President Obama today aimed to reach out to Turkey for help to end the war in Iraq and bring stability to the Middle East during his first visit to a majority Muslim country.

Arriving in Istanbul, the President paid tribute to the memory of modern Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, at the start of a trip designed to ensure the predeominantly Islamic Nato member state remains a steadfast US ally.

“I’m honoured to pay tribute to his name,” Mr Obama said at a wreath-laying ceremony during a morning visit to Ataturk's tomb, a large limestone, columned complex on the top of a high hill with a dramatic view of Turkey’s capital city, Ankara. Mr Obama stood at a podium and wrote in a guest book for nearly four minutes.

Mr Obama’s visit is being closely watched by an Islamic world that harboured deep distrust of his predecessor, George W Bush.

He is spending two days in Turkey as he wraps up the first overseas tour of his presidency, an eight-day trip that included the G20 summit in London, Nato's 60th birthday celebrations in France and Germany and a dramatic appearance at Prague Castle yesterday.

Mr Obama arrived in Ankara last night and will meet both President Abdullah Gul and Recep Tayyip Erdogan., the Prime Minister, and address parliament later today before moving on to Istanbul.

In his inaugural address in January, Mr Obama pledged to reach out to the Muslim world - a theme he returned to at an EU leaders' luncheon in Prague yesterday. He suggested that one way to do so would be by allowing Turkey to join the European Union, prompting a sharp rebuke from President Sarkozy of France, who pointed out that the decision would be Europe's not Washington's.

Analysts said that Mr Obama's address to the Turkish parliament would be observed closely in the Middle East where there is a sense of goodwill towards the new President and a feeling that he could bring real change.

“Obama starts with a great advantage because his name is not George Bush,” said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Project at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

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