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Turkey Blocks Europe's Candidate To Head NATO

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  • Turkey Blocks Europe's Candidate To Head NATO

    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.
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