Thank you very much. And I am pleased to be here in Turkey today and to be able to meet Prime Minister Yildirim and President Erdogan just one day after meeting the new US President Donald Trump in Washington.

　　The relationship between Turkey and the UnitedKingdom has always been important, but it isarguably even more vital today.

　　For Turkey sits on the frontline of some of the mostdifficult and serious challenges we face.

　　This relationship is central to our capacity to tackle the terrorist threat to the UK. Turkeyalready does a huge amount to disrupt the threat posed to our countries by terroristsincluding foreign fighters leaving Syria.

　　And today, we have agreed to strengthen our co-operation on security through a newstrategic security partnership. This will help our two governments and security services towork even more closely together in important areas such as intelligence sharing, aviationsecurity and domestic security.

　　This partnership will help Turkey as it grapples with the threat posed by heightened terroristattacks in this country. We should never forget that in the last 18 months, over 1,500 Turkishcivilians and security personnel have been killed by terrorist attacks.

　　Crucially, it will also help to protect the 1.7 million British tourists who travel to Turkey from theUK every year.

　　It is therefore a vital new partnership for us both.

　　We have also discussed a number of other important regional security issues today including:

　　Syria, where we are working together to fight Daesh and create the conditions for peace, thechallenge of mass migration, where I pay tribute to Turkey's generosity in hosting morethan 3 million refugees from surrounding countries, and where the United Kingdom iscommitted to doing all it can to help.

　　And Cyprus, where we are both committed to playing our full part in an effort to secure anearly agreement.

　　Finally, I am delighted that we have today been able to mark the signing of a new agreementbetween TAI and the British business BAE Systems that will see the companies collaborating onthe pre-design phase of Turkey's new fighter jet, the TFX.

　　This is more than a trade deal – it is the start of a deep defence partnership that willcontribute to our overall security.

　　At the same time, we are today announcing a new and unique government-to-governmentagreement between Turkey and the United Kingdom that sets a new framework forcooperation and dialogue between our governments including the defence ministries and airforces.

　　And we have also agreed to establish a trade working group to explore ways in which we canimprove Turkish-UK trade.

　　These initiatives stand as concrete commitments to a strengthened relationship between us,which will help to ensure the continued security and prosperity of both Turkey and the UK.

　　This is the first opportunity I have had to visit Turkey since the attempted coup of 15th Julylast year. On that day, the UK was clear that we supported those who stood up for thisimportant democracy and its institutions. And we continue to hope that the values you stoodfor on that day will guide you in the months and years ahead.

　　So I would like to thank Prime Minister Yildirim for giving up his time today so that we mightdiscuss these important issues.

　　On each one, Turkey is demonstrating its determination to live up to its historic role as aregional power, and its significance as a key member of the NATO Alliance.

　　I look forward to building on the commitments we have made today in order to strengthen thecooperation between our two nations in the years ahead.

　　Thank you.