Turkey's foreign minister and an Israeli cabinet minister met secretly in Brussels to discuss ways of overcoming the deep crisis in bilateral ties, a Turkish official said Thursday.

The meeting between Ahmet Davutoglu and Israeli Trade Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer "took place yesterday in Brussels upon a request by Israel," the official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

"We had already conveyed a note to Israel explaining our expectations from them... Those expectations were repeated at the meeting," the official said.

It was the first meeting on a ministerial level between the two countries since Israeli commandos raided a Turkish ship leading an aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli blockade on May 31.

The raid, in which eight Turks and a dual US-Turkish citizen were killed, shattered Turkey's already strained ties with Israel.

Ankara recalled its ambassador and cancelled three planned joint military exercises.

- AFP