Gelisim News

Assist. Prof. Dr. Alihan Limoncuoğlu from Istanbul Gelisim University Political Science and International Relations analysed how Boris Johnson’s appointment to the country's new Prime Minister will affect Europe, how the Brexit process will work from now and how the relations between Turkey and the United Kingdom will be.

Stating that Boris Johnson who is the leader of Conservative Party brings a new and more modern look to the right wing of the country, Assist. Prof. Dr. Alihan Limoncuoğlu said: “We had the opportunity to examine Boris Johnson closely as he became the leader of the Conservative Party. Frankly, he was the favorite candidate from the very beginning. He became a very popular name especially during the mayor of London. He is the one of the representatives of the new generation of the British right. Later, we see that he is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and now he is the Prime Minister, and as a result of all these events, we can easily say this: The ‘right’ in the UK has a new and more modern look now. Even though the name of the Conservative Party is ‘conservative’, it seems to have taken a new path.”

Stating that the Brexit process, which came to a deadlock in the Theresa May period, will result faster in the Johnson period, Alihan Limoncuoğlu said: “In the process, Theresa May followed the middle­of-the-road approach, but could not succeed. In fact, she angered the parties who wanted to leave and stay from the European Union at the same time. She had a very unsuccessful period as prime minister. Boris Johnson is a tough guy. There is support from both the public and the party to get out of the United Kingdom from the European Union. But for this, the party would not vote him as chairperson. Although there is a such intense media pressure over people, half of the country still wants to leave the European Union.”

Johnson who is called as “Ottoman Grandchild” in Turkey is the son of Stanley Johnson who is the grandson of the last Minister for Internal Affairs of Ottoman Empire Ali Kemal who was killed. Stating that this situation will not affect the diplomacy between Turkey and the UK so much, Limoncuoğlu said:

“Not only in terms of the European Union, but the processes in Turkey and the Middle East will have some differences. In particular, we can see that he will take a pro-Israel policy on the Israel - Palestinian issue. We can see this both from his time of the foreign ministry and from his statements. Besides this, what is interested to us is the show side is that he is the grandson of  the famous Ali Kemal… In fact, except for cultural and show part, I do not think that it will not affect the UK’s diplomacy with Turkey so much. He is a politician who sides for  the relations between Turkey and the UK to keep good but he resists acception of Turkey to the EU. In this respect, his political approach resembles the President of the United States Donald Trump. I think that this will accelerate the processes between the United Kingdom and the United States.”