Speaking at the first meeting of Foreign Ministers of Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum which convened in Istanbul, Babacan said 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.

    "Besides, terrorism keeps targeting our countries and nations," said Babacan, referring to the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which makes use of Iraq as a spring board to launch attacks against Turkey.

    Earlier in the day, the Turkish military said in a statement that its warplanes hit the targets of the PKK militants in Hakurk region in Iraq's north on Friday night, adding that the warplanes have bombed 31 PKK targets in northern Iraq since Oct. 4.

    Babacan also said regional and international problems, economic, social and cultural cooperation between Turkey and Arab states aiming to strengthen the Alliance of Civilizations initiative would be discussed throughout the meeting.

    The first meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum began in Istanbul on Saturday, with the participation of foreign ministers of Syria, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia, as well as the special envoy to Algerian president.

    In November 2007, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and AL Secretary General Amr Moussa signed the Framework Agreement for Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum.