Humza Yousaf defends inviting Turkish President Erdoğan to Scotland

The invite extended by Humza Yousaf to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to cause another diplomatic row

Humza Yousaf has defended inviting Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Scotland as he was accused of “overstepping the mark” in a move that has threatened another diplomatic row.

The First Minister said the invite had been extended given Turkey was a Nato ally. However, he said he would raise concerns about the president’s human rights record should the pair meet.

The details of the meeting between the pair on December 1 in Dubai during the COP28 climate summit were made public on Thursday, revealing Mr Yousaf had invited President Erdoğan to Scotland.

The First Minister met the Turkish President at the COP28 summit. Picture: Humza Yousaf/X

The revelation is likely to raise the ire of UK Government officials, with foreign secretary Lord David Cameron having previously threatened to withdraw co-operation with Scottish ministers after the Dubai meeting.

Lord Cameron last month said the meeting was a breach of protocol because there wasn’t a UK Government official present. At the time a spokesperson for the First Minister said a UK official had been invited to attend.

Speaking to journalists after First Minister’s Questions, Mr Yousaf said of the meeting with President Erdoğan: “I said ‘next time he is in the UK, why not come up to Scotland?’

“Turkey is a Nato ally. Why would we not wish to have a Nato ally here in Scotland? The UK Government regularly engages with Turkey as a Nato ally and as an important regional player.

“Why would Scotland not seek to engage with a Nato ally, and, of course, with someone we seek to do business with?”

The defence comes after the First Minister’s wife Nadia El-Nakla met the Turkish president’s wife Emine Erdoğan during a First Ladies and Spouses of Leaders’ Summit on Gaza in Turkey.

However, Mr Yousaf has pledged to raise concerns about human rights violations in Turkey if the president does come to Scotland.

The First Minister said: “Yes, I would raise human rights, as I tend to do whenever I have meetings with international leaders. But I should say we do that in a way that recognises we are on a human rights journey, as are other countries.”

The minutes of the meeting were made public after a Freedom of Information request. These minutes detailed the invitation extended to Mr Erdoğan, and notes the pair discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Mr Yousaf told the Turkish president about his in-laws’ ordeal after being trapped in Gaza when the war broke out, saying it had been a “frightening time given the lack of communication”. But he reassured Mr Erdoğan his in-laws were now “safe at home and recovering”.

The First Minister also reiterated his stance for an immediate ceasefire in the region at the meeting.

Despite this, Mr Yousaf denied claims put to him asking if the meeting had been about getting his relatives out of Gaza and allowing them to flee to Turkey.

The Dubai meeting was condemned by Kurdish-born SNP councillor Roza Salih, who said she was “disgusted” as Turkey had stepped up attacks on Kurds in Syria.

The decision to invite President Erdoğan to Scotland was also criticised by Green MSP Ross Greer, who wrote on X: “‘Why not’ invite Erdoğan to Scotland?

“Ethnic cleansing of Kurds, bombing civilians in Syria and Iraq, opposition politicians locked up on nonsense charges, [and] independent media and human rights groups shut down.

“We wouldn’t roll out the red carpet for [Russian president Vladimir] Putin or [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netenyahu.”

Earlier this week President Erdoğan vowed to expand military operations against Kurdish militant groups in neighbouring Iraq and Syria, days after an attack on a Turkish military base in Iraq which killed nine Turkish soldiers.

Turkish warplanes and drones carried out airstrikes on targets in Syria and Iraq believed to be affiliated with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, striking a total of 114 targets in five days.

Afterwards the Turkish president says he was determined to eliminate the threat from Kurdish militants “at its source” in Iraq and Syria.

Former foreign secretary James Cleverly had issued a similar threat to the one made by Lord Cameron after Mr Yousaf met Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir in August without a Foreign Office official.

The Scottish Conservatives say the First Minister must now clarify what the purpose of this meeting with the Turkish president was.

Donald Cameron MSP, the party’s external affairs spokesman, said: “The public will question if Humza Yousaf’s invitation to President Erdoğan to visit Scotland overstepped the mark, especially given his record on a number of topics.

“We already know that Scottish Government officials dithered in informing the Foreign Office about the First Minister’s meeting at COP, and now it appears he was freelancing even further.

“He should be fully up front as to why he invited a head of state to a part of the United Kingdom without Foreign Office officials present, and what purpose he intended this meeting to serve.”

The Humanist Society Scotland hit out at the invitation, with chief executive Fraser Sutherland saying: “This is a very short-sighted invite from the First Minister. Under President Erdogan, Turkey has seen a sustained attack on civil liberties and human rights.”

He added: “Erdogan is an authoritarian despot. He should not be welcomed to Bute House by this First Minister or any who follow him”.

The UK Foreign Office has been approached for comment.