The Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications announced that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Türkiye on Monday.
Directorate Chair Burhanettin Duran said in a social media post on Sunday that Starmer was formally invited by Erdoğan and will meet him in Ankara.
Duran said talks between Starmer and Erdoğan would include discussions on Turkish-U.K. relations based on a close alliance and “on a strategic level,” and the two leaders would also discuss current regional and international developments.
This is Starmer’s first official visit to Türkiye, and some media outlets reported that Türkiye and the U.K. would finalize a deal for the acquisition of Eurofighter Typhoon jets. The U.K. is a key member of the consortium producing the fighter jets.
Ankara had announced its interest in acquiring 40 Eurofighter Typhoon jets in late 2023.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multirole aircraft jointly produced by European giants, Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.
The Eurofighter procurement, initially slowed by German objections, is set to be completed as part of a multifaceted agreement that includes newly manufactured aircraft alongside transfers from Qatar and Oman's inventories, according to media reports.
Starmer and Erdoğan last met in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month, on the sidelines of a summit for a cease-fire in Gaza. The last high-ranking U.K. official to visit Türkiye was Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who met his counterpart, Hakan Fidan, on June 30.
