British PM May visits Turkey, reaches $125M fighter-jet deal

Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey

Turkey and Britain signed a deal to jointly build fighter jets during Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to Ankara on Saturday, even as the British leader called on Turkey’s government to uphold democracy and abide by human rights standards.

Britain’s BAE Systems and Turkish Aerospace industries signed the nearly $125.5 million agreement establishing a partnership for the development of Turkey’s fighter-jet program after May met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials about boosting trade between the countries once Britain leaves the European Union.

The two countries agreed to start preparatory work for a future free-trade agreement and also talked about increasing cooperation in security and counterterrorism.

“This agreement underlines once again that Britain is a great, global, trading nation and that we are open for business,” May said of the fighter-jet deal, according to a statement. “It marks the start of a new and deeper trading relationship with Turkey and will potentially secure British and Turkish jobs and prosperity for decades to come.”

May flew overnight to Ankara by RAF Voyager jet from the U.S., where she and U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday proclaimed a new chapter in the trans-Atlantic “special relationship.”

The visit to Turkey, an important but complicated NATO ally, came amid 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 U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the government accuses of orchestrating the failed coup 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.

During a joint news conference with May, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim strongly criticized Trump’s move to suspend the admission of refugees, saying “you cannot settle this issue by building walls.”

Yildirim also complained of insufficient backing for Turkish efforts to support the refugees.