Bush seeks help of NATO nations
The president pointed to Turkey as a model for Middle East democracy.
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- A day after Iraq's new interim government claimed power, President Bush said today that "freedom is the future of the Middle East" and that Islamic countries need not fear the spread of democracy.
Bush cited Turkey as an example of an Islamic country with a secular government that has found a place in the community of democracies.
"In some parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, there is wariness toward democracy, often based on misunderstanding," the president said. "Some people in Muslim cultures identify democracy with the worst of Western popular culture and want no part of it."
Fighting terrorism
He made his remarks in a speech prepared for delivery before ending a five-day trip to Ireland and Turkey.
Bush said nations attending the NATO summit, which closes here today, have formally agreed to work together with nations of the broader Middle East to fight terrorism, control their borders and aid the victims of disaster. But he said more action was needed.
"We must strengthen the ties of trust and good will between ourselves and the peoples of the Middle East," Bush said. "And trust and good will come more easily when men and women clear their minds and their hearts of suspicion and prejudice and unreasoned fear."
Bush said he believes democracy can flourish in Muslim countries just as it has in Turkey. He said that supporting freedom and democracy in volatile nations will help secure America and other countries too.
But Bush's initiative has been criticized by some Arab leaders, who accuse the United States of trying to export its brand of democracy while not doing enough to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Democratic societies should welcome, not fear, the participation of the faithful," Bush said.
Turkey in the EU?
Bush was to deliver his speech at a state-run university near the historic Bosporus Bridge that has long linked Europe and Asia. He said Turkey, a democracy with a secular government and the only Muslim nation that's in NATO, was a model for the region, and he reiterated his backing of Turkey's desire to join the European Union.
"Including Turkey in the EU would prove that Europe is not the exclusive club of a single religion, and it would expose the 'clash of civilizations' as a passing myth of history," Bush said.
Monday, French President Jacques Chirac said Bush had overstepped by wading into the EU's affairs with his call for Turkey's admission. Chirac said that Bush commenting on Turkish-EU relations was like a French leader commenting on U.S.-Mexican ties.
Reason for doubt
Bush's effort to promote Middle East reform has raised the ire of some Arab nations. Distrust of Bush's intentions by the Arab world deepened after American troops abused Iraqi prisoners and the president backed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's announced plan for Israel to withdraw from all Gaza settlements and parts of the West Bank.
The White House says Bush's initiative is misunderstood. The administration says it's less a blueprint that seeks to impose an American-style democracy on Arab nations than a collection of ideas to urge reform from the inside out.
Bush launched the effort to promote Middle East reforms last year and sought to advance it this month when he hosted the Group of Eight summit in Sea Island, Ga.
The G-8 industrialized nations agreed to push the initiative ahead by helping countries in the region create jobs through expanded trade and other measures, pressing for better education and improved technology in Middle East countries, and advocating human-rights guarantees and "respect for diversity and pluralism" in those nations.
"I believe that freedom is the future of the Middle East because I believe that freedom is the future of all humanity," Bush said, continuing his push for reforms while trying to avoid seeming heavy-handed. "The historic achievement of democracy in the broader Middle East will be a victory shared by all."
In his speech today, while making the last stop on a two-day visit to Ankara and Istanbul, Bush also was heralding Monday's transfer of sovereignty in Iraq and NATO's decision to help train Iraqi security forces.