Theresa May to visit Turkey for talks with President Erdogan after wave of terror attacks
PM will make the brief trip to Ankara in the wake of incidents in which hundreds of people have died
THERESA May is expected to visit Turkey later this month for talks with President Erdogan after the country has suffered a wave of terror attacks.
The Prime Minister will make the brief trip in the wake of incidents in which hundreds of people have died.
Mrs May wrote to Mr Erdogan after the New Year attack on an Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people, vowing to help Turkey defeat terrorism.
The country has faced a spree of atrocities carried out by the Islamic State (IS) terror group, as well as Kurdish separatists since 2015.
Turkey's long and porous border saw it become a destination for extremists wanting to cross into Syria.
Mrs May's trip, which is also set to include meetings with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, is likely to focus on continuing international efforts to defeat IS.
It follows a visit by Boris Johnson last September which saw the Foreign Secretary engage in a charm offensive to make amends for a rude poem he had penned about President Erdogan.
RELATED STORIES:
Mr Johnson sparked controversy by using a satirical limerick to describe the head of state as a ''w***erer'' who had sex with a goat.
But he used an official visit to Ankara to say Britain would aid the Turkish Government to become an EU member state, despite campaigning against country’s membership during referendum campaign.
Experts described the startling comments marked one of the biggest political U-turns in recent memory, after Vote Leave’s non-stop scaremongering about their potential membership.
Johnson teamed up with Michael Gove seven days before the June 23 vote to demand David Cameron give a guarantee Britain would veto Turkey’s accession.
The country’s leader Mr Erdogan has strengthened his grip on power after he outmanoeuvred an attempted coup last summer.
He went on to announce a state of emergency that allowed him to bypass rules when introducing new laws as well as restrict and suspend rights and freedoms.