U.S. military chief in Turkey to discuss Syria crisis

ANKARA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey discussed the Syrian crisis with his Turkish counterpart in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday.

Dempsey's visit to Ankara came after Turkey and the United States established an "operational planning" mechanism to handle security threats caused by the conflict in Turkey's neighbor Syria.

Dempsey, who arrived in Turkey late Sunday and is scheduled to depart Monday, was greeted with an official ceremony at the Turkish general staff headquarters on Monday before his meeting with Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Necdet Ozel. He also met with Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz and Foreign Ministry officials.

The U.S. top general's meeting with his Turkish counterpart was closed to press. According to his remarks posted on the official website of the U.S. Defense Department, Dempsey wanted to learn how Turkey perceived the situation in Syria.

"I'm here to learn, but I'm also here to share what we think of this (Syrian situation) regionally. They are facing an immediate threat to their southern border. As a partner -- bilaterally and also in NATO -- we're attuned to it," said Dempsey.

"This is one of those times when we talk about our shared interests and Turkey's interests in Syria right now are the same as ours," he said. Enditem