Turkey and UK to sign new defence partnership deal

Turkey and the UK are expected to sign a security and defence partnership deal on Wednesday, the latest development in the growing partnership between the two countries.

The deal will commit both countries to closer cooperation on defence, multiple sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye.

According to the sources, the document mandates both countries to support each on every matter on defence, including cooperation on their respective defence industries, counterterrorism, hybrid threats, and cybersecurity.

Officials have told Middle East Eye that the deal will be "comprehensive" without going to details about the extent of mutual defence agreements.

The deal is expected to be signed during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer tomorrow.

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Nato leaders including US President Donald Trump are meeting in Ankara for the alliance's annual summit.

One person familiar with the document said the deal is in the same spirit as the 2021 bilateral defence agreement between France and Greece.

That agreement included a mutual defence clause. However, the sources declined to say whether the Turkey-UK document contains a similar clause.

Ankara and Downing Street are not expected to release the text of the document, underscoring the sensitivity of its provisions, the sources said.

Turkey and the UK signed a Strategic Partnership Framework in April aimed at “strengthening dialogue and cooperation between the two countries as NATO allies and strategic partners”.

Relations between Turkey and the UK have strengthened following Ankara’s decision last July to purchase Eurofighter Typhoon jets in a multibillion-dollar deal.

middleeasteye.net