Turkish defense chief meets top Uzbek officials

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan

Visiting Uzbekistan on Tuesday, Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met with Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the nation’s president, according to Turkish military sources.

Before talks with the president, Akar also met with his Uzbek counterpart Bakhodir Kurbanov and National Security Council Secretary Viktor Makhmudov, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Akar said they had “very positive talks” on military education and cooperation as well as defense industry ties.

“We had extremely promising talks on serious pledges for the days ahead,” Akar said.

“We hope we will be able to find the chance to realize the agreements that we made with the work we do in the days to come,” said Akar, adding that he does this “at the instruction of our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”

*Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara