Ankara, 24 June 2022 (TDI): Turkiye Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with a senior foreign minister of the UK, Elizabeth Truss, and Defence Minister Ben Wallace.
The two senior UK Ministers visited Turkiye to try and persuade Ankara to stop blocking Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership applications.
This came as a result of the call made by Turkiye last month concerning Sweden and Finland joining NATO. Turkiye warned the two nations that Ankara would block their NATO membership requests if they continued to assist terrorist organizations.
In this context, Turkiye asserted that Sweden was arming the Syrian YPG (People’s Protection Units). The YPG and the PKK, with its affiliates, are regarded as terrorist organizations by the nation.
Turkiye believes that the YPG has taken part in conflict with the PKK insurgency since 1984. Thus, to resolve this issue, UK foreign ministers went to Turkiye for a bilateral meeting.
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the foreign minister of Turkiye, met with his British counterparts to discuss bilateral relations as well as concerns involving NATO, Syria, and the Ukraine. Other issues discussed during the meeting included regional issues and defence cooperation.
Since Turkiye would be expanding its Free Trade Agreement and increasing its trade as a result, these problems were key during the dialogue. Additionally, this would improve Turkiye’s cooperation with the defence industry.
Furthermore, Minister Çavuşoğlu gave the participants’ certificates for successfully completing the training program. The training session was established by the ministry to increase knowledge of Asia. This is part of the Asia Anew plan for the nation.
Turkiye-UK bilateral relations
The bilateral relations between Turkiye and the UK are excellent. After Brexit, the strategic ties between the two nations got even stronger.
Through their participation in the G20, the Council of Europe, and NATO, the two nations enjoy close defence ties.
Moreover, the two nations also like working together in the industrial sector. On December 29, 2020, the UK inked a free trade deal with Turkey. This was to strengthen the trade relations between the two countries.
