Strasbourg, France - Efforts to appoint a new NATO chief appeared doomed Saturday after Turkey refused to soften its opposition to the frontrunner, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussens, Turkish diplomats said.

Turkish officials said "no agreement" had been reached during a meeting in Strasbourg and predicted that talks on the issue would only resume after the summit in France.

US President Barack Obama and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi were among those piling pressure on Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to change their minds.

Turkey is the only country blocking Rasmussen's appointment, citing Denmark's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005 that deeply offended the Muslim world. (dpa)