The first ministerial meeting of the Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum was held in the largest Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday, marking the launch of a new cooperation mechanism between the two sides.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan talked with Secretary General of the Arab League (AL) Amr Moussa, foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Djibouti and Syria, which currently holds the presidency of the AL Summit, as well as the special envoy to Algerian president.
Babacan said during the meeting that Turkey and Arab states were affected by similar threats and problems, while they shared the same goals and benefited from common opportunities.
"Our countries should cooperate with each other in order to cope with these problems and they should search for solutions together," he said.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Moussa said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua that Arab countries are in an urgent need of an "overall" relationship with Turkey "politically, economically and culturally."
Talking about the political cooperation, the Arab world needs Turkey's cooperation in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict, the situation in Iraq and Somalia, he said, adding that Turkey can play a constructive role in solving these issues.
The meeting is considered by many Turkish officials as a turning point in Turkey's ties with the Arab world.
The launch of the forum is in line with an agreement signed by Babacan and the AL secretary general on the fringe of an expanded summit of Iraq's neighbors held in Istanbul in the autumn of 2007.
Source: Xinhua
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