BRUSSELS

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and his Greek counterpart Nikos Panagiotopoulos met Wednesday in Brussels and agreed to hold talks later this month on confidence-building measures.

Talks between delegations from the two countries will take place in Athens from Feb. 17-21.

Akar and Panagiotopoulos also underlined the importance of keeping dialogue channels open between the two countries.

Within the scope of the NATO Defense Ministers Meeting, Akar participated in a session held for countries taking part in NATO’s Resolute Support mission and then met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodniuk.

The two counterparts also discussed regional developments and cooperation on military issues.

Akar also attended the first session of the NATO Defense Ministers Meeting, which addressed the alliance’s operations and missions.

At the two-day meeting in Brussels, NATO defense ministers are discussing security and stability in the Middle East with a special focus on the fight against Daesh/ISIS as well as the alliance's role in Afghanistan and its response to Russian missile deployments.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin