ISTANBUL (CIHAN) - US President George W. Bush praised Turkey as strong secular democracy and said that Turkey belongs in the European Union.
Speaking at Istanbul`s Galatasaray University located on the Bosphorus which separates Europe from Asia, President Bush, who is in Istanbul attending the NATO summit, said he believes that Turkey belongs in the European Union.
The remarks of the US President came in response to French President Jacques Chirac who said it was beyond the authority of the US President Bush to determine the relations between Turkey and the EU. "The EU will decide to open the accession talks with Turkey. Bush has gone a bit far," Chirac told a press conference on Monday.
Bush said that acceptance of Turkey into the European would show that the EU is not an exclusive club of a single religion. He said that Turkey has been rapidly meeting the EU criteria.
The EU Commission is due to issue a Progress Report this October on whether Turkey has met the EU political criteria.
Turkey is hoping to begin accession talks with the EU commission in December now that it has legislated numerous EU-inspired reforms in recent years, which have been praised by EU leaders.
"Including Turkey in the EU would prove that Europe is not the exclusive club of a single religion, and it would expose the `clash of civilizations` as a passing myth of history," Bush said.
Stating that Turkey`s accession into European Union would thaw the relations with the Middle East, Bush praised Turkey as an example of a Muslim democracy and said its entry to the EU would be "a crucial advance in relations between the Muslim world and the West, because you are part of both."
President said that fight against the new threats to world peace would continue. He said that international terrorism is the main threat to the global security.
US President said that outlawed PKK terror organization had ended its bilateral ceasefire and resumed violence.