Duchess of York defends Turkey documentary

Sarah Ferguson, the former wife of Britain's Prince Andrew, said she and her daughter , Princess Eugenie participated in the investigation - due to be broadcast Thursday by a British television channel - out of concern for the children, not out of any anti-Turkish feeling.

"I went as a mum, and I went because those children are silent whispers," the former Duchess of York told reporters.

"Quite frankly I'm very happy with courage to stand by that film," he was quoted by AP as saying.

The show, called "Duchess and Daughters: Their Secret Mission," follows Ferguson and her eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, 20, to Romania, while another segment of the show focuses on Ferguson's trip to Turkey with 18-year-old Eugenie.

The program is due to be broadcast on Britain's ITV1.

The Turkish part of the program - which shows children tied to their beds or left in cots at an orphanage near the capital city of Ankara - raised the ire of Turkish authorities, one of whom accused Ferguson of smearing the country's reputation.

Nimet Cubukcu, the minister in charge of women and family affairs, said the television program was timed to air at around the same time as the European Union was scheduled to release a report on Turkey's progress toward membership.

Ferguson denied a journalists suggestion that she was working at cross-purposes with other members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II, who visited Turkey in May to underscore Britain's support for Turkey's EU membership.

"I am not a political person. I am apolitical and multi-faith," Ferguson told Reuters in an interview following a press screening of the program. "I stand by my words ... that I'm sorry if it caused them any embarrassment," the 49-year-old duchess said in response to Cubukcu.

"I also stand by our prime minister, who said that if they fall into the right criteria we welcome Turkey to ascend into the EU. Fantastic -- that means they have to fall in with the human rights criteria for children."

Ferguson said she did not know if the timing of the program, aired a day after the annual EU enlargement report, was deliberate on the part of ITV. The channel was not immediately available for comment.

Photo: DHA