Turkey on Thursday named an avenue in capital Ankara after one of India's greatest poets and philosophers, Rabindranath Tagore.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on the third day of his visit to Turkey, inaugurated the 'Rabindranath Tagore Avenue' and unveiled the Nobel laureate's bust at a ceremony.

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Vajpayee said the Turkish gesture would "remain a symbol of the friendship between our two countries".

"... we celebrate another valuable strand of Indo-Turkish connection."

Recalling Tagore's brief visit to Turkey when his ship docked at Istanbul for two days 80 years ago, Vajpayee said it left such a deep impression on the poet that he sent a request to then president Kemal Ataturk for books on Turkish literature and culture for the library of his Viswa Bharati University in Shanti Niketan.