NATO chief Rasmussen visits Turkey for strategic talks

Thu, 07 Oct 2010

Istanbul - NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen comes to Turkey Thursday for an official visit that is set to cover a wide range of strategic issues.

Rasmussen, who is on his second visit to alliance member Turkey, is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

High on his agenda is the issue of the alliance's new strategic concept, which is scheduled to be discussed at the upcoming NATO summit in Lisbon on November 19-20.

The new strategic concept is expected to update NATO's position regarding missile defence, nuclear policy, partnerships with other relations and regions, cyberdefence and relations with Russia.

According to a NATO spokesman, Rasmussen is likely to also ask Ankara for more Turkish military trainers in Afghanistan. Turkey currently has some 1,800 soldiers in Afghanistan. The country is in charge of the Kabul Regional Command.

The NATO chief is also expected to discuss the issue of increasing security cooperation between Turkey and the European Union. Rasmussen recently called on the EU to give Turkey a greater role in the European Defense Agency and to involve it in decision making on EU- led security missions, such as in Bosnia.

Military cooperation between NATO and the EU is currently hampered by the Cyprus issue. EU member Cyprus has vetoed any security cooperation with NATO, in protest of Turkey's continuing military presence on the northern third of the island. Ankara, meanwhile, has stood in the way of greater NATO cooperation with the EU in response to the Cypriot action.

EU national leaders on September 16 tasked Catherine Ashton, the bloc's foreign policy chief, with coming up with ways to improve cooperation with NATO.

Turkey has NATO's second largest army, but has also been dogged in recent years by questions about its commitment to the Western alliance. Ankara's improving ties with Tehran and its objection to sanctions over Iran's nuclear program have put the Turkish government at odds with several of its Western allies.

Turkey also recently held joint aerial maneuvers with China's military, something that has raised some concern in Washington. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is expected to visit Turkey on Friday.

Ankara had initially been a vocal opponent of the appointment of Rasmussen as NATO chief.

Turkish leaders said NATO's work in the Muslim world would be hampered by his appointment, since Rasmussen was Danish Prime Minister in 2006 when a series of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper caused outrage in Islamic society.

Turkey was also angry that Denmark had not taken any action to close down Roj TV, a pro-Kurdish satellite network operating on Danish soil.

Source: The Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/347569,visits-turkey-strategic-talks.html.