WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US president’s remarks come in response to a question whether he considered Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an "authoritarian," a day after Erdogan’s security guards harassed and assaulted journalists in front of the Brookings Institute where he delivered a speech.
"It's no secret that there are some trends within Turkey that I've been troubled with," Obama stated on Friday, adding that he is a strong believer in freedom of the press.
Obama added that "the approach that they've [Turkey] been taking toward the press is one that could lead Turkey down a path that would be very troubling, and we are going to continue to advise them."
Obama noted that Erdogan came to office with the "promise of democracy," and that Turkey had historically been a country in which "deep Islamic faith has lived side by side with modernity and an increasing openness."
However, Obama also said that Turkey would continue to be a key partner for the United States on a range of international and regional issues, and characterized US cooperation with Ankara as "critical."
In recent months, Turkish authorities arrested three academics who publicly read out a declaration urging an end of Ankara’s security operations in Kurdish regions of Turkey. The Erdogan administration has also detained reporters, having accused them of espionage for publishing reports about corruption and weapons deliveries to the Daesh in Syria.
