US joint chief of staff Martin Dempsey is expected to be in Ankara on Sunday

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey will visit Ankara on Sunday to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel. The visit will be Dempsey's first trip to Turkey since he was appointed to his current position in October 2011. The ongoing violence in Syria is expected to dominate Ozel's talks with Dempsey. Dempsey's visit follows a surprise visit by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director David Petraeus to Istanbul earlier this month, the second unannounced visit by the US spy chief to Turkey in the last six months.