Obama likely to cap off series of meetings in Europe next month

---

WASHINGTON, Mar 7 (Internet): President Barack Obama is expected to cap off a series of meetings in Europe next month with a stop in Turkey, a majority Sunni Muslim nation that straddles Europe and Asia and has a democratic government, diplomatic relations with Israel and ambitions to join the European Union .

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to announce Obama's plans Saturday during her own visit to the country, said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans hadn't been made public. The official didn't say what city or cities Obama would visit, with whom he'd meet or whether he'd speak publicly, saying the final agenda hadn't been set.

Obama is expected sometime this year and perhaps during his first 100 days as president to deliver a speech in a major Muslim city in an effort to recast US relations with the Islamic world. It wasn't clear, however, whether the Turkey visit had any connection with those plans.

Obama's likely arrival in Turkey appears to coincide with the Second Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations, which is to be held on April 6 and 7 in Istanbul.

The forum "seeks to address some of the ongoing tensions and divides across cultures and religions" and examine governance and diversity in the context of globalisation, according to the forum's Web site. Last year's forum drew participants from around the world, including the West, but also Egypt, Iran, Indonesia and other Middle Eastern or Muslim countries.

The White House announced earlier this week that Obama would travel from March 31 to April 5 to the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Czech Republic for a series of meetings of the Group of Twenty (G20) economic powers, NATO and the EU.