US ambassador ricciardone underlines Turkey's democratic transformation

Recently arrived US Ambassador to Ankara Francis J. Ricciardone, who served here most recently more than a decade ago, pointed on Tuesday to the significant democratic progress that Turkey has made in the years since, but dismissed any comparison between its democracy and Egypt's. "Turkey and Egypt have a common history, but it's not right to compare the level of democracy in the two countries," the Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying, in response to a question from a Turkish journalist.