Turkey Backs Mark Rutte for NATO Secretary General Role
Turkey has thrown its support behind outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the position of NATO Secretary General,
US Vice-President Joe Biden is set to meet Turkish Head of State Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the second day of his three-day visit to the country.
Washington is now intending to ask Ankara to increase its involvement in the fight against the Sunni militant group called Islamic State (IS).
Biden already met Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday, with the two officials confirming the long-lasting, "deep-rooted" friendship of their countries and their alliance within NATO.
Their talks also resulted in a White House statement reading that the US and Turkey would continue to support the moderate opposition in Syria and the Iraqi forces in their push to drive off IS.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at the same time spoke of rapprochement between the two countries in terms of their position on the developments in Iraq and Syria.
The meeting with Erdogan will have Turkey's role in the fight against IS as a key issue on the agenda.
The position of Turkey as a transit hub for foreign jihadis which enter into the ranks of IS using the country's territory is also an issue of concern.
Turkey is demanding that the US-led coalition against the extremists stage an operation to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad as a prerequisite to join efforts on the ground.
Ankara also says a no-fly zone should be imposed over Syria.
The country is struggling to deal with the aftermath of a thousands-strong refugee flow from neighboring Syria and Iraq which started during Syria's civil war and mounted with the IS offensive in the two countries.
It is estimated that about 1.6 million refugees are currently based in Turkey.
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