Turkish President Erdoğan to visit UK next week
LONDON – Agence France-Presse
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will visit the United Kingdom on May 15, meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May.
The visit comes amid campaigning ahead of snap presidential and parliamentary elections to take place on June 24, and was already scheduled before Erdoğan called the elections a year-and-a-half ahead of schedule.
“The prime minister is looking forward to welcoming President Erdoğan of Turkey to the U.K. for a visit on May 15,” May’s spokesman told reporters.
Erdoğan has drawn controversy for polarizing electioneering in Europe, where there are some three million Turks eligible to vote in Turkish elections.
The expatriate vote is generally a source of support for Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Erdoğan is due to hold a rally in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo to address expatriate Turks on May 20, after Austria and the Netherlands said they would not allow any campaigning by Turkish politicians on their soil.
EU member states including Germany, the Netherlands and Austria did not permit such rallies in the campaign ahead of last year’s controversial referendum on shifting Turkey to an executive presidential system.
