Erdogan, Biden meet in New York

NEW YORK (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings.

There were no statements released by either side regarding the meeting at the Peninsula Hotel, but the sit-down occurred on the same day Secretary of State John Kerry asked the UN Security Council to ground all aircraft flying above opposition-held areas in Syria to allow aid to flow to besieged areas. Turkey has pushed for a no-fly zone in Syria.

Erdogan and Biden were expected to discuss the situation in Syria and Operation Euphrates Shield launched by Turkey last month in northern Syria to clear Daesh along the Turkish border.

The status of the terror leader Fetullah Gulen was also expected to be discussed.

Biden visited Turkey in August amid tensions between Washington and Ankara regarding the extradition of the U.S.-based Gulen, who is accused of masterminding a bloody failed coup attempt in Turkey in July.

Turkey has asked the U.S. to hand over the leader of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), a network within in the Turkish state that carried out the July 15 coup attempt.