US' Ricciardone dismisses claims of "axis shift" in Turkish policies

US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone on Tuesday dismissed claims that Turkey's foreign policy orientation has changed, saying Washington doesn't believe that Turkey has turned its back on the West. "I don't believe this at all," Ricciardone told a group of journalists in Ankara when asked about the claims. "More importantly, neither [Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton nor [President Barack] Obama believe that. There are claims that Turkey will turn its back on the West, that it will be like Iran. We do not believe those claims," he said in Turkish. Ricciardone hailed Turkey as a key partner and said improving democratic standards in the Middle East carries strategic value for the US because democracy strengthens stability. Ricciardone also said media freedom is a prerequisite for democracy in any country but declined to comment directly on a police raid on Monday on Oda TV, an anti-government news website. On the detention or arrest of 10 percent of Turkey's generals and admirals on charges of seeking to overthrow the government in a plot dubbed Sledgehammer, Ricciardone said the case is being followed by the US, and stressed that the defendants should be presumed innocent throughout their trials. On Ricciardone's remarks, Huseyin Celik, deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said ambassadors can't interfere in the internal affairs of the countries they serve in, but declined to criticize Ricciardone, saying that it was natural to speak in favor of freedom of the press in general.