ISTANBUL - At a meeting with Turkish university students in Istanbul on the second and final day of his two-day visit to Turkey, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to rebuild relations between the United States and the Muslim world.
Obama said he was personally committed to a new chapter in American engagement.
"We can not afford to talk past one another and focus only on our differences, or to let the walls of mistrust go up around us," Obama told students.
"The world will be what you make of it," Obama said. "You can choose to make new bridges instead of new walls."
Obama said Turkey and the United States had some challenges in relations in the past, however, he said there were common values between the two countries.
He said people of the two countries should not forget that there are common hopes to serve Turkish-U.S. friendship.
Obama pointed out the importance of a better perception of his country in the world and rejected stereotypes about America that it became selfish and crass.
"I am here to tell you that is not the country I know and not the country I love," he told students. "America, like every other nation, has made mistakes and has its flaws, but for more than two centuries it has strived to seek a more perfect union."