The Turkish presidency and officials issued several harsh criticisms of the Democratic candidate for the US presidency, Joe Biden, after his statements were circulated in which he talks about cooperation with the Turkish opposition to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Biden made the remarks in an interview filmed by The New York Times last December, but the video was not published until Saturday, and was widely shared on social media.

When Biden was asked about Erdogan, he described him as "an autocrat", criticized his policy towards the Kurds, and urged support for the Turkish opposition.

"I think we should take a very different approach to dealing with it now, by making it clear that we support the opposition leadership," the democratic candidate said.

He added that Erdogan “must pay a price,” and that Washington should enthusiastic the leaders of the Turkish opposition “so that they can confront and defeat Erdogan. Not through a coup, not through a coup, but through the electoral process.”

These statements did not receive any response when they were published in January, but the video of the interview sparked outrage in Ankara.

American candidate John Biden publicly reveals America's plans to bring down Turkey and Erdogan:

We must support the opposition to his defeat, as we did when we drove him and his party out of Istanbul.

We will have a great effort to gather with our allies in the region to reach a way to strip it of all its activities there, especially the petroleum activities in the eastern Mediterranean. pic.twitter.com/AM1L0445RA

- Al Istanbul (@ istanbulli1453) August 15, 2020

By parties loyal .. Turkish opposition parties mobilizes denouncing Joe Biden 's remarks against Tayyip Erdogan
Ahmet Davutoglu ,
Ali Babacan , the
Republican People 's Party , a
good party , the
Felicity Party and
other opposition parties ,
dozens of opposition figures ,
Turkey unite and respond to the vaccine .. Biden clearly and the same one

- Hamza Tekin (@ Hamza_tekin2023) August 15, 2020

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalan said in a tweet on Sunday that Biden's analysis "betrays absolute ignorance, arrogance and hypocrisy."

He added, "The days of directing instructions to Turkey are over, but you still think that you can try, so please, but you will pay the price."

For his part, the spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party, Omar Celik, said on Twitter, "We believe in the power of the ballot boxes and we know very well how to respond to coups, the most recent of which was our response in the July 15 (2016) coup."

He added that Biden had used the word elections, but he intended a coup, and stressed that "no one can interfere in the ballot box. Nobody can destroy our democracy."

In the same context, Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Shantub said yesterday, “Four years ago there has been talk of Russian interference in the American elections, and now Biden is declaring his intention to interfere in the Turkish elections. First of all, I hope you will organize elections in your country that are free of impurities and any external influence.”

On the other hand, the head of the Turkish National Movement Party, Devlet Bahceli, denounced Biden’s statements, saying that his scheme was "despicable."

It is noteworthy that the tension between Ankara and Biden dates back to years ago, when he was Vice President Barack Obama. Biden previously apologized to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following statements in 2014 in which he accused Turkey of collaborating with ISIS.