Tweet
TURKEY BLOCKS EUROPE'S CANDIDATE TO HEAD NATO
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.04.2009 11:09 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey fired a broadside against Danish Prime
Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's bid to head NATO as U.S. President
Barack Obama and allied leaders gathered for a 60th anniversary summit
on Friday.
Rasmussen, strongly backed by the main European powers and supported
by the United States, told his cabinet on Friday morning he was a
formal candidate for the post of NATO secretary-general, held by
Dutch diplomat Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan later criticized the Danish
leader's handling of a 2006 crisis over cartoons of the Prophet
Mohammad in a Danish newspaper, and questioned whether he could
contribute to peace with the Muslim world.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, seen as the likeliest
candidate to replace Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO secretary-general
Aug. 1, infuriated some Muslims by speaking out in favor of freedom
of speech during an uproar over Danish publication of cartoons of the
Prophet Muhammad in 2006. He has also angered Turkey by opposing its
membership in the European Union.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the Islamic-rooted
ruling party, told NTV television in an interview late Friday that
he had spoken to Fogh Rasmussen and informed him about opposition to
his candidacy. "We don't want NATO to be damaged and we don't think
it is right that you as prime minister should be damaged in this
process," Erdogan said he told Fogh Rasmussen. He did not say when
the conversation took place.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul had said Friday that Ankara had nothing
against Fogh Rasmussen and described him as "one of the most successful
prime ministers" in Europe, Reuters reports.
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.04.2009 11:09 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey fired a broadside against Danish Prime
Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's bid to head NATO as U.S. President
Barack Obama and allied leaders gathered for a 60th anniversary summit
on Friday.
Rasmussen, strongly backed by the main European powers and supported
by the United States, told his cabinet on Friday morning he was a
formal candidate for the post of NATO secretary-general, held by
Dutch diplomat Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan later criticized the Danish
leader's handling of a 2006 crisis over cartoons of the Prophet
Mohammad in a Danish newspaper, and questioned whether he could
contribute to peace with the Muslim world.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, seen as the likeliest
candidate to replace Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO secretary-general
Aug. 1, infuriated some Muslims by speaking out in favor of freedom
of speech during an uproar over Danish publication of cartoons of the
Prophet Muhammad in 2006. He has also angered Turkey by opposing its
membership in the European Union.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the Islamic-rooted
ruling party, told NTV television in an interview late Friday that
he had spoken to Fogh Rasmussen and informed him about opposition to
his candidacy. "We don't want NATO to be damaged and we don't think
it is right that you as prime minister should be damaged in this
process," Erdogan said he told Fogh Rasmussen. He did not say when
the conversation took place.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul had said Friday that Ankara had nothing
against Fogh Rasmussen and described him as "one of the most successful
prime ministers" in Europe, Reuters reports.