The agenda of the contacts of the two British ministers is mainly bilateral issues and issues related to the war in Ukraine, while Mr. Wallace will also discuss regional defense issues in particular.
Thanasis Gavos, London
Separate visits are made to Turkey by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom Liz Tras and the Minister of Defense Ben Wallace.
The agenda of the contacts of the two British ministers is mainly bilateral issues and issues related to the war in Ukraine, while Mr. Wallace will also discuss regional defense issues in particular.
Among them will be the cooperation of the two countries’ defense sectors, as reports from Turkey are growing about a possible shift to the purchase of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from Britain.
Such a purchase is considered to be possible if the purchase and modernization of F-16 fighter jets requested by the US and the Turkish government does not proceed.
According to a recent report, the commander of the Turkish Air Force, General Hasan Kucukayuz, visited the United Kingdom and the headquarters of the Eurofighter consortium last month, and also met with British Major General Sir Michael Wingstone. Mr Kuchukakyuz also inspected the Rapid Reaction Alarm system equipped with the British Typhoon.
A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense who spoke to SKAI did not rule out the possibility of selling the aircraft to Turkey.
“Turkey is a NATO ally and an important friend of the United Kingdom. “The UK has regular discussions with Turkey on operational capabilities, just as we have similar discussions with other allies,” he said.
A British parliamentary source familiar with Greek-Turkish also told SKAI that as NATO members Turkey and the United Kingdom could in principle discuss military co-operation.
The co-operation also includes the possible sale of weapons systems, especially after the lifting of British bans on military equipment exports to Ankara last December.
As for Eurofighters, however, the consent of other European countries is required.
Ms. Tras and Mr. Wallace are also expected to point out to their Turkish counterparts London’s full support for Sweden and Finland’s prospects for NATO membership, a prospect that Ankara has so far blocked.
It is noted that the British support for the candidacy of the two Scandinavian countries was pointed out to President Erdogan and the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the telephone communication that they had on Wednesday.
Ms. Tras already had her first meeting in Ankara late Wednesday, with Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay. As he said on Twitter, “Turkey is an important partner for the United Kingdom. “We are important European allies in NATO.” Regarding the discussion with the Turkish Vice President, Ms. Tra said that they spoke about the deepening of bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy, defense and security. “We continue to work together to support Ukraine,” he said.
During her contacts, the British Foreign Secretary is expected to emphasize the cooperation with Turkey for the opening of safe corridors for the export of grain from Odessa, an issue that was also discussed by Messrs. Johnson and Erdogan.
According to SKAI sources, the British government is oriented to ask for the assistance of Greek shipping, among other countries, if a safe sea route is decided in the Black Sea for the export of cereals. In fact, a first exploratory strike on Athens is said to have already taken place.
The British Foreign Secretary warned on Tuesday in the House of Commons that “there are weeks left to find a solution” for Ukrainian cereals, in order to avert a major global food crisis.
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