NATO trumps Roj for Dane

The move comes after a phone conversation between the prime ministers of the two countries about the channel.Prime Minister Recep tayyip erdoğan told his Danish counterpart, Anders Fogh Rasmussen that Turkey was opposed to his candidacy for NATO chief. Denmark has been refusing to shut down Roj TV over the last four years despite Turkey’s high-level efforts. Another source of Turkish reservation that Erdoğan underlined was Rasmussen’s refusal to apologize for an uproar over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006. He has also angered Turkey by opposing its European Union membership bid. Erdoğan told the private NTV television in an interview late Friday that he had spoken to Rasmussen and informed him about his opposition to his candidacy. "We would not favor NATO or the prime minister, Rasmussen, to be worn out in this process. During the cartoon crisis, serious reactions were demonstrated in Muslim-populated countries. They started to call and tell us, ’Now then!’" said Erdoğan. He said he told Rasmussen that as a leader he would never contradict his party’s principles. This issue, however, showed the contrast in opinions of Turkey’s top leaders Erdoğan and President abdullah gül. While in Brussels last week, Gül said religious elements should not be emphasized in foreign policy-related matters. Rasmussen, who will attend the U.N.-sponsored Alliance of Civilizations summit in ıstanbul on April 6-7, is expected deliver friendly messages to the Muslim world. To become NATO secretary-general, the Danish prime minister has to win Turkey’s support. NATO leadership positions are filled by consensus among the 26-nation military pact. Current Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of the Netherlands steps down on July 31. His successor is expected to be named at an April 3-4 NATO summit. Rasmussen sends prosecutors In its headline story yesterday, daily Vatan reported that Rasmussen dispatched two prosecutors to ankara for talks with Turkish officials and to collect information to close down Roj TV. The Danish prime minister, dragging feet not to close the PKK mouthpiece arguing that there is freedom of expression in his country, had to take a step backward for top NATO post, the daily commented. Turkey has exhausted all diplomatic channels since 2004 for the television station’s broadcast from Denmark and applied to the Danish Board of Radio and Television requesting that the license of Roj TV be canceled. Denmark said a judicial verdict is needed to halt the Roj TV broadcasts and cancel its license and has launched an investigation. Turkey’s Justice Ministry, via its embassy in Copenhagen, has conveyed all the documents and materials about the television broadcasts to convince Denmark to open a case, but so far Denmark has not taken action to open a file.