ANKARA - Turkey on Friday rebuffed a European Union call to reconsider its decision to allow Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, who is accused of war crimes in Darfur, to attend a summit in Istanbul.A Swedish diplomat, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, visited the foreign ministry to ask Ankara, which would like to join the bloc, to "reconsider", a Turkish diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
But Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Beshir would not be excluded as a delegate to an economic summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which groups 57 Muslim nations.
"We must approach the situation in the correct light. It's not an invitation from Turkey, which is hosting an international meeting, and invitations are issued by the OIC," he told reporters in Paris.
Davutoglu said he had received no complaints about Beshir's plans during his Paris visit, when he met his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner.
Beshir is expected to be in Istanbul on Sunday and Monday.
In March, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Beshir's arrest, its first against a sitting head of state, for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.
Turkey has not signed the Rome Statute which set up the ICC and has said previously the warrant could hurt moves to end the conflict in Darfur, where the UN estimates that up to 300,000 people have died since 2003.
Beshir stayed away from a conference last month in Nigeria -- which has signed the ICC treaty -- after rights groups urged the Nigerian government to arrest him if he turned up.
Rights groups sharply criticized Turkey for Beshir's planned visit.
Amnesty International said Turkey would fall foul of its international obligations if it did not arrest the Sudanese leader.
Failure to arrest Beshir and sheltering him would amount to "obstruction of justice" and "complicity in crime," the group said in a statement.
"Turkey must act as a responsible member of the international community for the sake of thousands of victims of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur," it added.
Human Rights Watch also called on Turkey to either bar or arrest Beshir.
"Turkey's international image will plummet if it welcomes a man wanted to answer for some of the most heinous abuses against civilians in the world today," it said.
While the EU expects Turkey to align itself to the bloc's foreign policy as part of its accession process and has made demands for Turkey to sign the ICC treaty, Turkish President Abdullah Gul played down the EU reaction.
"What is it to them?" the Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying.
"This is not a bilateral visit. This is a multilateral occasion.... Everybody should see it in this way and show understanding," he said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also confirmed he will attend the gathering, according to Turkish officials.
"To arrest him after having invited him does not seem probable to me," a Turkish government official told AFP, adding that as Ankara has not signed the ICC treaty "its decisions are not legally binding for Turkey."
Last year, Turkey's Islamist-rooted government came under fire for hosting Beshir twice, before the warrant was issued: a bilateral visit in January and then at multilateral cooperation talks with African leaders in August.
Ankara's efforts to build closer ties in the Muslim world -- including countries such as Iran, Sudan and Syria that are at odds with the West -- have raised concerns that Turkey, a NATO member, is turning towards the East.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan brushed aside the criticism Tuesday, saying that Turkey remains "anchored" to Europe while seeking equally closer ties with the Muslim world.