Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that ``if EU is not a Christian Club, it should admit Turkey.``

``When EU admits Turkey, then EU won`t be a Christian Club, but an address where civilizations meet. If this is not the case, you can’t claim that EU is not a Christian Club,`` told Erdogan at a seminar organized by Turkey`s Religious Affairs Directorate.

Erdogan stressed that among the Islamic countries, Turkey was the country that was closest to the western world both culturally and geographically.

``We want harmony among civilizations and invite the EU to show that. In fact, they would have included expressions to EU Constitution saying that the root and religion of the EU was based on Christianity... Maybe, this is the reason of the difficulties which we have today with the EU today,`` commented Erdogan.

PHOTO CAPTION

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting in Ankara, Turkey, on Thursday, June 23, 2005. (AP)