“I consider it very wrong to interpret Turkey’s interests with other geographic regions as it breaking from the West, turning its back on the West or seeking alternatives to the West.
Turkey is part of Europe,” Gül told The Times newspaper.
Concern has risen in Europe and the United States in recent months that Turkey, a NATO member and close Muslim ally, is drifting away from the West. Ankara has made slow progress since opening accession talks with the European Union five years ago, held back by skepticism in key EU states and a failure to speed up democratic reforms and patch up ties with Greek Cyprus, an EU member.
At the same time, Turkey has cultivated ties with Iran and Syria, countries the United States and European nations accuse of supporting terrorism. Last month, Turkey voted against sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program at the UN Security Council, a move that “disappointed” Turkey’s NATO ally, the US. Turkey’s relationship with Israel has also sunk to the lowest level in decades after Israeli commandos killed 8 Turks and an American in a May 31 raid on an aid flotilla trying to break an Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Turkey has called for Israel to apologize, pay compensation, agree to a UN inquiry into the incident and lift the blockade of 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
Gül said Turkey had always maintained a friendly relationship with Israel but defended its decision to freeze ties following the flotilla incident. “If an army of a state kills your people in international waters, how would you react?” he said.
