Turkish vice president holds 'positive' talks with UK deputy premier in London

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz on Tuesday met with Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and discussed a number of issues, including bilateral ties and regional developments.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Dowden, Yilmaz said that he had "positive" talks with the deputy premier and that the meeting evaluated bilateral trade and financial ties.

Referring to the free trade agreement between the two countries after Brexit, he said that they wish to deepen and enhance this agreement further.

"Negotiations continue in this regard in a positive way," the Turkish vice president said, adding they also discussed political and regional matters during the talk.

Mentioning the importance of maintaining the dialogue and high-level ties in every field, he praised the "very good" trend between the two countries in this regard.

"Our meetings and contacts at all levels continue and these talks support initiatives that will benefit both countries," noted Yilmaz.

He went on to say that Türkiye and the UK are in contact on various projects in different fields, from the defense industry to energy and aviation.

He said that he would meet with investors later on Tuesday, adding that foreign direct investment (FDI) is “very valuable.”

"At this point, we have important ties with the UK. There is already an investment of more than $13 billion in Türkiye. Turkish companies also have investments in the UK, we want to bring them to a higher level," he added.

Recalling that the two countries passed $19 billion in bilateral trade last year, Yilmaz said he hopes the number would exceed $20 billion this year.

Touching on tourism, another valuable area for the two countries, he reminded that over 3 million tourists from Britain visited Türkiye last year, saying it marks a significant increase and they expect more this year.

"We think that we will reach a further level in all these areas with high-level meetings and more dialogue between both the public and private sectors. In this sense, we had very fruitful and positive talks," the Turkish vice president said.