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Obama brings hope for warmer relations to Turkey
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-06 15:45 ANKARA, Turkey -- President Barack Obama is reaching out to Turkey to help him wind down the Iraq war and bring stability to the Middle East. He is also counting on the only Muslim member of NATO to remain a steadfast ally in the Afghanistan conflict. Obama's visit is being closely watched by an Islamic world that harbored deep distrust of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
Obama was spending two days in Turkey as he wraps up an event-packed, eight-day international trip that also saw stops in Britain, France, Germany and the Czech Republic.
In his inaugural address in January, Obama pledged to reach out to the Muslim world. At a luncheon Sunday for leaders of the European Union's 27 nations in Prague, he said the West should seek greater cooperation and closer ties with Islamic nations. He suggested one way was by allowing Turkey to join the European Union, a contentious subject for some European countries. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after Obama's remarks that the decision was the EU's to make, not Washington's. Americans remain unsure of what to make of Islam even as most people in the US think Obama should seek better relations with the Muslim world, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. About 55 percent of Americans say they lack a good, basic understanding of the religion, the poll found, and 48 percent have an unfavorable view of it. Obama's trip to Turkey, his final scheduled country visit, ties together themes of earlier stops. He attended the Group of 20 economic summit in London, celebrated NATO's 60th anniversary in Strasbourg, France, and on Saturday visited the Czech Republic, which included a summit of European Union leaders in Prague. Turkey is a member of both the G20 and NATO and is trying to get into the EU with the help of the US. Turkey has the largest army in NATO after the United States. |
