Turkey-EU spat over Bashir highlights OIC summit risks

By Thomas Grove

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A dispute between Turkey and the European Union over Sudan's indicted president highlights the risks Turkey will face when it hosts an Islamic summit with some new friends who are not to the taste of its Western allies.

The gathering next week will boost EU candidate Turkey's quest to deepen ties with the Muslim world but at the risk of alienating traditional American and European allies.

Turkey's president acused the EU of interfering after the bloc asked Ankara to reconsider inviting Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Bashir, who has an international arrest warrant against him for war crimes, and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, engaged in a standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear programme, are among leaders who will attend an Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Istanbul on Monday.

The one-day summit will add to growing concerns in some Western capitals that Turkey, an important regional ally of Washington, is shifting away from its pro-Western foreign policy and embracing countries such as Iran and Syria, while distancing itself from friend Israel.

"I think this summit will put Turkey again on the frontline, both in regards with Iran and Bashir," said Hugh Pope, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group.

That concern was laid bare open on Friday after President Abdullah Gul, asked about a request from Brussels that Turkey drop Bashir from the guest list, said: "What are they interfering for? This is a meeting being held in the framework of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. It is not a bilateral meeting."

Although the 57-nation body's meeting has been billed as an economic summit to discuss trade and anti-poverty measures, the economic goals are likely to be overshadowed by other issues.