ANKARA — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan traveled to the United Arab Emirates on Monday as Ankara seeks to increase coordination with regional countries amid advances by Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen.

Fidan held talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Fidan and Sheikh Mohammed discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation as well as regional developments, according to the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency.

The pair also discussed efforts to strengthen “security and stability in the Middle East and to push toward a sustainable peace process for the benefit of all the peoples and countries of the region,” WAM said.

Fidan was also set to meet with Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan as well as national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a Turkish diplomatic source told journalists earlier on Monday.