Turkey's Erdogan says Biden comments on Putin 'unacceptable'

[March 19, 2021]    ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that U.S. President Joe Biden's comments about Russia's Vladimir Putin, in which he called him a killer, were "unacceptable" and "not fitting of a president".

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint news conference following talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia March 5, 2020. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS/

In a TV interview broadcast on Wednesday, Biden said "I do" when asked if he believed Putin was a killer, prompting diplomatic ties to sink to a new low. Putin later responded that "he who said it, did it."

Ankara and Washington are NATO allies though Erdogan and Biden have yet to speak since Biden became president.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by Jonathan Spicer)

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