Strengthening UK-Turkey relations
Head of the Diplomatic Service Simon Fraser visited Turkey on 31 January – 1 February to strengthen UK-Turkey relations and promote UK business.
He met his Turkish counterpart, Feridun Sinirlio?lu, in Ankara. The discussions focussed on cooperation on Foreign Office priorities, particularly trade and commercial investment, counter-terrorism, migration, energy, EU accession, regional political issues including Iran, and consular and visa issues.
The visit underlined the importance of the UK-Turkey strategic partnership, following the Prime Minister’s visit in July. The Prime Minister has called Turkey “Europe’s BRIC” and set a target of doubling UK-Turkey trade in the next five years.
He met a group of Turkish entrepreneurs and high-level professionals from the ICT sector in Istanbul. He had a wide-ranging discussion about the Turkish economy and promoted the UK economy and UK business in Turkey.