"It is my intention to raise the question of better cooperation between Turkey and Greece already during my visit to both capitals this week," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

"I know it is a bilateral issue between the two countries, but we have come to the point, where it is causing us problems in our missions," he said without mentioning Cyprus which is at the centre of the poor relations between the two NATO members.

Rasmussen, who assumed the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's top job this month, will head to Athens on Wednesday before continuing on to Ankara on Thursday, a NATO spokeswoman said.

He gave two specific examples of how NATO's operations are being hit by the bad relations between Athens and Ankara.

"In Afghanistan, NATO cannot conclude an agreement to support EU police," he said.

"Off the Horn of Africa both NATO and the EU have naval missions in the same area against piracy. But we have no agreement on who will do what or how to support each other."

Those are just two examples of how "these problems have spread far beyond Turkey and Greece," he stressed.

The former Danish prime minister told reporters that he hoped "it is possible to embark on a more pragmatic approach that will increase the security in our missions and make our efforts more effective."

"Turkey is a very important member of the alliance and therefore it is one of the first countries I visit as new secretary general," said Rasmussen.

"It is one of my priorities to build a stronger partnership with the Arab and Central Asian countries. To that end, Turkey is a key player," he added.

Ankara refuses to recognise the government of the Greek Cypriot-run Republic of Cyprus as having sovereignty over the whole island as the Turkish Cypriots have a breakaway statelet in the north.

Turkey also refuses access to Cyprus-flagged ships and aircraft at its ports despite signing a customs accord with Brussels. The European parliament has warned Turkey its accession bid could be dented if it did not lift the embargo.

Turkey "plays a key role" in supporting NATO's efforts in Afghanistan, with its strong political contacts with the leaderships in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, Rasmussen said.

"We are also accelerating our efforts to train the Afghan army.... I hope Turkey along with other nations can contribute more to this crucial part of our mission," he added.

"If we do not succeed, there is a clear risk extremism will spread quickly into Central Asia and further. Turkey, like all of us, cannot afford that." pvh-siu/boc

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