CNN

Overall and coming from a sceptic, I rate Obama's speech in Turkey as excellant. There may have been a few comments that could be stretched this way or that, but overall it was very good. During the course of the speech, I tried unsuccessfully to place Hillary Clinton in those shoes and they did not fit. Obama was and is the best choice for all that needs to be accomplished for the near future. Obama will serve the US and it's interests well.

The president is correct, and it's a shame so many bloggers lack any sense of subtlety.

True: The United States is a secular nation, with separation of church and state and there is no official state religion (compare that to some of the Middle Eastern countries).

Also true: It is a *predominantly* Christian nation, because the majority of citizens identify as Christians. It is not exclusively Christian, because again as Obama points out, we are a nation of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc, and we are ALL Americans.

FINALLY! We have a President who gets it right. Obama puts country over politics. Finally.

As a person who has studied the Constitution and the founding of this country I can personally say that Obama was right and that this country was not founded on Christian beliefs. The constitution refers to God and our "maker". This does not single out a Christian God, a Muslim God or a Jewish God.

All three religions believe in God.

Also, many of our founding fathers were Masons, which were in no way shape or form Christians.

Obama qoutes from above

"Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation and a predominantly Muslim nation"

later he says...

"He added that "one of the great strengths of the United States" is that it does not consider itself "a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. "

Is it just me or did Obama just contradict himself?

attention: The US is NOT and never has been a 'Christian' nation.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.

Obama needs to read up on this!

Hey narrow minded people up there if you don't have a good cultural level like our President don't try to bash him ,instead go read good books about what is going on around the world and them you can express your opinion !!! America, the greatest nation forever !!!

As a Presidential candidate, Mr. Obama stated, "America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President."

Let's see if he honors his words.

CNN, I hope you err on the side of reality and actually publish my comment.

PapaMoney, Turkey is one of the top recipients of US foreign aid.

i guess obama's people forgot to give him background on the greek orthodox problem. the head of the orthodox religion has his home in istanbul (the former home of the entire christian religion and the ancient church St. Sophia-now a "secular" museum). turkey's laws prevent non-turk born church leaders from becoming the head of the greek church and live in instanbul. only turks allowed. the catch-22 is that greek born turks are near zeroing out. so in fact, turkey is denying the rights of christians to practice their religion. so much for tolerance.

A man who tries to "make friends" by bashing his own country wherever he goes? This is NOT my president! Guess he DID listen to those Jeremiah Wright speeches for 20 years, after all.

I am so glad Obama has finally apologized for the atrocities the former administration imposed upon the world. Killing millions of innocent people all in the name of stealing oil – Greed.

When did the former administration receive a crowd of over 20,000 people in Turkey?

Go Obama – the country, nay the World, is with you!

The United States is a secular nation. Those who consider it a Christian nation are a distinct minority filled with unswerving certitude that, in matters of faith and politics, they are infallible.

Obama is trying his best to show the world that muslims are "good" and we should be just like them. He is trying to pretend that it is not the muslims who have stated their hatred for Israel and the USA just because we are not muslims. When Obama mentioned that muslims have done so much for his own country, what country was he referring to? Kenya?

Wrong. The US considers itself a Christian nation, but it has a clear seperation of church and state.

Obama's lack of understanding of the foundation of the nation he now leads is astounding.

Good to see an elected official take a"world view" instead of "me me view".

Not for sure if Turkey really has the same set of values as the USA but showing the world that the president isn't afraid to be friends with a Muslim nation is a good thing if you ask me.

Turkey is not a Muslim country. It is a secular country.

I wonder if President Obama remembered the fact that Turkey denied right of passage over their territory to our fighter jets, some five, six years ago?!?

Turkey is the perfect model of a US/Arab relationship. If we can get Iran to cooperate with us like Turkey does, the region can be stabilized.

"one of the great strengths of the United States is that it does not consider itself "a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

Amen!

I am lost in the way the message of peace and reconciliation among different religions and nations is communicated. I am not sure how many times the news on TV repeated the fact that this was the president's first visit to a Muslim nation. When you read the Turkish media, not many makes such a point, since the real news is the fact that Obama is in Turkey. If there is going to be a reconciliation (apparently we can't even define the sides or where the divide is clearly), why keep bringing it up and place ourselves on one side? If the president visited a western state for the first time, would we reiterate this was President's first visit to a state west of the "continental divide"?

Hey Obama – don't go abroad and apologize for the US. Every other country in the world would love to be the US. You are one of the few people that believe the US to be evil. Also – here is a news flash for you. We are a Christian nation . Just because we have a Muslim president does not mean we are not a Christian nation. The sooner we get you out of office the better.

"We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over so many centuries to shape the world for the better, including my own country," Obama said.

I don't have anything against Muslims. But what the heck are you talking about when you say "has done so much over so many centuries to shape the world for the better"? Care to be specific there guy?

Nice to know we went from a Christian nation to one that is just there.

I wonder how much money he promised Turkey...