Turkey warning against religious movements

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Ismail Cem, has said movements exploiting religious beliefs posed a threat to Turkey and countries of the region, like Kyrgyszstan.

Mr Cem made his comments during a visit to the Kyrgysz capital Bishkek.

The semi-official Anatolia news agency said he also called for joint efforts to combat such movements.

Earlier he was in Kazakhstan for talks on the transportation of oil from Central Asia to Europe.

Turkey is planning to build a pipeline from the Azeri capital, Baku, to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The project has been backed by the United States which wants any route to avoid Iran and Russia.

But Kazakh leaders say they want to explore the possibility of building a number of pipelines, including one through Iran, to maximise their exports.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service