EU's Mogherini to press Turkey over IS militants

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is in Turkey to urge it to participate fully in the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria.

Ms Mogherini and other top EU officials will urge Turkey to stop the flow of foreign fighters across its borders.

In a tweet from the capital Ankara, she said her agenda also included Turkey's EU accession bid.

She will urge Turkey to back sanctions against Russia, despite the warming relationship between Ankara and Moscow.

In an interview with the BBC, Ms Mogherini said that while the crisis in Syria was not something that could be solved from Brussels, the EU still had a role to play, including "the empowerment of more actors that might take the lead".

"I am sure that the UN can play some sort of a positive role," she said.

Kurdish fighters have been battling Islamic State on the Syrian border with Turkey

Turkey has stood back as fighting against Islamic State militants rages just across its border with Syria

The EU wants Turkey to help identify foreign fighters and provide warnings of any danger to aviation security, an unnamed EU official told the Reuters news agency.

EU officials want Turkey to provide more help and support in the fight against IS - and other Middle Eastern militant groups - as part of an initiative to restrict their funding and curtail the flow of foreign fighters.

"The visit... is a strong indication of the strategic importance of the EU-Turkey relationship and our desire to step up engagement," Ms Mogherini said in a statement.

Negotiations over Turkish membership of the EU have been going on since 2005, but have been held up because of disagreements over the divided island of Cyprus and resistance to Turkish EU membership from some member countries.