British trade minister has said that they see Turkey as an strategic country and added, "We are the biggest support of Turkey's EU accession." Speaking at the 3rd Turkish-British Business Forum which took start on Friday in Istanbul, British Trade Minister Lord Stephen Green said that when assessing Turkey from a trade point of view, there is a big strategic partnership opportunity comes out. He noted that when British companies come over to Turkey, they get surprised with the high number of opportunities. Lord Green underlined that they see Turkey as an strategic country and added, "We are the biggest support of Turkey's EU accession. When Turkey becomes a full member, it will benefit to EU more.

Turkish parliament on approved a constitutional amendment to hold local elections six months earlier than scheduled. The amendment was approved by 360 votes, just seven votes shy of a two-thirds majority needed to override a referendum. The amendment will be put to a referendum in sixty days if the Turkish president does not return it back to the parliament for a second debate. Local elections were orginally scheduled for March 2014.

U.S. spokesperson said United States strongly supported Turkey's decision to inspect a Syrian-bound plane. Replying to question on the U.S.'s stance regarding grounding of the Syrian plane at a daily press briefing, spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that transfer of any military equipment to the Syrian regime at this time was very concerning. "We look forward to hearing more from the Turkish side when they get to the bottom of what they found," she said. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that a Syrian plane intercepted by Turkey on its way from Moscow to Damascus was carrying ammunition to Syria.