UPDATE 2 - Turkish, British premiers meet in London

UPDATES WITH DETAILS FROM PRIME MINISTER'S MEETING WITH BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY, OTHER EDITS

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and his British counterpart Theresa May met at Downing Street on Monday.

May hosted a Turkish delegation led by Yildirim for talks before a one-to-one meeting with the Turkish premier.

A Prime Ministry statement said the meeting focused on expressing a determination to further develop cooperation between the two countries, especially in the economic, trade and defense sectors.

The two premiers expressed satisfaction over bilateral and regional issues between Turkey and the U.K. as two friendly, allied countries. They agreed to maintain bilateral contacts and cooperation in many areas, including the fight against terrorism and also Cyprus, the statement added.

Yildirim, who is in the British capital at the invitation of May, also met British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in the afternoon.

A Turkish official statement said providing peace and stability to Syria was discussed at the meeting. Yildirim underlined that Turkey had no problem with the Kurds in Syria but has objections to terrorist groups such as the PKK/PYD, according to the statement. Yildirim and Johnson also discussed the fight against Daesh and the PKK plus Syrian refugees and the NGOs working to help them, developments in Libya, and NATO-related issues.

Johnson mentioned Turkey's positive contributions to peace and stability in the region and expressed his hope to boost cooperation in those fields as well as in the defense and technology sectors, according to the statement.

Yildirim earlier on Monday met with a group of British businesspeople in a meeting focused on new investment opportunities.

Yildirim said the visit was intended to see “how we can carry Turkey-U.K. relations further”.

“Turkey is located in a very dynamic geography,” and any investment there would also mean investing in a region with around 1.5 billion people, he added.

Yildirim and his team will be hosted at a dinner organized later by Lord Janvrin, the British prime minister’s trade envoy to Turkey.

CEOs from prominent British firms such as BP, Shell, Lloyds, Vodafone, HSBC, Rolls-Royce, and GlaxoSmithKline are expected to attend.

Yildirim is accompanied by Turkey’s EU Minister Omer Celik, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, National Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli, ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Deputy Chair Mehdi Eker, and AK Party acting parliamentary group head Mustafa Elitas.

Yildirim’s visit will end Monday evening.