U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Is Snubbed In Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) meets with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden at the Presidential Palace in Ankara on August 24

Bloomberg: Biden Met by Snubs as He Seeks to Mollify Turkey’s Angry Erdogan

* Junior officials met the U.S. vice president at the airport
* Turkish government-linked newspaper calls trip a waste of time

From the minute he stepped off the plane on Wednesday, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s trip to Turkey seemed ill-fated.

Intended to smooth relations frayed by last month’s botched coup, Biden’s visit instead showcased acrimony with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey sent low-ranking officials -- including Ankara’s deputy mayor -- to greet Biden at the airport. And even before the vice president’s visit ended, the Daily Sabah, a pro-Erdogan newspaper, declared that "Biden wasted a trip, Turkey wasted time."

Biden -- the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Turkey since the coup -- was apologetic and conciliatory during his joint news conference with Erdogan. As the vice president spoke, the Turkish leader sat back in his chair, stone-faced.

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WNU Editor: This was never going to be an easy trip .... Biden’s Nearly Impossible Task in Turkey (Politico).