Tag: Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Theresa May, the Prime Minister, has today spoken by phone to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey. They discussed matters relating to Syria and the Turkish economy.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said:

“This morning the Prime Minister Theresa May spoke with President Erdogan of Turkey.

They discussed a number of their shared priorities. They both expressed their concerns about the escalating military action by the Syrian regime in north-west Syria putting millions of civilians at risk, and the potential for further – illegal – use of chemical weapons.

They discussed the importance of stability in the region, the need to protect civilians and to avoid a deterioration in the humanitarian situation. The Prime Minister reiterated her strong belief that the long-term stability of Syria can only be secured through a political settlement.

They also discussed the Turkish economy and the Prime Minister noted the UK is a major investor and trading partner with Turkey, and wants to see the Turkish economy flourish. The Prime Minister said the UK would welcome a visit from Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Minister to discuss ways to enhance the trade relationship between Turkey and the UK.”

Theresa May, the Prime Minister, has issued a statement following her meeting in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting discussed numerous topics, including security issues and trade.

The statement reads:

“Thank you very much Mr President and thank you for the invitation to join you for these discussions that we have had today – and very fruitful discussions between us.

Turkey is one of the UK’s oldest friends. Our relations stretch back over 400 years.

But there is much that we can do in the future to build on that relationship together.

I am proud that the UK stood with you on 15 July last year in defence of your democracy. Now it is important that Turkey sustains that democracy by maintaining the rule of law and upholding its international human rights obligations as the government has undertaken to do.

We have discussed, as the president has said, a number of important issues today from Cyprus, where we are committed to playing our parts for an early settlement, to Syria, where we are working together to fight Daesh and create the conditions for peace.

We are also agreeing to step up our work together on aviation security with a programme of shared training and information exchange.

You mentioned, Mr President, the opportunities for enhancing trade between our two countries and we discussed that. We both want to build on our existing links and I believe that doing so will be to the benefit of both our countries and for the prosperity of both our nations.

And we have agreed we will have a joint working group to prepare the ground for our post-Brexit trading relationship.

So we have covered quite a range of subjects today. What has underpinned our discussions has been the opportunity for Turkey and the UK to build on our existing relations which, as I say, have stretched back many years, to our mutual benefit for the future.

So thank you and I look forward to maintaining these talks with your Prime Minister later today”.

A spokesman for Theresa May, the Prime Minister, has confirmed that she was in phone contact with President Erdogan of Turkey on 18 July 2016.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said:

“The Prime Minister called President Erdogan of Turkey on Monday evening to condemn the attempted coup and to offer her condolences to the Turkish people. The Prime Minister commended the bravery of the Turkish people in standing up for democracy and she underlined the UK’s full support for Turkey’s democratically elected government and institutions, saying there was no place for military intervention in politics.

The President thanked the Prime Minister for her call, and congratulated her on taking office.

They agreed that the UK and Turkey already have a strong relationship and that opportunities to deepen our strategic partnership should be pursued, particularly in the areas of counter-terrorism, migration, regional security and defence.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also offered his congratulations to the Prime Minister on her appointment, and invited her to visit Turkey”.