Turkey’s ambassador and Speaker discuss closer parliamentary links
14 June 2021
Turkey’s ambassador to the UK hailed the signing of a free trade agreement between the two countries as further evidence of a developing friendship, during a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Commons.
His Excellency, Mr Ümit Yalçın told Sir Lindsay Hoyle that the deal, which covers manufactured goods, agriculture and services, is significant to Turkey as the UK is its second-largest trade partner after Germany.
He made the comments during an introductory meeting arranged by Sir Lindsay as part of his Speaker-led UK parliamentary diplomacy to establish enduring ties between countries and parliamentarians.
Mr Yalçın said his "number one priority" is to welcome back British visitors to Turkey as soon as possible. In 2019, 2.6m Brits travelled to Turkey, dropping to 900,000 last year, he said.
Sir Lindsay and His Excellency also discussed how parliamentarians from both nations should work more closely, noting the good work of the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Turkey in pushing this ambition forward.
They also touched on the vaccination programme in both countries, Turkey’s plan to implement a human rights strategy and its refugee population.
Image credit: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor