Turkey not turning its back on West, says Gul

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said in a newspaper interview in London that Ankara saw itself as part of Europe and remained committed to the West regardless of its close links to countries in the Middle East.
"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," Gul 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 scepticism in key EU states and a failure to speed up democratic reforms and patch up ties with Cyprus.
At the same time, Turkey has cultivated ties with Iran and Syria, countries the United States and European nations accuse of supporting terrorism.
Turkey's relationship with Israel has sunk to the lowest level in decades following the deaths of nine Turks in a raid by Israeli commandos in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Turkey has called for Israel to apologise, pay compensation, agree to a U.N. inquiry into the incident and lift the blockade of 1.5 mln Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
Gul 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.