Erdogan gives warm message to the US

Washington - Turkey’s Prime Minister has thrown his support behind calls from US President George W Bush to expand democracy and freedom.
Addressing a meeting of the American-Turkish Council in Washington Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey backed the program put forward by the Bush administration to enhance freedoms and encourage democracy.
“There is nothing more natural than Turkey sharing and backing this US vision and strategy,” Erdogan said.
However, the Turkish premier did not make any comments on the issues of Syria and Iran, both bones of contention with the US, which accuses those countries of supporting terrorism and stifling human rights.
Erdogan stressed that the foundation of the Turkish and American relationship was unshaken and had a very firm basis. He called on the US Administration not to conduct bilateral dialogues through the media.
Erdogan said that the European Union needed Turkey if it wanted to become a global power and the address of reconciliation between civilisations.
Later on Tuesday, Erdogan met with Paul Wolfowitz, the President of the World Bank, and said that the WB was pleased to see the good results Turkey had achieved through its economic recovery program.
Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan also attended the meeting and touched upon the issue of increasing employment.