Turkey's new ambassador to UK hails bilateral ties

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - Turkey and the U.K. cooperate in various corners of the world for peace and security and act in full cooperation in organizations they are the members of, Turkey’s newly-appointed Ambassador to London Umit Yalcin said on Tuesday.

Yalcin, who has commenced his new post on Oct. 1, expressed his pride and pleasure for taking the ambassadorial post in the U.K.

Underlining that the Turkey-UK relations have a history of 500 years, Yalcin said one of the earliest ambassadors of the Ottoman State was sent to London.

Yalcin stressed that the two countries have been in strategic partnership since 2007 and bilateral relations have accelerated in this respect.

He noted the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and the U.K. has reached $16.2 billion and that the U.K. has become the second largest export market for Turkey.

Yalcin added British companies hold the fourth place in investments in Turkey with investments around more than $10 billion.

He said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official visit to the U.K. this year and Turkish and British premiers’ bilateral visits were the proof of high-level relations between the two countries.

Yalcin was appointed as the new Turkish ambassador to the U.K. in September, succeeding Abdurrahman Bilgic.