Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar had separate meetings with his British and French counterparts in Brussels on Thursday.
Akar visited NATO headquarters on the second day of NATO defense ministers meeting. He met with UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace before attending a session on defense, deterrence and burden-sharing.
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS WERE DISCUSSED
Akar later met with his French counterpart, Florence Parly.
During the bilateral meetings, the officials exchanged views on cooperation in military, security and defense industry. They also discussed regional developments, particularly in Libya and Syria, the latest situation in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, and necessary moves to end the humanitarian crisis in the region.
During the talks, Akar underlined that civilians in Idlib, who flee their hometown due to violence, have been heading towards Turkish border, not to the regions under the regime control.
At least five Turkish troops were martyred and five injured in an attack by Assad regime forces in Idlib earlier this week.
That followed last week’s attack by regime forces in Idlib which martyred seven Turkish soldiers and one civilian contractor working with the Turkish military. It also injured more than a dozen people. In retaliation, Turkey neutralized more than 120 Assad regime military personnel since last week.