Istanbul, Turkey – Britain’s top diplomat David Lammy held top-level talks in Ankara Monday that touched on developments in the Middle East and stronger bilateral trade ties on his first visit to Turkey.
“One of our biggest current strategic goals is for the agreement reached between Iran and Israel to continue, for the ceasefire not to be violated and for a permanent peace to return,” he said.
He also thanked Lammy for Britain’s move to lift sanctions on Syria in late April and noted that Lammy “said he would go to Syria soon”.
“This is truly an important area of cooperation for us. Stability and security in Syria is an issue that will serve both the region and all of us globally. We will continue to work together on this issue.”
Turkish officials did not say what Lammy discussed in talks with Erdogan.
The visit came as the two side sought to “strengthen our bilateral relationship with a free trade agreement.. (that) will be building on £28 billion worth of trade,” Lammy said after meeting Fidan.
The talks also focused on deepening defence ties and joint work on regional security, Lammy’s office said.
“Security and defence collaboration with Turkey is imperative to UK security interests. This includes joint work on the prospective export of Eurofighter Typhoon to Turkey,” it said, without giving further details.
Turkey has been pushing to modernise its air force by purchasing 40 Eurofighter Typhoons which are built by a four-nation consortium grouping Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy.
Although London is leading the talks, any of the four nations can veto a sale with Berlin initially slow to approve the sale due to differences over Turkey’s hardline stance on the Gaza war.
