Defense Minister Hulusi Akar visited Turkey’s military representative to NATO and discussed restrictions on arms sales to the country with his Canadian counterpart, Anita Anand, in Brussels Wednesday.

Akar was visiting Brussels as part of the NATO defense ministers meeting, as Turkey strives to ensure regional peace through diplomatic and peaceful means. He visited the NATO headquarters and met with Turkey’s permanent representative to the bloc, Basat Öztürk, and spoke with staff at the representation office.

In his meeting with Anand, Akar emphasized the importance of lifting restrictions on arms sales to Turkey, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The two ministers also addressed bilateral defense and security cooperation and regional developments, the statement added.

He also held a meeting with his Greek counterpart Nikos Panagiotopoulos in Brussels.