JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Israel and Turkey met on the sidelines of a NATO conference on Thursday, trying to repair ties strained by the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel said.

The Israeli military campaign, which ended in a shaky Jan. 18 truce, triggered protests from Turkey culminating in a shouting match between its prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, and Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum.

Israeli officials have tried to play down the schism with key ally Turkey, a Muslim country with a strongly secular constitution, but have urged Ankara to cool its ties with Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip, and their Iranian backers.

The talks between Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan took place in Brussels, where envoys had gathered for a NATO conference. The meeting was kept secret until after it took place out of concern Turkey might cancel, Israeli officials said.

"The ministers stressed the strategic importance of the firm relations between the two states, noting that cooperation between the two states is important to the stability of the Middle East. They agreed that cooperation and political consultations would continue on all levels," Livni's office said in a statement. (Writing by Adam Entous; editing by Andrew Roche) (For blogs and links on Israeli politics and other Israeli and Palestinian news, go to http:/blogs.reuters.com/axismundi)

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