Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Turkey did not compete with any regional countries, adding that Turkey was a "moderate force".
Speaking to German Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Davutoglu said that Turkey had good neighborhood relations with all countries in the region.
Our principles are clear: political dialogue with administrative offices, a peaceful security zone, economic stability, and multi-cultural and multi-religious harmony, he added.
Noting that each society had its own dynamism, Davutoglu said that there were differences not only in between Turkey and Arab countries but also among Arab countries themselves. He added that a change was needed in general.
Davutoglu said that Turkey refuted the claims that democracy would bring chaos and radicalism to the region, adding that Turkey showed that democracy could bring development and moderateness, and that there was no need for autocrat regimes to settle a stability.
Noting that besides Middle East countries, Turkey was trying to set up good relations with Far Eastern countries too, Davutoglu said that Turkey was trying to have good relations with its surrounding countries due to its geographical position.
Davutoglu said that Turkey, during Justice & Development (AK) Party rule, began EU membership talks, hosted NATO Summit in 2004, and undertook presidency of Council of Europe twice.
He said that people, who claimed that Turkey focused on relations with Islamic countries more, did not know the geographical location of Turkey, adding that only four of 12 neighboring and surrounding countries of Turkey had Muslim majority.
When asked why some EU countries showed such a strong objection to Turkey’s membership, Davutoglu said, "actually we don’t understand why. It is not understandable, when we consider EU’s basic values as well as Turkey’s historical relations with its all allies. We are a part of Europe in historical aspect. There are some European countries which cannot even write their history without our archives. Nobody can deny the role of Turkey in winning the Cold War. We defended Europe during Cold War era, but some Europeans think we should stay in NATO, and not join the EU. They don’t understand Turkey: Turkey is not a tough power, it is a rising moderate force."