World leaders hail victory of Obama

PARIS / ANKARA

Russian President Putin hopes to have “positive beginnings’ in ties with US. REUTERS photo

World leaders, including Turkish President Abdullah Gül, congratulated President Barack Obama on his re-election. “I am delighted to confirm that we share the same vision as you in especially strengthening the economic and trade dimensions of our relations in the next term,” Gül said.

“We are determined to preserve the positive atmosphere and model partnership in our multidimensional relations in every field.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also congratulated Obama, saying that he hoped Turkey and U.S. will take more productive steps in many areas. Russian President Vladimir Putin said “We hope that the positive beginnings that have taken hold in Russian-U.S. relations on the world arena will grow in the interests of international security and stability.”

Iran cool on US elections

Iran reacted coolly to Obama’s re-election, as the head of its judiciary condemned the “crimes” of U.S. sanctions. “Relations with America cannot be possible overnight and Americans should not think they can hold our nation to ransom by coming to the negotiating table,” Sadeq Larijani said.

Taliban insurgents told Obama to admit that the U.S. has lost the war in Afghanistan and pull its troops out now. “Obama must by now, know that they have lost the war in Afghanistan. So ... they should leave our sacred land,” Taliban said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who at times appeared to have tense relations with Obama, vowed to cooperate “to ensure the vital security interests of Israel and the U.S.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Chinese President Hu Jintao, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen also hailed Obama’s re-election.