British foreign secretary visits Türkiye, discusses ‘deepening cooperation’

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss hailed relations between her country and Türkiye during a meeting with Vice President Fuat Oktay in the Turkish capital Ankara.

“Türkiye is an important partner for the UK. We are key European NATO allies,” Truss wrote on Twitter following the meeting.

“I met Vice President @fuatoktay in Ankara & talked about the UK & Türkiye deepening our cooperation in areas including energy, defence and security,” Truss added, sharing a photo from the meeting.

“We continue to work together to support Ukraine,” she said.

READ MORE: Türkiye's Erdogan discusses Ukraine conflict with British, Estonian PMs

UK defence minister will be in Ankara

Truss visited Türkiye a day before the UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace's visit to Türkiye.

Wallace is scheduled to be in Ankara on Thursday at the invitation of Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar.

Wallace will be welcomed with a military ceremony at the Turkish National Defence Ministry.

Akar and Wallace will have a tete-a-tete meeting as well as delegation-level talks.

Bilateral and regional defense security as well as cooperation in the defence industry is expected to be discussed during the meetings along with the developments in Ukraine.

On June 15, Akar and Wallace met in Brussels as part of the NATO Defense Ministers Meeting, and a tripartite meeting was held with the participation of Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

READ MORE: Türkiye, UK, Italy vow support on Ukraine's territorial integrity

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the solution for the export of grain from Ukraine in a phone call, according to Türkiye's Communications Directorate.

Tons of Ukrainian grain remain stuck because of the military conflict, causing global shortages and price hikes. Russia, which is accused of using food as a weapon, has maintained that Western sanctions are to blame for food shortages.

Erdogan told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday that Türkiye maintains joint efforts to ensure the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, which would be "effective in terms of averting a global food crisis."