Theresa May's tricky Turkish diplomacy dilemma

Turkey’s President Erdogan is in London this week, having tea with the Queen and praising Britain as a ‘real friend’. As Robert Ellis says in his Coffee House piece about the way the Turkish regime is becoming increasingly brutal and censorious, a clear benefit for Britain in this friendship is post-Brexit trade with the Turks. But campaigners are asking at what cost this comes, given the human rights abuses of the current regime, and want Theresa May to condemn the practices of the Erdogan government.

This presents a tricky dilemma for the Prime Minister. Turkish political culture – and that of many of the Islamic countries that Britain has strong diplomatic ties with – does not respond well to public shaming. Conversely, British political culture is charged with retweets and demands an instant public condemnation, whether or not this has any long-term benefit at all.