U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey is in Ankara to meet with his Turkish counterpart Necdet Özel, with the ongoing violence in Syria and the Libya killings to top the agenda of talks, Hürriyet Daily News reported.

The visit comes shortly after U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns postponed his visit to Turkey scheduled for Sept 14 in order to accompany the remains of the four diplomats killed in Libya to the U.S. The delegation led by Ambassador Robert Ford and Derek H. Chollet, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs at the Department of Defense, continued consultations as planned.

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will hold talks with Turkish officials as part of a regional tour also covering Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Holder will meet with Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis J. Ricciardone. He will also meet with Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay and parliament speaker Cemil Çiçek.