that Europe can or should do away with Russian imports.”
“Russia can and should be a player, but Russia has to play by the rules,” Biden stated, while Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu said vaguely that “energy is a tool for peace.”
Students staged the protest as Biden was meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan after the summit and announced nearly $135 million of extra humanitarian aid to the country to cope with the influx of civilians on account of ongoing turmoil in neighboring Syria.
Turkey has some 1.6 million refugees within its borders from Syria.
Among them are more than 190,000 Syrians from Kobani which has been the site of ongoing battles between predominantly-Kurdish forces and Islamic State militants who have been attempting to seize the area.
We need Turkey, and I think that Turkey believes that it needs us as well,” Biden said.
Turkey has been somewhat reluctant to fully engage against the Islamic State. Erdogan has resisted over fears of empowering Kurdish factions in his own country that could push for independence.
