Erdogan to skip COP26 at the last minute, blames UK

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced he will not be attending the COP26 climate conference, after the UK failed to meet the “security protocol standards” that were requested by the Turkish government.

Speaking on Monday, Erdogan stated that he would no longer be travelling from the G20 Summit in Rome to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, after the UK informed the Turkish government “at the last minute” that it could not meet their security demands.

“There were security protocol standards that we had demanded for the United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow. These are standards in protocols that are always applied to us and all leaders in all visits. However, we were told that these will not be met at the last minute,” the Turkish president claimed.

According to Erdogan, the last straw was when Turkish officials learned the security measures that would not be implemented for his government had been “provided for another country as an exception,” accusing the UK of failing to “comply with diplomatic practices.”

The Turkish stated that the issue had initially been resolved by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but British officials informed Ankara that the Scottish government had blocked the request, resulting in the decision to pull out of the summit.

Back in October, ahead of COP26, Turkey’s parliament formally ratified the Paris Climate Accord, the last G20 country to do so. The decision to back the agreement came after years of debate between Ankara and other signatories over claims that Turkey should not be classed as a developed nation, reducing its access to climate funding.

On Wednesday, Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding that will see it receive $3.2 billion in loans to meet the climate goals laid out in the Paris Climate Accord. The funding will be provided as part of a deal backed by the World Bank, France, and Germany.

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