Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 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".
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."
Turkey's president also condemned an incident in which rockets fired from across the Syrian border landed in the southern Turkish province of Kilis.
"Of course the attack on Kilis province was unacceptable," Erdoğan told reporters following Friday prayers in the metropolis of Istanbul.
"In response to this [rocket attack], we've retaliated, are retaliating, and we will continue to do so," he added.
No one was injured by the rockets, which caused no damage when they fell in the province on Thursday.
In early 2016, more than 70 rockets were fired into Kilis from across the Syrian border by Daesh/ISIS, killing at least 21 people, but in the years since, the terrorist group was largely driven from the region by Turkish military operations.
Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and to enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
