Turkey set to name new Deputy Secretary General of NATO

Turkey is expected to name one of its leading four diplomats as the deputy secretary-general of NATO in the months to come. Among the candidates are Turkish Ambassador to Khartoum, Sudan Fatih Ceylan, Hasan Aygun, the political advisor to the NATO's Portugal Mission, Turkey's Permanent Representative to the UNESCO Ali Tuygan and Hikmet Cetin, NATO's former Special Envoy to Afghanistan. Turkish deputy secretary-general of NATO will be responsible for the alliance's relations with the Islamic world. Turkey initially opposed to the election of former Danish Premier Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the secretary-general of NATO due to his stance during the infamous cartoon crisis of 2006, which led to major protests across the Islamic world and his rejection to ban a terrorist PKK affiliated-satellite broadcaster. After taking firm assurances about policies which Rasmussen pledged to follow as the secretary general, Turkey agreed Rasmussen's election to the top NATO post during the 60th anniversary summit of the alliance in early April. One of the assurances Turkey received was the appointment of a Turkish deputy secretary-general to improve the alliance's relations with Muslim countries.