Security is being beefed up in the run-up to the visit of Queen Elizabeth II of England and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, to Turkey on May 13 on an official visit.

The 82-year-old monarch and her 86-year-old husband have accepted an invitation from President Abdullah Gül. The Queen will be visiting Turkey for inly the second time; her first visit was back in 1971.
 
According to information provided by the British Consulate General in İstanbul, the queen's program will include Ankara, Bursa and İstanbul. The Queen and her husband will be accompanied by British foreign secretary David Miliband.

Diplomatic officials have already interpreted the visit as British support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union. “This shows how important Turkey is for us – a modernising and democratic Turkey which will become a member of the EU,” said the British ambassador to Turkey, Nick Baird.

Turkey is the largest Muslim country in the European spere of influence and it is believed that Al Qaeda militants have operated there in the past.