ISTANBUL - Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Danish premier who was selected the next NATO Secretary General, said on Monday that he, as the secretary general, would especially be careful about religious and cultural sensitivities.
One of my priorities will be to boost dialogue and relations with Islamic world, added Rasmussen who spoke at the first general assembly session of the 2nd Alliance of Civilizations Forum in Istanbul.
Referring to cartoon crisis, Rasmussen said that his attitude about the incident was clear, adding that he respected religions, religious symbols and religious feelings of people.
Noting that people could not be blamed for their religious and ethnical pasts, Rasmussen said that he had never supported use of any religious figure
--including prophet Mohammed-- in a way to disturb people.
Stressing the importance of freedom of expression, Rasmussen said that a dialogue, which was based on mutual respect and understanding between cultures and religions, was needed.
He said that things like censor were enemies of dialogue, adding that it was necessary to eliminate prejudices.
Meanwhile, Rasmussen, who earlier fell down the stairs at his hotel and hurt his arm, thanked Turkish doctors for treating him.