Gul: "Turkey acted in a rational, logical way over Rasmussen appointment"

Turkey has been the most active member of NATO and a major contributor, said President Abdullah Gul yesterday. In an interview with Britain's Financial Times, asked about Turkey's objections to the appointment of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO secretary general, Gul said, "In this present case, if a country has a significant and vital contribution to the organization, if they have concerns, rational concerns on a concrete subject, it is very natural that this should be listened to and responded to. So these points should not be underestimated." He added, "We neither engaged in blackmail nor did we have an irrational request. We acted in a rational logical and in a modern way within the compromise which is a European culture."