By IINA,
Ankara : Britain’s queen, who is on a four-day official visit to Turkey, praised Turkey’s role as a bridge between the West and the Islamic world during her first visit to the predominantly Muslim country in 37 years. “For us, Turkey is as important now as it has ever been,” Queen Elizabeth II said in a state banquet dinner in her honor with President Abdullah Gul and other top state officials late Tuesday at the presidential palace.. “Turkey is uniquely positioned as a bridge between East and West at a crucial time for the European Union and the world in general,” she said. Wearing a tiara and dressed in a white gown decorated with beads in the form of grape bunches, Queen Elizabeth said: “You are playing a key role in promoting peace, political stability and economic development in some of the world’s most unsettled areas.” The queen was referring to the Alliance of Civilizations initiative.
Turkey, which is vying for EU membership, is -along with Spain – a co-sponsor of the U.N.-backed project aiming to increase dialogue between Western and non-Western cultures and to address the causes of conflict between them. In a gesture of respect, President Abdullah Gul wore a tuxedo and a silver-colored bow tie to the 300-guest banquet. His wife, Hayrunnisa, wears an Islamic-style headscarf.
On Tuesday, she wore and ash-pink and silver gown with a matching head-covering. Gul thanked Britain for backing Turkey’s EU bid.
“The United Kingdom has become one of our most loyal supporters in Turkey’s march toward membership of the European Union,” Gul said.
“We are grateful for this unwavering and permanent support.”
Earlier, the queen visited the mausoleum of modern and secular Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and laid a wreath at the tomb – a tradition expected of all visiting dignitaries, the Associated Press reported. At the monument, the queen was presented with an album of photographs of her uncle King Edward VII’s visit to Turkey in 1936 as well as her last visit, in 1971.