Asking Macedonia to change its constitutional name if it wants to join NATO is very "ugly" and "wrong" Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday, apparently referring to its regional rival Greece's policy on the matter.

"Macedonia has declared its independence and has chosen its name as Macedonia.' Every country has to respect this," Erdogan said during a joint press conference with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who is in Turkey on an official visit.

Macedonia, which became an independent state in 1993, could not register its constitutional name on the international platform due to Greece's objections. Macedonia is the name of the country's northwestern part and therefore cannot be used by a new state, Greek officials said. Macedonia is known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) but Turkey recognized the country with its constitutional name in 1993.

"Turkey will actively lobby in favor of Macedonia's admission to NATO with its constitutional name during the alliance's upcoming summit in Bucharest," Erdogan told reporters. Turkey prefers the simultaneous admission of the Adriatic trio countries, namely Albania, Croatia and Macedonia to NATO, he said. "If we take two of them and leave one outside it would destabilize both the region and the future of NATO," Erdogan said.

NATO will discuss further enlargement in the next presidential summit, which will take place on Apr. 27. It is not yet sure whether the allies will invite new countries to join.

The admission of the Adriatic group to NATO will be a positive step in terms of regional stability and lasting peace, Gruevski said. He thanked Turkey for its support for NATO, defining the two countries as "natural allies."