David Brewer, Lord Mayor of the City of London, traveled to Ankara on Friday to express British government backing for Türkiye's European Union membership process. He held talks with State Minister Ali Babacan, covering Türkiye's ongoing economic program, structural reforms, and the EU accession process.
Brewer, who represents the London financial sector, said Britain has substantial expertise in EU financial regulations and offered to share that knowledge with Türkiye. He also praised the country's economic stability program, noting that Türkiye had recorded significant market gains over the previous five years.
On recent market volatility, Brewer said the turbulence had affected many countries, not Türkiye alone, and that Türkiye had already put appropriate measures in place. He also received briefings from Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz on the state of the Turkish economy.
Brewer separately met Faik Yavuz, deputy chairman of the Turkish Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB). Yavuz noted that bilateral trade between Türkiye and Britain reached nearly 11 billion USD in 2005, and called for joint efforts to expand that figure.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in July 2006, in its own words.