US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Turkey for its role in the prisoner swap operation led by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT).
US President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken each made a written statement regarding the swap operation conducted by MİT and carried out in Ankara.
- MİT carried out the swap operation of 26 people in prisons in 7 different countries
- The Russian press has widely covered Turkey’s role in the MIT swap operation
In his statement, Biden stated that a total of four people, three American citizens and one Green Card holder, will return home from “prisons in Russia where they were unfairly held” and that they are very happy about this.
Biden also thanked the countries that contributed to the release of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsou Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, and said, “I am grateful to our allies, including Turkey, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Norway, for helping us reach this conclusion throughout these difficult and complex negotiations.”
US Secretary of State Blinken also said, “We are grateful to a group of our allies, Germany, Poland, Norway and Slovenia, who made this agreement possible. We also thank the Turkish government for providing space for these individuals to return safely to the United States and Germany.”
Biden personally thanks each country for their contributions
US President Biden later appeared before the cameras at the White House and evaluated the swap agreement live on air.
Biden stated that they were very happy about the release of the four Americans, who he said were “unjustly held in prison” in Russia, and that they were very grateful to everyone and all countries that contributed to this issue, and continued as follows:
“Today, they all left Russia, flew to Turkey early in the morning and will return home soon. This is an incredible relief and relief for their families. It is the success of diplomacy and friendship that made this agreement possible. Many countries contributed to this work. They participated in difficult and complex negotiations at my request. I thank these countries again personally. I thank them once again.”
Biden stated that with this agreement, Russia released a total of 16 detainees, 4 of whom were Americans, 5 were Germans and 7 were Russians, and 4 of whom were people related to the Russian opposition Alexei Navalny movement.
Noting that the agreement required long negotiations and a difficult process, Biden said, “This agreement would not have been possible without our allies. Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey. They all stepped up and supported us.”
Responding to a question about whether he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden said, “I don’t need to meet with Putin right now.”
When asked whether this agreement would contribute to a partial improvement in relations between the US and Russia, Biden said, “Let’s hope so.”
US National Security Advisor Sullivan: We are very grateful to Turkey for its vital logistics support
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also evaluated the swap operation managed by MIT in a briefing he gave to a group of journalists via teleconference at the White House.
Sullivan said the deal, which also involves Germany, Slovenia, Norway and Poland, would go down in history as one of the largest prisoner swaps between the United States and Russia.
Stating that a large swap operation became possible with the inclusion of Russians held in Norway, Slovenia, Poland and Germany in the agreement, Sullivan said, “We are very grateful to Turkey for providing vital logistical support that made this agreement possible.”
