DOHA
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday held talks with several Qatari officials on a host of regional files, including the conflict in Syria.
Davutoglu met with Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah for an hour before leaving for the royal palace in downtown Doha for talks with Qatari Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Diplomatic sources said the talks focused on several regional files, including the conflict in Syria, preparations for the Geneva II conference and the recent deal on Iran's nuclear program.
Davutoglu was holding a meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the time of filing this story.
The top Turkish diplomat arrived in Doha earlier in the day on a few hours' visit, the first leg in a three-day regional tour that will also take him to Bahrain and Iran.
Al-Attiyah had last month paid a visit to Ankara during which he met his Turkish counterpart.
Davutoglu said at the airport that he would head to Bahrain after concluding his talks in Qatar to participate in the meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), which will kick off in Manama on Monday.
He said this is the first time Turkey is represented in the ACD meeting after becoming a member in September.
Davutoglu added that he would hold talks with the foreign ministers of the ACD member states on the sidelines of the meeting.
He is due to head to Tehran on Tuesday to participate in the 21st meeting of the ministerial council of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
The top diplomat is expected to meet with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif to discuss bilateral relations as well as regional developments, especially the Syrian file.
The meeting between is also expected to dwell on preparations for an expected visit to Iran by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the date of a planned visit to Ankara by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
