ISTANBUL ? A free political climate is essential to economic innovation, and countries that try to censor the Internet are pursuing a "dead end," U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told a group of young entrepreneurs gathered in Istanbul on Saturday.
The international forum, which drew hundreds of attendees, followed up on a meeting in Washington last year aimed at deepening ties between the United States and Muslim communities around the world.
Biden said a political system based on freedom of speech and religion also is the "truest shield" against sectarian strife that has afflicted the Middle East, as well as western Europe in past centuries.
He stressed the importance of a "free political climate in which ideas and innovation can flourish," adding that governments should not try to close the Internet to free expression.
"Those countries will find that that approach is a dead end," he said.
America has a history of innovation, Biden said, noting the success of companies such as Apple and Google, as well as breakthroughs in medical technology such as mobile phone apps that can help diagnose malaria.
He also praised Turkey, noting that the Muslim ally's economy has tripled in size over the last decade.
Turkey's deputy prime minister, Ali Babacan, said Turkey was an example for the region of how Islam and democracy can coexist peacefully.
The U.S. leader arrived in Turkey late Thursday and has been meeting with top officials here. He has urged Turkey to impose new sanctions on Iran, while praising Ankara for its role in pressuring Syria to stop its deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Also Saturday, Biden visited Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is recovering from a surgery. No statement was made after the meeting which lasted about two hours. In a picture distributed by Erdogan's office, the prime minister was seen standing next to Biden as the two leaders smiled. Erdogan was wearing a shirt and jacket but no tie.
Biden later met Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, in Istanbul.
Ahead of his visit to Turkey, Biden urged Turkey in emailed remarks to Turkish daily Hurriyet that Ankara should reopen a seminary that trained generations of Greek Orthodox patriarchs, saying "the continued closure of the seminary is an anomaly and an unnecessary mark against Turkey's international image."
The Halki Theological School on Heybeliada Island, near Istanbul, was closed to new students in 1971 under a law that put religious and military training under state control. The school closed its doors in 1985, when the last five students graduated.
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