Obama to visit Turkey

US President Barack Obama will soon visit Turkey, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced yesterday, as she visited strategic ally Ankara to repair ties damaged over the Iraq war.

"President Obama will be visiting Turkey within the next month or so," she said at a joint press conference with Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan after talks with the country's leaders.

"The exact date will be announced shortly. We are just at the beginning of planning this decision reached yesterday," Clinton said. Obama is already due to be in Europe in the first days of April for G20 and Nato summits.

Clinton underscored that the new US administration was interested in damage control and undoing the legacy of former President George W. Bush - a point she stressed on Friday when she met her Russian counterpart.

Addressing Turkey - which refused in 2003 to open a northern front against Iraq from its territory for the US, provoking a chill between Ankara and Washington - Clinton said it was time to buttress relations.

"President Obama and I will work with you to strengthen and deepen those ties and to create more opportunities for us to work together," she said.

Questioned by a journalist, Clinton said she could not confirm when or where would be the occasion for Obama's promised address in the capital of a major Muslim nation.

Earlier, Clinton visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish state, where she indulged in nostalgia while repeating the message of a fresh start.

"The last time I was here, my husband was president. This time, I come as secretary of state, on behalf of our new president, President Obama, to emphasise the work the US and Turkey must do together on behalf of peace, prosperity and progress."

A Turkish diplomatic source said the question of a fresh contribution of troops by Ankara to the International Strategic Assistant Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan was evoked during Clinton's meetings with Turkish leaders.

Clinton held talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the morning, focusing on bilateral relations, the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism, a statement by Erdogan's press service said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan also attended the talks where all issues were discussed "in detail".

The statement called the United States a "friend and ally".

A senior US official earlier said the Obama administration "has a chance to rebuild on a better footing after the most acute problems accumulated in the Bush administration have finally been taken off" the table.