Erdogan: “Don’t be a wankerer all your life.”
Photograph: EPA
When Boris Johnson won a limerick competition back in May with lines that rhymed “Ankara” with “Wankerer” and implied that President Erdogan of Turkey had a soft spot for goats, he probably wasn’t bankering on making a visit to Turkey as foreign secretary within a matter of months. Nor had he allowed for the possibility of being asked to explain why he had repeatedly insisted during the referendum campaign that Turkey was seconds away from being allowed to join the EU and that its accession would be a disaster for Europe.
But Boris is a resourceful statesman and was only too happy to explain that his remarks had been misinterpreted. What he had meant to say was that Turkey was nowhere near joining the EU but the day when it did could not come soon enough. As for the limerick, Boris was proud to stand by every word. He had seen the Turkish goats and some of them were very attractive. Asked by reporters to name one good thing about Turkey, Boris was pleased to praise his Turkish washing machine. Supplied by Keith Vaz, no doubt. It makes you proud to be British.
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