Ankara - A senior Turkish foreign policymaker on Tuesday said Turkey does not look kindly on the prospect of Danish Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen becoming NATO secretary-general, the Anadolu news agency reported.

"We cannot accept a man who does not respect our religious faith and our holy values, who has shown disrespect in the past, to become the head of NATO," said Suat Kiniklioglu, deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party's Foreign Affairs Committee.

Kiniklioglu said Turkey had a number of problems with attempts to make the Danish prime minister the new NATO secretary general.

These include Rasmussen's statements in 2003 that he did not support Turkey's bid to join the European Union, his failure to close down a satellite television station that has close links to the separatist Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and his failure to act over the controversial publishing of Mohammed caricatures in a Danish newspaper.

The Turkish media have speculated that Turkey would oppose Rasmussen for the NATO position but Kiniklioglu is the first senior lawmaker from the ruling AKP to go public with Turkey's reservations. (dpa)