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RED BOX: COMMENT

Britain must renew diplomatic ties around the world

The Times

Brexit finally gets underway this week. So now is the time for the United Kingdom to make equal haste with rejuvenating its diplomatic and trade ties in the world, beginning with Turkey.

For years the potential of the UK’s ties with Turkey has been smothered by the sweaty, asphyxiating blanket of the EU’s accession talks with Ankara. No one in their right mind, on either side of the Bosphorus, believed in earnest that Turkey would join the EU in their lifetime. But the prospect of membership was avidly promoted and kept alive for years, tethering the relationship to the rigid and clumsy structures of accession talks.

Ironically, the UK was among the great champions of Turkish accession. While this was politically astute for the UK