U.S. PR chief opened talks with Turkish officials

The United States' new public relations chief opened talks Wednesday with Turkish officials on the final stop of her first Mideast mission to try to improve America's image in the region.

Karen Hughes, a longtime adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush who earlier this month became the State Department official tasked with countering America's negative image in the Middle East, met with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ali Tuygan. She was scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul later Wednesday and also planned to talk with civic and religious groups. Hughes has already visited Egypt and Saudi Arabia as part of her tour to try to bolster America's image in the region, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iraq war are seen as main sources of anti-American sentiment, reports the AP.