Seeking to give America a fresh start with the Muslim world, US President Barack Obama is finishing a two-day stay in Turkey later today with an appeal to Turkish youth, Associated Press reported. At a town-hall meeting with college students in Turkey's largest city, he'll say he understands the frustrations America's actions have spawned among Muslims _ and wants to turn the page. «We will listen carefully. We will bridge misunderstandings. And we will seek common ground,» Obama told Turkey's parliament in a speech Monday. The Turkish stop capped an eight-day European trip that senior adviser David Axelrod called «enormously productive» _ including a crisis economic summit in London and a NATO conclave in France and Germany. Obama's final day in Turkey also featured a meeting with religious leaders and stops at top tourist sites in this city on the Bosporus that spans Europe and Asia. Accompanied by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he toured the Hagia Sophia museum and the Blue Mosque. Speaking Monday to Turkish lawmakers, Obama praised this country's historical role as a bridge between East and West. «This is not where East and West divide _ this is where they come together,» he said. But he also said he understands the strains imposed on Turkey by the Iraq war _ and the feeling of many Muslims that the war on terror was aimed at them. «The United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam,» Obama declared, adding that America's relationship with the Muslim world «cannot, and will not, just be based upon opposition to terrorism. We seek broader engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect.»
