US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel plans to travel to Georgia to meet with Minister of Defense Irakli Alasania and then to Turkey to meet with the new President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the NATO Summit in Wales next week.
"The Georgian military has been a valued partner of the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the secretary looks forward to thanking the Georgian people for their contributions and sacrifices over the last decade," said Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby to reporters on Friday.
In Georgia - a NATO partner to the US, Hagel and Alasania will share concern about the mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Hagel will then travel to Turkey to discuss the joint effort to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). "Hagel has longstanding relationships with Turkey's leaders, including the newly-inaugurated President Erdogan, and he views this visit as an important opportunity to advance our critical relationship," affirmed Kirby.
This will be Hagel's first trip to these countries since becoming US Secretary of Defense.