Erdogan and Burnham to meet for first time at UN General Assembly in New York
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet the UK's new prime minister, Andy Burnham, in New York on Tuesday, on the first day of the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) debate.
According to Erdogan's tentative schedule, it will mark their first meeting since Burnham took office in July, and comes just weeks after the UK announced sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and accused Israel's government of turning a blind eye to the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians by settlers.
Officials have described relations between the two countries as "excellent" following Ankara's decision last year to purchase Eurofighter Typhoon jets in a multibillion-dollar deal.
The two countries signed a Strategic Partnership Framework in April aimed at "strengthening dialogue and cooperation between the two countries as Nato allies and strategic partners."
This was followed in July by a security and defence partnership agreement signed on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Ankara.
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The agreement committed both countries to supporting each other on all defence matters, including cooperation between their defence industries, counterterrorism, hybrid threats and cybersecurity, according to a Turkish official who spoke to Middle East Eye at the time.
Erdogan landed in New York on Sunday and is expected to meet the chairman of Libya's Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Menfi, on Monday, as well as Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled.
On Tuesday, he is scheduled to hold his first bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi since she took office.
On Wednesday, he will meet Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and, separately, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Zayid.
Sources familiar with the plans say further meetings with heads of state could be added to Erdogan’s schedule, including a possible pull-aside meeting with US President Donald Trump.
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