Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly at the ministry. A joint press conference was organised after the meeting. Stating that the United Kingdom is one of Turkey's leading partners in Europe, Minister Fidan said: "We are two important NATO allies at two different ends of Europe. We are also two important European actors outside the European Union that can have a global impact. In our meetings, we exchanged comprehensive views on our bilateral relations. Our bilateral relations, which we have defined as strategic partners since 2007, have been deepening and developing."

'WE HAVE REACHED OUR TARGET OF 20 BILLION DOLLARS TRADE VOLUME WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM'

Stating that they had conveyed to Minister Cleverly their wish for the 8th meeting of the Sweet Language Forum, an organisation established in 2011 to strengthen bilateral relations between Turkey and the United Kingdom, to be held in Turkey, Fidan said that they would like to host the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, in Turkey on this occasion.

Fidan said, "The United Kingdom is an important trade partner ranking 4th in our exports. As of last year, we have reached our trade volume target of 20 billion dollars. We will organise the 7th meeting of the Economic and Trade Committee in our country. We are about to complete our preliminary preparations to expand the scope of the free trade agreement between us. We aim to finalise it quickly by starting negotiations, "he said.

Stating that there is a productive cooperation with the United Kingdom in the field of tourism, Fidan said that the United Kingdom is the third country that sends the most tourists to Turkey. Fidan said, "Defence industry is another area of cooperation that we attach importance to. We agreed to move forward through concrete projects."