NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen's visit to Ankara

Turkey dropped its opposition to NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in April after mediation by US President Barack Obama.
Since his swearing-in as NATO's top official on August 1, Rasmussen has listed "intensifying dialogue and cooperation" with the Muslim world as one of his chief goals, reports Deutsche Welle Germany’s international online broadcaster.

Rasmussen said in remarks published on Wednesday that Turkey should play a larger and more visible role in NATO's operations in Afghanistan. Turkey currently contributes about 730 soldiers to NATO's International Security Assistance Force, but their scope is limited to Kabul and the surrounding area. Rasmussen has said that having the secular but predominantly Muslim country play a more active role in Afghanistan could counter the perception among other Muslim countries that NATO forces are waging a religious war.

Rasmussen is also expected to reiterate concerns he stated on Tuesday, in advance of a visit to Greece, that animosity between the two Mediterranean NATO members was affecting their troops' effectiveness during missions in Africa and Afghanistan. He urged both sides to put aside their differences regarding the island of Cyprus, where the southern two-thirds of the island are governed by Greek Cypriots and the north is ruled by a Turkish Cypriot government recognized only by Ankara.

On the agenda of Rasmussen's talks with Greek officials were also the improvement of NATO-EU relations, the issue of the recognition of the Greek Cypriot government by Turkey, sending extra troops to Afghanistan and Kosovo, the Macedonia issue in regards to NATO's enlargement, NATO-Russia relations and Europe's new defense strategies, the Cihan news agency reported.