"No one can hijack, destroy our democracy, interfere in Turkey's political system," Anadolu cited Omer Çelik as saying after a board meeting of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Tuesday.

Comments by Biden, recorded last December but first reported on Saturday, went viral and drew condemnation across the political spectrum in Turkey in recent days.

"We can support those elements of the Turkish leadership that still exist and get more from them and embolden them to be able to take on and defeat Erdogan. Not by a coup, not by a coup, but by the electoral process,” Biden said in a video clip.

Biden also accused current U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration of having “yielded to” Erdogan by allowing him to launch a military incursion into Syria in October 2019 in which Turkey seized territory from Syrian Kurdish forces that had allied with the U.S. to fight the Islamic State.

“The last thing I would have done is to yield to him with regards to the Kurds,” Biden said.

Çelik also seemingly responded to this comment - referencing the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its Syrian affiliate the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

“Whoever supports the PYD/PKK, sends weapons to them, they are the ones who want death for the Kurdish children,” he said.

Reporter’s code: 50101