The United Kingdom and Turkey have signed a Defence Agreement to help achieve greater stability, security and prosperity in both nations, as the British Ministry of Defence announced.

The Agreement provides for a closer defence relationship between the two nations. Both sides agreed on the need to maintain support for Ukraine.

Defence Minister Grand Sapps also signed a Declaration of Intent for defence cooperation with his Turkish counterpart, Minister of National Defence, Yasar Guler.

The Agreement provides for deeper cooperation between the two countries’ defence industries, possible joint training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and the exploration of security support around North Africa and the Middle East.

Apart from discussing the need for de-escalation in the Middle East, the British Defence Minister thanked his counterpart for using Turkey’s influence as a gatekeeper to the Black Sea to allow millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grain to be exported to nations that need it most.

Furthermore, the need to commit to the collective support of the two states to Ukraine was added to the agreement.

In his first meeting with his Turkish counterpart since taking office, Defence Minister Sapps welcomed the progress made on Sweden’s NATO membership and expressed hope to see Turkish ratification by parliament as soon as possible.

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