Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not travel to Glasgow on Monday as planned for the COP26 climate summit. However, state media report that the head of government has returned to Turkey from Rome, where he attended the G20 summit last weekend.
State news agency Anadolu and other media do not report why Erdogan is cancelling his visit to the climate conference. However, two Turkish officials told Reuters news agency that it is for security reasons. The British authorities allegedly failed to comply with Turkish demands.
The Turkish parliament ratified the 2015 Paris climate agreement nearly a month ago after other G20 countries had already done so. Turkey took longer because, according to Ankara, the country should not be seen as a developed country and has limited access to money for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Erdogan would not only attend the climate summit in Glasgow but also meet his American counterpart Joe Biden. That meeting already took place in Rome on Sunday. After a series of conflicts worsened relations between the United States and Turkey, Erdogan and Biden agreed to strengthen ties between the countries.