ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met on Sunday in Istanbul ahead of a major oil congress in the city.
Cavusoglu and Tillerson met for a working dinner at the Prime Ministry Office in Istanbul.
The two diplomats discussed the civil-war torn Syria, the fight against terrorism as well as the Qatar crisis, according to diplomatic sources.
The ongoing crisis in inter-Arab relations climaxed on June 5, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen all abruptly cut diplomatic relations with Doha, accusing it of meddling in their domestic affairs and supporting terrorist groups.
Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil CEO, is in Istanbul to receive a lifetime achievement award, the Dewhurst Award, at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress (WPC), which will be held in Istanbul on July 9-13.
Dubbed as the “Olympics of Petroleum”, the triennial congress, which will be held in Istanbul for the first time, will gather top managers of the leading oil and gas companies.
According to the WPC’s website, 20,000 participants, 5,000 decision-makers, and 50 ministers from over 100 countries will attend the congress.
Tillerson is expected to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Tarabya Presidential Residence in Istanbul later on Sunday.