U.S. President George W. Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday set aside two years of tension over the war in Iraq and declared their strategic relationship strong. Bush praised Turkey's democracy as an example for the Middle East and a White House spokesman said Erdogan could expect continued U.S. help in stopping Kurdish militants who come from Iraq to attack Turkey, Reuters reported. "They had a constructive meeting that was aimed at really reinvigorating the strategic partnership that we have with Turkey," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. Erdogan said he and Bush discussed Iraq but neither gave any details. "We went beyond issues standing until today and focused on what we can do from this point forward," Erdogan told a news conference after a meeting with Bush that lasted more than an hour. Speaking through an interpreter in an Oval Office appearance with the president, Erdogan said he and Bush "looked into the future with regard to our relations." --More 2316 Local Time 2016 GMT
