ISTANBUL - The Spanish prime minister reiterated Monday his country's support for Turkey's membership to the European Union (EU).
"My government extends its resolute support for Turkey's EU membership bid," Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a ceremony opening the academic year at an Istanbul university.
"If Europe wants to become an actor who has a say in the contemporary world, an EU member Turkey will give Europe the strategic power and lead role which the continent lacks at certain occasions," the Spanish premier said.
Participating in the ceremony along with his Turkish counterpart, Zapatero said he was happy to be in Istanbul and to talk about the Alliance of Civilizations, a UN-led project initiated by Turkey and Spain to promote dialogue and cooperation between different cultures of the East and the West.
"The Alliance of Civilizations is most of all meeting of values and knowledge. It is a reconciliation that acknowledges the truth of different cultures without denying fundamental rights such as freedom and equality. It is global, political and it is action-oriented," Zapatero told students.
(YMB-BRC)
(GEN)