Britain's May in Turkey for talks with Erdoğan
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a day after a friendly meeting in Washington with US President Donald Trump. May flew overnight to Ankara by RAF Voyager jet from the US, where she and Trump proclaimed a new chapter in the trans-Atlantic "special relationship."
The talks with Erdoğan and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim were expected to focus on boosting trade between Turkey and Britain once the UK leaves the European Union, and on increasing cooperation over security and counterterrorism.
May, who is paying her first visit to Turkey since becoming prime minister, is under pressure at home to condemn Turkey's clampdown on civil liberties since the government crushed a coup attempt in July. Turkey has detained tens of thousands of people suspected of links to a movement led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, whom the government accuses of orchestrating the failed attempt. More than 100,000 others have been dismissed from government jobs. The crackdown extended to other government opponents. More than a hundred journalists and pro-Kurdish party leaders are in jail.
