Istanbul hosts World Economic Forum

"Turkey's joining the European Union will be an important contribution to global peace and prosperity," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a keynote address to participants in the opening session of the World Economic Forum in Turkey.

"Turkey's membership in the EU will be an important example of how an alliance of civilizations can be achieved," he declared.

But there are those who do not see the benefits, he acknowledged. Nevertheless, the prime minister stressed that, "We should work together so we can achieve world peace and push out global terror and the clash of civilizations."

The first day of the forum focused on the challenges Turkey face the EUs joining, including Cyprus issue. AzerTAg