Erdogan foregoes Glasgow summit over security row

President Tayyip Erdogan (file picture)

President Tayyip Erdogan cancelled plans to attend the global climate conference in Glasgow yesterday because Britain failed to meet Turkey’s demands on security arrangements, Turkish media quoted him as saying. Heads of state and government from around the world are attending the COP26 summit.  Erdogan had been expected to join them in Scotland after attending the G20 summit in Rome at the weekend, but instead landed back in Turkey shortly after midnight yesterday. Turkish media quoted him as telling reporters on his plane home that Ankara had made demands regarding security protocol standards for the summit in Britain which were not satisfied. “When our demands were not met we decided not to go to Glasgow,” Erdogan was quoted as saying. He said that the protocol standards Ankara sought were those always implemented on his international trips. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially said the problem had been resolved, Erdogan said. “But at the last moment he got back to us and said that the Scottish side was causing difficulties,” Turkish media quoted him as saying. Erdogan said he subsequently learnt that the measures Turkey had sought were granted as an exception to another country, which he did not name. He said this was unacceptable. “We are obliged to protect the dignity of our nation,” he said. A spokesperson for the British government’s COP26 office declined to comment on security matters. Scotland police said they do not comment on VIP security. A senior Turkish official earlier told Reuters that British authorities had not met Turkey’s requests over security. “The president took such a decision because our demands regarding the number of vehicles for security and some other security-related demands were not fully met,” the official said.