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ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said he had cancelled his planned attendance at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow because of a dispute over the security protocol.
Heads of state and government from around the world are attending the COP26 summit, regarded as critical to averting the most disastrous effects of climate change.
Erdogan was due to travel to Scotland after holding a crunch meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 summit. However, he told journalists that the Glasgow event organisers had failed to address his delegation’s security concerns.
“When our demands were not met, we gave up on going to Glasgow,” the Anadolu state news agency quoted Erdogan as saying. “This was not only about our own security, but also about the reputation of our country,” he added.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially said the problem had been resolved, Erdogan said. “However, 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.
Meanwhile, a report by the Middle East Eye website cites Turkish sources as saying that organisers had put a limit on the size of Erdogan’s travelling delegation.
Turkey’s parliament this year finally ratified the Paris climate agreement and Erdogan has been stressing his concern for environmental issues ahead of a general election due within the next two years.
His failure to attend comes with tensions between Turkey and its main Western allies fraying on multiple fronts. The Biden meeting almost fell through because Erdogan last month threatened to expel 10 Western ambassadors over their joint statement in support of a jailed civil society leader.
Erdogan dropped his threat after the embassies issued public statements reaffirming their commitment not to meddle in Turkey’s domestic affairs.
Relations have been further complicated by Turkey’s purchase of a Russian air defence system and US backing for a Kurdish militia in Syria that Ankara views as a terror threat.
