ANKARA, Sept 1 (AFP) - Pro-Chechen Turkish organisations plan to stage demonstrations outside Russian diplomatic missions in Ankara and Istanbul ahead of Thursday's visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Chechen committee, an umbrella group of pro-Chechen non-governmental organisations, said it would lay a wreath outside the Russian consulate in Istanbul on Thursday to condemn the repression used by the Russian army in Chechnya.
A similar demonstration is planned outside the Russian embassy in Ankara.
Putin, who is expected in Ankara late Thursday, will not visit Istanbul.
Turkish police said they had mobilised 1,500 men and will close several roads for Putin's visit.
Putin said in an interview published on Wednesday that Russia was satisfied with the changing Turkish attitude towards secessionists in Chechnya and believes it will improve further.
In the past, the Russian authorities have accused Ankara of turning a blind eye to the alleged presence on Turkish soil of Chechen rebels and of failing to prevent its citizens from joining the secessionists' ranks.
But Putin, the first Russian leader to visit Turkey in 32 years, said in a statement published by several Turkish newspapers: "We are satisfied with Turkey's position on the Chechen question."
Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation with a secular system of government, has a policy of non-interference in Chechnya but the secessionist cause has many sympathisers among Turks.