Copenhagen - Danish television reported Saturday that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed reservations about the choice of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next NATO secretary general, indirectly contradicting remarks a day earlier by Turkey's president.

In a telephone interview with television network NTV in Copenhagen, Erdogan said there was "considerable irritation in the Islamic countries" over Rasmussen's actions during the early-2006 controversy over the Prophet Mohammed cartoons in Denmark.

It was from these countries that Turkey was being called on to use its veto in NATO to block Rasmussen's selection.

Speaking of his own ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Erdogan said "it has principles which I cannot act against."

Erdogan also noted that the Danish government had not met Ankara's demands that the Kurdish-language broadcaster Roj TV, based in Copenhagen, be shut down.

His remarks came a day after Turkish President Abdullah Gul, while in Brussels to meet European Union officials, had said Turkey had nothing against Rasmussen.

"We as Turkey don't have any attitude against the prime minister or anyone else. He is one of the most successful prime ministers in Europe," Gul told reporters.

In reference to the controversy over the Mohammed cartoons, Gul sought to calm that debate, saying, "Let's not talk too much about religion, because it's divisive: we are concerned about the future of NATO."

NATO heads of state and government are set to gather for the alliance's 60th anniversary summit in the French town of Strasbourg and its German neighbours, Baden-Baden and Kehl, on April 3. The summit is expected to nominate a successor to current Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Gul said that there was no pressure to take a decision at the summit, stressing that in purely procedural terms, the appointment could be made at any stage. "Once the names are out, then we'll speak our opinion," Gul said. (dpa)