NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday that his visit to Turkey in the first days of his mandate was a sign of the importance he attached to Turkey as a NATO ally, Anadolu news agency reported.
Rasmussen --who spoke at an iftar (fast-breaking dinner in the month of Ramadan sacred to Muslims) he attended as the guest of Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara-- emphasized Turkey's bridging role between Europe, the Arab world and the Middle East.
Rasmussen said his presence in the iftar was an expression of the deep respect he felt for Islam and its believers in an attempt to mend strained relations with the Muslim world.
Publication of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in Denmark in 2005 offended Muslims throughout the world. Rasmussen who was Prime Minister of Denmark at the time refused to apologize saying that cartoons should be seen as part of the freedom of expression.
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