Turkish defense minister holds talks with foreign counterparts

By Sarp Ozer

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's national defense minister on Thursday continued with his busy schedule of diplomatic meetings as part of the four-day International Defense Industries Fair (IDEF) in Istanbul.

Hulusi Akar and his Togolese counterpart Marguerite Gnakade met in Istanbul and signed a military framework agreement at the meeting.

Akar also met with his Iraqi counterpart Juma Inad at the international fair. The two officials addressed bilateral and regional defense matters along with cooperation in security and defense.

In separate meetings, Akar met with Mauritanian Defense Minister Hanena Ould Sidi, Burkina Faso's Defense Minister Aime Barthelemy Simpore and Chad's Defense Minister General Brahim Daoud Yaya.

The Turkish minister also met with Equatorial Guinean Defense Minister Victoriano Bibang Nsue Okomo as well as Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Kamal Gunaratne. Akar later received Romanian Presidential Adviser from the Department of National Security Ion Oprisor.

The four-day IDEF event, which began on Aug. 17, was organized under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey in coordination with the Turkish National Defense Ministry, Defense Industries Presidency and Armed Forces Foundation.

The event exhibits a wide range of defense products in various fields, including land vehicles, weapons, simulators, radars, sonars, naval platform solutions, aviation systems, missiles, logistic vehicles, supply equipment and security systems.

The fair also includes panels on various topics such as space studies, future technologies and digital transformation.

Last year, the event was joined by over 1,000 participants and visited by 76,000 professionals from 71 countries.

The 2021 edition of the event was planned for this May but postponed due to coronavirus pandemic measures.

*Merve Aydogan contributed to this story from Ankara