Turkey agrees £100m defence collaboration with Britain and proposes post-Brexit trade deal – as Theresa May issues thinly-veiled warning over its human rights record
The PM is in Turkey for talks just hours after she made an historic visit to Washington to meet with new US President Donald Trump
PRIME Minister Theresa May has secured a new multi-billion pound trade deal for Brexit Britain with Turkey today - including a £100million defence collaboration to develop fighter jets - after meeting with the country's president.
Mrs May flew to Ankara this morning to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following the announcement from Downing Street that the UK and Turkey have agreed to set up a new joint working group to carry out the groundwork for a deal.
Following the talks, which took place in the Presidential Palace this morning, the UK's BAE Systems said it had signed a £100million deal with Turkey's national aerospace firm to develop a new generation of Turkish fighter jets, the British government said in a statement.
Under the deal signed in Ankara during the PM's visit, BAE Systems and state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will establish a partnership for the development of the TF-X fighter jet.
President Erdogan also said he hoped to boost annual trade with Britain to $20 billion from $15.6 billion now - with Turkey's TF-X fighter jet project being an important step between the two countries.
During the visit, the UK-based BAE Systems and Turkish Aerospace Industries signed a Heads of Agreement document establishing a partnership for the continued development of the Turkish Fighter Programme (TF-X).
British officials said the contract would safeguard high-skill jobs at BAE Systems and could lead to opportunities worth billions of pounds over the lifetime of the project, with potential future contracts to provide engines, weapons, radars and sensors.
It was hoped the deal would pave the way for a deeper defence partnership, effectively making the UK Turkey's partner of choice for key aerospace technology.
Mrs May, who has made preparations for closer post-Brexit trading links her top priority for the Turkey trip, said: "This agreement underlines once again that Britain is a great, global, trading nation and that we are open for business.
"It marks the start of a new and deeper trading relationship with Turkey and will potentially secure British and Turkish jobs and prosperity for decades to come."
BAE Systems chief executive Ian King added: "The announcement signals an exciting next step in relations between both Turkey and the UK with the co-operation between BAE Systems and TAI paving the way for a deeper defence partnership.
"The agreement confirms ongoing collaborative work on the design and development of the aircraft."
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The PM agreed to set up a working group with President Erdogan on her first visit to Ankara since taking power.
"We have agreed that we will have a joint working group to prepare the ground for our post-Brexit trading relationship," May said following talks with the President.
That will authorise officials to start mapping out how a deal would work once the UK leaves the EU.
It is be the 13th working group ministers have set up with other countries since June’s referendum. The leaders also discussed co-operation over security, as well as fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.
Number 10 said Mrs May was keen to take advantage of the opportunities for increased trade with Turkey that will become available after Britain's exit from the EU.
During her one-day visit, Mrs May held talks with the country's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and PM Binali Yildirim.
May, who on Friday became the first foreign leader to meet new U.S. President Donald Trump, is pushing to expand Britain's trade relations with countries outside the European Union in preparation for its exit from the bloc in about two years' time.
Her arrival, straight from her White House meeting with US president Donald Trump, comes at a tense moment, with Turkey threatening to tear up a migration agreement with EU member Greece because of a row over its refusal to extradite troops allegedly involved in last year's botched coup.
The PM was under pressure to confront Mr Erdogan over human rights, following his crackdown on dissent in the wake of the coup, which has seen a wave of arrests, the closure of numerous media outlets and the removal of thousands of public officials - including judges, academics and teachers - from their jobs.
After meeting the President at the palace today, Mrs May said it is important for Turkey to maintain human rights and the rule of law following the failed coup attempt last year.
In a statement to reporters after the talks in the presidential palace, and as Erdogan looked on, May said she was "proud" that Britain had stood by Turkey in defence of its democracy during the July 15 abortive putsch.
"Now it is important that Turkey sustains this democracy by maintaining the rule of law and upholding its human rights obligations," she said.
Mrs May told the president that Britain stood with his defence of Turkey's democracy, but warned him it was "important" for him to uphold human rightnews.
Speaking to Mr Erdogan as they addressed the press at his presidential palace, Mrs May said: "Turkey is one of the UK's oldest friends, our relations stretch back over 400 years but there is much that we can do in the future to bulid on that relationship together."
More than 100,000 people have been sacked or suspended following the failed coup and some 40,000 jailed pending trial.
The scope of the crackdown has worried rights groups and some of Turkey's Western allies. Turkey says the moves are necessary to root out supporters of the attempted putsch.
Amnesty International said the human rights situation has "deteriorated markedly" during the state of emergency imposed by Mr Erdogan.
The organisation's UK director Kate Allen said the visit was a "vital opportunity" for Mrs May to ask "probing questions" about allegations of excessive use of force and ill-treatment in detention.
She said: “This visit is a vital opportunity for Theresa May to ask some probing questions over Turkey’s human rights crackdown following last year’s bloody coup attempt.
“Human rights abuses during the attempted coup absolutely must be investigated and their perpetrators brought to justice, but this can’t be done at the expense of fundamental rights.
“We’ve gathered disturbing evidence of widespread torture in the immediate aftermath of the would-be coup, and the rights of detainees have also been severely curtailed in a series of executive decrees.
“More than 40,000 people have been remanded in pre-trial detention since the coup attempt, and more than 90,000 civil servants have been summarily suspended or dismissed from their jobs.
“More than 100 journalists and media workers have been imprisoned - some for months - in punitive lengthy pre-trial detention, and hundreds of media outlets have been shut down as part of a massive crackdown on freedom of expression.
“Mrs May should call for journalists held in pre-trial detention in Turkey to be released, for an end to torture in detention and for due process and the rule of law in Turkey to prevail.”
Downing Street was unable to confirm whether human rights would be raised during the talks, though aides did not rule it out.
"The Prime Minister's approach is quite clear - she thinks it's important, and in the UK's national interest, to engage with Turkey on a range of issues, from defence and security co-operation to capitalising on trade opportunities," said a Number 10 source.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: "As Theresa May seeks trade deals with ever more unsavoury leaders, she ignores the simple point that the most successful countries around the world respect human rights - economies flourish in free societies.
"There are tens of thousands of people in Turkish jails without fair trial who in many cases have committed no crime, other than daring to disagree with President Erdogan. Theresa May should address this as a priority in her meeting today.
"Yes, the Prime Minister should seek to promote British trade, but at this time her priority should be to secure a long-term trade deal with our European neighbours by fighting to stay in the single market."
Mrs May arrived for her talks with Mr Erdogan to find her own image dominating television screens in the presidential palace, which were showing footage of her visit to the White House on Friday.
As she sat down to begin talks, the Turkish president pointed out the footage playing on a huge TV screen. "It was well covered in Turkey," an aide to the president explained, as Mrs May laughed in surprise.
Mr Erdogan asked how the weather in Ankara - currently under a light coating of snow - compared to Washington. "Here is colder," she replied.
Before meeting the president, Mrs May paid her respects at the tomb of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.
Dressed in sombre black, the PM bowed her head in respect after laying a large red and white wreath - the colours of Turkey's flag - before Ataturk's sarcophagus inside the imposing mausoleum building which perches on a hill in the centre of Ankara.
Mrs May then signed her name in the visitors' book, beneath the message: "It is a great honour to visit this special place of remembrance to the founding father of modern Turkey.
"Let us together renew our efforts to fulfil Ataturk's vision of peace at home and peace in the world."
"We have already expressed our strong support for Turkey's democracy and institutions following the coup - but we have also been clear that we urge Turkey to ensure that their response is proportionate, justified and in line with international human rights obligations."
Number 10 said Theresa May was keen to take advantage of the opportunities for increased trade with Turkey that will become available after Britain's exit from the EU.
Already, working groups have been set up with around a dozen countries around the globe to pave the way for free trade agreements, though formal negotiations cannot take place until the UK has left the EU.
The PM also wants to discuss increased security co-operation particularly in the areas of aviation security and counter-terrorism. She and Mr Erdogan are expected to agree to closer collaboration through a strategic security partnership.
The British Prime Minister was guest of honour at the White House on Friday as she became the first foreign leader to visit President Trump since he took office last week.
Speaking to the world’s media the leaders spoke of renewing the “very special bond” between the UK and the US after what Mrs May describes as Trump’s “stunning election victory”.
And symbolising this “special bond” was the moment that Trump broke protocol and held Theresa May’s hand as they walked through the White House.
Trump was seen snatching for the PM’s paw before ushering her through a set of doors.
Later Trump told reporters that he and Mrs May were going to have “a fantastic relationship” and vowed to help make Brexit a “fantastic thing for the United Kingdom”.
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