TURKISH PRESIDENT: "TURKEY IS A PART OF EUROPE"

LONDON (A.A) - 02.07.2010 - Turkey's President Abdullah Gul has said that Turkey was part of Europe.
In an interview with The Times, Gul said that some criticisms that "Turkey drifted away from the West" were wrong.
Gul said the United States and Europe should welcome Turkey's efforts to boost its relations in the Middle East, as Turkey encouraged values of the West in a region where mostly authoritarian regimes were on political power.
President Gul said Turkey had been going through a silent revolution. 
Turkey has become a great economic power adopting free market economy and turned into a source of inspiration in the region, he said.
Regarding Turkish-Israeli relations, Gul said that Turkey was a friend of Israel. "But how will you react if an army of a state kills your citizens in international waters?" he said.