World

Turkish foreign minister 'dangerous': WikiLeaks

Turkey's foreign minister has brushed aside a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable that described him as "exceptionally dangerous."

Turkey's foreign minister has brushed aside a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable that described him as "exceptionally dangerous."

Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that documents released by WikiLeaks "will not affect our foreign policy."

Many of the leaked documents include assessments by U.S. diplomats of foreign officials. Davutoglu said he sees such assessments as the views of individuals rather than of the U.S. government.

"I look in the mirror and don't see any dangerous face," he said.

The description of Davutoglu came before he was foreign minister, in a 2004 cable that quoted Turkey's defence minister.

Davutoglu discussed the documents with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday. He said that Clinton apologized for the leaks.

The foreign minister also dismissed accusations in another cable that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hates Israel. The document said the Israeli ambassador to Ankara, in a meeting with his U.S. counterpart, attributed tensions with Turkey to Erdogan's personal animosity.

Davutoglu said tensions actually come from sharp policy disagreements.

"It is not a problem of anti-Semitism," he said.

He added that his government's problems are not with Israel but with its current government.

"It is a matter with the existing government because of failed policies," Davutoglu said.