Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who when in office as Danish prime minister sparked ire in the Muslim world because of the Danish cartoon controversy, said during a visit to Turkey that he had "respect for Islam as one of the world’s great religions".
 
Rasmussen, whose candidacy as Nato chief was initially blocked by Turkey before US president Barack Obama brokered a deal, made the comment at an Iftar meal, an evening dinner traditional during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
 
"Fasting is meant to teach patience, modesty, self-restraint and giving and reaching out to the less fortunate. These are all universal human values that go beyond cultures and religions," he said at the dinner, attended by Turkish leaders, Hurriyet reported.

Today’s Zaman said that during his visit, Ankara would suggest to Rasmussen that he organise a joint conference by Nato and the OIC to discuss misunderstandings between the Western and Muslim worlds.
 
Rasmussen arrived in Turkey after visiting Greece, where he had talks with prime minister Costas Karamanlis, foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis and defence minister Evangelos Meimarakis.
 
During the visit, Rasmussen thanked Greece for the contributions to the alliance's anti-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean, to KFOR and to ISAF, Nato said in a statement.
 
Rasmussen said that he hoped that Greece coulc consider making a larger contribution towards reaching the next phase in the ISAF operation, by providing more personnel to help train the Afghan National Security Forces.
 
"I also hope that during my term, we will see an improvement in relations between two very important allies: Turkey and Greece. While these are bilateral issues, the effects of these tensions are felt far beyond, Nato-EU relations being the most obvious," Rasmussen said.
 
He spoke to the Greek leaders that he met about the importance of ensuring that difficulties in Nato-EU relations did not negatively affect the safety or effectiveness of personnel on the ground, the Nato statement said.
 
Rasmussen said that Greece could play a leadership role within the alliance and in the EU, in achieving true Euro-Atlantic integration for the entire Balkan region.
 
 
 
 
 
Greek daily Kathimerini said that, speaking after their talks, Karamanlis said he and Rasmussen had agreed on the importance of Nato members co-operating on the basis of the alliance’s principles and international law, in what the newspaper described as "a clear dig at ongoing Turkish air space violations in the Aegean".
 
Karamanlis said: "Common sense and the implementation of agreements and respect for international law are the elements needed to boost the cooperation between Nato and the EU".