Biden opens talks with Turkish leaders
By SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press
Dec 2, 2011 2:22 AM CST

Vice President Joe Biden on Friday started talks with Turkish leaders that were expected to focus on the conflict in Syria and Iran's disputed nuclear program.

U.S. ally Turkey has opened its doors to thousands of refugees from its southern neighbor Syria, where President Bashar Assad's regime is accused of killing more than 4,000 people in a recent crackdown on dissent.

Biden met Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek and was also scheduled to meet President Abdullah Gul on Friday.

Ahead of his arrival, Biden told the Turkish daily Hurriyet that he praised Turkey's call for Assad to step down. Hurriyet and its English-language sister paper, Hurriyet Daily News, published his emailed remarks on Friday.

"Turkey has been a real leader," Biden is quoted as saying. The vice president also commended Turkey's calls for others in the international community to support the Syrian people."

Biden said: "We look forward to the broadening of international sanctions as a means to bring about change in Syria."

The United States "will continue to work with Turkey on pursuing shared interests in the Middle East and North Africa," Biden said.

Turkey announced a set of economic sanctions against Syria earlier this week and Biden urged Ankara to adopt more sanctions against Iran, which the West suspects is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful. Turkey is bound by U.N. sanctions against Iran. The United States and Europe have imposed additional sanctions.

"We continue to support a diplomatic solution to our concerns with Iran," Biden said. "However, we also believe that putting pressure on Iran's leadership is necessary to secure a negotiated settlement and that is why we encourage our partners, including Turkey, to take steps to impose new sanctions on Iran."

The leaders will also discuss Turkey's conflict with autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels. The United States has deployed four Predator drones to Turkey from Iraq and also agreed to sell three helicopter gunships to help Turkey's fight against the rebels, who stage attacks on Turkish targets from their bases in northern Iraq.

Biden said the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of December would not leave "chaos behind."

"As the majority of U.S. forces have already withdrawn from Iraq, we do not expect that the security environment in northern Iraq will change dramatically," Biden said.

Biden, meanwhile, voiced concern over human rights issues in Turkey.

"We have made known our concerns over such issues as lengthy pre-trial detention and restrictions on the freedom of expression affecting journalists and the Internet," he said, adding that Turkey's plans for a new constitution should "deepen respect for human rights for all Turkish citizens."

Turkey is also under pressure to reopen a seminary that trained generations of Greek Orthodox patriarchs. The Halki Theological School on Heybeliada Island, near Istanbul, was closed to new students in 1971 under a law that put religious and military training under state control. The school closed its doors in 1985, when the last five students graduated.

"In many ways, Turkey has shown great tolerance toward minority religions. The continued closure of the seminary is an anomaly and an unnecessary mark against Turkey's international image," Biden said.