Turkish, Qatari ministers meet amid crisis with Arab states

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's state-run news agency says Qatar's defense minister has arrived in Turkey for talks amid his nation's feud with four major Arab states.

The four, among other demands, are pressing Doha to shut down a Turkish military base in the tiny country. Turkey is adamant to keep its base and has sided with Qatar in the dispute, which saw the four Arab countries cut ties to Doha earlier this month, accusing it of supporting terror groups — a charge Qatar denies.

Qatar's Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah and his Turkish counterpart, Fikri Isik, are to hold talks on Friday afternoon.

Turkey shipped supplies to Doha to help ease its isolation and swiftly ratified military agreements with Qatar allowing the deployment of troops to its base there.