NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen began his visit to Turkey, NATO's only predominantly Muslim member, with a traditional meal breaking the dusk-to-dawn fast observed by Muslims all over the world during Ramadan.

Speaking at an iftar - the evening meal during the Moslem holy month - Rasmussen says he has deep respect for Islam and for people's religious beliefs. His dinner host was Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the same man who just months ago threatened to block his advance to NATO's top post.

Turkey had threatened to veto the former prime minister of Denmark's nomination over his failure to condemn a Danish newspaper's caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005. Many Muslims around the world found the cartoon offensive, but Rasmussen defended the paper's right to publish it. Rasmussen has also made no secret of his opposition to Ankara's application for European Union membership.

Turkey dropped its opposition to 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.

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.

svs/afp/ap/reuters/dw
Editor: Rick Demarest