Businesswoman to be first Turkish Democrat Voting in US Electoral College

New Jersey businesswoman Derya Taşkın will be the first Turk representing the Democratic Party in the U.S. Electoral College, which will formally elect America's next president and vice president.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Taşkın said she has lived in the United States for about 25 years and has been actively working in various positions within the Democratic Party for a long time. The party board recognized her effort and selected her for the post, she said.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's transition to the White House has officially started, three weeks after he was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

President Donald Trump still refuses to concede and has vowed to continue to fight in court after General Services Administrator Emily Murphy gave the green light Monday for Biden to coordinate with federal agencies ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration. Trump did, however, tweet that he was directing his team to cooperate on the transition.

Taşkın noted that Turkish people both from Republican and Democratic parties have taken significant steps in U.S. politics. She added that she does not think that Turkish-U.S. relations will deteriorate during Biden’s presidency.

“The two countries have a strong alliance and are NATO members. Biden knows how important NATO is. Biden had some statements in January, but it may be the result of some lobbies and our passivity. With our efforts, I believe we will change the ideas of Biden and his team to bring Turkish-American relations to a better level,” she said.

In an interview in January, Biden said that if he was elected president, his administration would pursue a policy of intervention against Turkey's elected government.

"What I think we should be doing is taking a very different approach to (President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) now, making it clear that we support opposition leadership," said Biden.

He added, suggesting an ultimatum: "He (Erdoğan) has to pay a price. He has to pay a price for whether or not we're going to continue to sell certain weapons to him."

Biden’s statements were met with stark criticism from both ruling and opposition parties.