Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will make an official visit to London this week for talks on the wars in Iran and Ukraine, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Wednesday, adding that he will also discuss cooperation between the NATO allies.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Reuters/Umit Bektas
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will make an official visit to London this week for talks on the wars in Iran and Ukraine, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Wednesday, adding that he will also discuss cooperation between the NATO allies.
Turkey, which neighbours Iran and is in close contact with Tehran, Washington, and mediator Pakistan, hosted a diplomacy forum at the weekend attended by delegations from all sides. It has repeatedly called for an end to the conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier that he would indefinitely extend the ceasefire with Iran to allow for further peace talks.
Fidan's visit comes as the British government said military planners from more than 30 countries would hold two-day talks in London from Wednesday to advance a mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
More than a dozen countries said last week they were willing to join an international mission, led by Britain and France, to protect shipping in the strait when conditions permit. Fidan has warned of difficulties with such a mission.
During his two-day visit, Fidan will also repeat Turkey's readiness to contribute to efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the source said, after Kyiv said on Wednesday it had asked Turkey to host a leaders' level meeting with Russia.
He will also convey Ankara's request to finalise a free trade agreement with Britain and emphasise the importance of deepening defence industry and energy cooperation between the allies, the source added.
Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu
Ankara rejected on Wednesday what it called the "prejudiced and unfair" stance of the European Union towards fundamental rights and the judiciary in Turkey, and regarding Cyprus, contained in the bloc's report on EU membership candidates.
Turkey's parliament is set on Wednesday to ratify a defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that includes a collective defence clause, committing NATO's second-largest army to Riyadh's defence as it faces attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis.
Hezbollah on Wednesday rejected accusations that it had dispatched experts to Yemen to fight alongside the Houthis in their war against the internationally recognised government and Saudi Arabia.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.