[ad_1]
Ms Yousaf met Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Cop28 in Dubai earlier this month, saying the pair had discussed the climate crisis and the “humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.
The First Minister did so without an official from the Foreign Office being present.
Mr Yousaf also advocated a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaze, which is not the UK Government position, and which appears to have concerned London.
A Scottish Government source said a last minute change, of a kind very common at a Cop conference, was to blame rather than a calculated snub.
READ MORE: Police ‘check £95K car bought by Peter Murrell’ in SNP cash probe
However the BBC said it had seen a letter which Lord Cameron, who returned to the cabinet as foreign secretary last month, had written to Mr Robertson complaining about the matter.
Lord Cameron said the Scottish Government had assured the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) that it would give “sufficient advance notice” of the meeting.
He said this was to allow one of his officials to attend the meeting but this “was not done”.
He went on: “The absence of an FCDO official at this meeting contravenes the protocols in our guidance on FCDO support to devolved government ministers’ overseas visits.
“Any further breaches of the protocol [that] ministerial meetings have a FCDO official present will result in no further FCDO facilitation of meetings or logistical support.
“We will also need to consider the presence of Scottish government offices in UK government posts.”
As well as discussing the urgency of global action on tackling the climate crisis, I spoke to @RTErdogan & Lebanon PM @Najib_Mikati about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
An immediate & permanent ceasefire is needed now.
Too many innocent children have died, it must stop. pic.twitter.com/tDvs8X4tyJ
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) December 1, 2023
The BBC quoted a UK Government source saying Lord Cameron, who won the 2014 independence referendum before quitting after losing the Brexit vote, wanted to take a “harder line” approach than his predecessor at the FCDO James Cleverly.
Mr Cleverly made a similar threat after Mr Yousaf met the Icelandic PM in August, again without UK diplomats present.
A UK government source said Lord Cameron’s letter was an “escalation” over the issue.
Although the Scottish Government did inform the FCDO of the location of the meeting, this was not done “until it was too late”, leading to a move that “undermined UK foreign policy”.
The source said the relevant FCDO guidance, which dates from April,, made clear that the UK government would expect an official to be present.
Mr Yousaf has already been criticised from within his own party over the meeting.
READ MORE: SNP hit back at ‘pontificating’ UK education secretary in schools row
The Kurdish-born Glasgow SNP councillor Roza Salih said she was “disgusted” by the Yousaf-Erdogan meeting, as Turkey had stepped up attacks on Kurdish groups in Syria.
Addressing Mr Yousaf on Twitter/X, she wrote: “Our politicians & half of the population are imprisoned by him and you shake his hand. I did not expect this from a FM that says he respects human rights.”
In response to Cllr Salih’s criticism, Mr Yousaf said he would not stop meeting world leaders.
[ad_2]
