Turkey's Erdogan says EU, Kurdish peace, democracy top priorities

ANKARA (Reuters) - Newly inaugurated Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that European Union accession, democratic reforms and the Kurdish peace process would be priorities, in his first speech as head of state.

"Turkey's path to the EU, which is a strategic target, will continue more decisively," Erdogan said of the country's decades old bid to join the union, addressing leaders and dignitaries from dozens of countries at the presidential palace.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul; Writing by Jonny Hogg; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Alison Williams)