WASHINGTON, June 8: US President George W. Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan highlighted their desire to overcome differences over the Iraq war that created tensions, as they met here on Wednesday. Ankara had been one of Washington’s closest allies until 2003, when it refused to allow US troops to use its territory as a launching pad for their invasion of Iraq, cooling relations between the two Nato members.

After meeting with Erdogan at the White House, Bush praised democracy in Turkey as “an important example for the people in the broader Middle East.”

The White House also expressed support, ahead of the talks, for Turkey’s membership in the EU, despite the crisis caused by the rejection of the European constitution in two key countries.

Mr Erdogan, for his part, said he and Bush “were able to discuss with some depth the issues with regard to Israel, Palestine (and) the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan”.

Bush noted that Washington and Ankara shared the goal of working with the Palestinians, “so they can have their own state, their own democracy, living side by side in peace with Israel.”—AFP