Nato’s new secretary-general marked Ramadan by attending a fast-breaking dinner and toured the mausoleum of Turkey’s founder Ataturk on a visit to reach out to the Muslim world and appease the fiercest critics of his appointment.

Ankara had bitterly opposed the choice of Anders Fogh Rasmussen to head the alliance because he served as Danish prime minister during a dispute over cartoon portrayals of the prophet Mohammed and was thus ill-equipped to front Nato in its missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan.