Humza Yousaf criticizes UK foreign minister over “Erdogan COP28 meeting threat”

• Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, criticized British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
• He called him “petty” and “misguided” for threatening to withdraw foreign office support for Scottish ministers during overseas trips.
• Yousaf is the first Muslim leader of Scotland and head of the Scottish National Party.

Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, criticized British Foreign Secretary David Cameron. He called him “petty” and “misguided” for threatening to withdraw foreign office support for Scottish ministers during overseas trips. Cameron accused Yousaf of breaching protocol by meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a recent conference.

The Scottish parliament’s constitution secretary, Cameron claimed Yousaf didn’t provide sufficient advance notice of the meeting. The former prime minister threatened to close Scottish offices in UK embassies and withdraw foreign office support.

Yousaf explained that the meeting with Erdogan was arranged at short notice by a Turkish delegation. Additionally, he would have welcomed a British government official’s presence.

He emphasized that any withdrawal of support from the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) would negatively impact Scotland’s economy.

Yousaf noted that an FCDO official had chosen not to stay with the Scottish delegation for the entire day. Despite a UK government representative being present in the majority of COP28 meetings.

“Nothing was discussed that hadn’t been discussed at other meetings, such as the climate crisis, and in this particular meeting the issue of the Israel-Gaza conflict,” Yousaf said.

He added “For Lord Cameron to say he’s going to stop Scotland’s international engagement because of one meeting, where one FCDO official wasn’t able to attend — because, of course, at events like COP, diaries can change quite last minute — is petty, really misguided.”

Furthermore “I suggest to Lord Cameron that next time, if he has an issue like that, he should just pick up the phone. I’m sure it can be resolved.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “Foreign affairs is reserved under the Scotland Act and, in such turbulent times, the need for the UK to speak on the world stage with one consistent voice is more important than ever.”

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