Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem held talks in Muscat Sunday with Oman's minister in charge of foreign affairs, Yussef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the official news agency ONA reported.
Cem told ONA after the talks that they decided to set up a joint committee to be co-chaired by the two ministers to boost cooperation between Ankara and Muscat, notably in security.
The Turkish minister, who arrived on Saturday, also met Oman's minister in charge of defense, Sayed Badr bin Saud al-Bussaidi.
Cem's visit comes ahead of the November 12-14 summit in the Qatari capital of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, of which both Turkey and Oman are members.
Predominantly Muslim Turkey has been Israel's main regional ally since 1996, when the two countries signed a military cooperation deal, much to the anger of most Arab states and Iran.
But Ankara has also developed close links with the Palestinians, with whom it maintains full-fledged diplomatic relations – MUSCAT (AFP)
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