The Turkish prime minister said on Wednesday that Turkey's face was turned towards the West, however, the country "never turned its back on the East either."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan got together with a group of Turks living in France during a gathering at the Zenith Concert Hall of the French capital of Paris.

Speaking during the meeting, Erdogan said France was Turkey's friend and ally despite rumors, besides, the two countries had strong relations.

Addressing the Turkish community, Erdogan said, "You will always long for Turkey. However, I am pleased to see that France treats you as if you are in your home country".

Pointing to the remarkable reforms carried out in Turkey in recent years, Erdogan said Turkey was not an ordinary country anymore.

"Thanks to the transformation it experienced recently, Turkey, which used to write history in the past, is a country that contributes to history and sets the agenda today as well. It is not a country whose agenda is determined by others, but a state whose opinion is asked while setting the agenda," Erdogan said.

Erdogan also said that everybody talked about Turkey's successes, its firm stance and call for peace and justice all over the world.

The Turkish prime minister said Turkey's constructive contribution was expected in matters related to the Middle East, Caucasus and the Balkans.

"The international community seeks support of Turkey to resolve problems in many areas form Afghanistan to Pakistan. We have lifted visa requirements with 23 countries in the last 7.5 years. Although Turkey has faced the West, but it has never turned its back to the East. We have been living together with them for centuries. While people in Baghdad, Beirut, Gaza and Jerusalem are suffering, we cannot sleep in our beds. We cannot pay attention to a certain geography and remain indifferent to the rest of the world," he said.

Prime Minister Erdogan said that Turkey had been pursuing a multi-dimensional and active foreign policy.

"We have assumed an unbiased and fair attitude about proliferation of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. We have always advocated that children should not be killed in any part of the world. Turkish Red Crescent became the first international relief agency distributing aid in Haiti. Turkish Crescent has also been carrying out relief efforts in Pakistan, Sri Lanka Indonesia, Somalia, Sudan, Gaza and Kirkuk," he said.

Prime Minister Erdogan said that they were planning to open another branch of Yunus Emre Cultural Center in Paris in the coming months.


AA