Bush Chides U.S. Allies In Mideast

Bush singled out Iran as a theater for the "struggle between political extremism and civilized values," saying that "tired, discredited autocrats are trying to hold back the democratic will of a rising generation."

In a speech to the National Endowment for Democracy in November, Bush announced a "forward strategy of freedom" committing the United States to a decades-long mission to encourage worldwide democracy. Arab countries have not embraced Bush's challenges.

Bush spoke against the backdrop of the Bosporus Bridge, which spans the Bosporus Strait that divides the European and Asian shores of Istanbul. Turkish warships were anchored in the rippling water behind him, and blasts from boat horns interrupted the speech at Galatasaray University, which was founded in 1481 to train civil servants for the Ottoman Empire.

The White House tried to play up the historical flavor of the setting by renting Ottoman-style chairs with gold-painted backs.

The audience of about 230 people, most of them Turkish officials and their spouses, listened in silence, which a U.S. Embassy official characterized as a sign of respect. The crowd applauded politely at the end of the 27-minute address.

Bush, completing a five-day trip that began in Ireland, repeated his controversial demand that the European Union admit Turkey. "Including Turkey in the EU would prove that Europe is not the exclusive club of a single religion, and it would expose the 'clash of civilizations' as a passing myth of history," he said.

Some European leaders have taken offense at what they consider Bush's meddling. President Jacques Chirac of France publicly rebuked him Monday, saying Bush's stance was "like me telling the United States how to run its affairs with Mexico."

Bush's presumed Democratic opponent in the November election, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, obliquely criticized Bush for his closeness to Saudi Arabia during a speech last month in Seattle, in which he called for reducing U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East.

"For too long, America has lost its voice when talking about the policies and practices of some governments in the Persian Gulf," Kerry said. "This is a weakness that this administration has ignored."

Bush said there was a "wariness toward democracy" in the Middle East. "Some people in Muslim cultures identify democracy with the worst of Western popular culture and want no part of it," he said. "I assure them, when I speak about the blessings of liberty, coarse videos and crass commercialism are not what I have in mind. There is nothing incompatible between democratic values and high standards of decency."

Bush said he was not trying to impose his own values on others. "All people in a democracy have the right to their own religious beliefs," he said. "But all democracies are made stronger when religious people teach and demonstrate upright conduct: family commitment, respect for the law and compassion for the weak."

"Whatever our culture differences may be," Bush said toward the end of his address, "there should be respect and peace in the house of Abraham." That was a reference to the common descent claimed by Christians, Muslims and Jews through the religious patriarch Abraham.

Correspondent Karl Vick contributed to this report.