Johnson’s great-grandfather was a journalist who went into government and in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

Ankara(ANN)-Turkey has welcomed the incoming British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Turkish heritage, with politicians and media proclaiming that the “Ottoman grandson” could strengthen ties between London and Ankara, Reuters reported.

Johnson, who takes office as Britain’s next prime minister on Wednesday, is the great-grandson of the Ottoman Empire’s last interior minister, Ali Kemal.

The 55-year-old politician’s ancestry has been a source of pride for many Turks, despite his sometimes disparaging remarks about Turkey, Reuters said.

Affectionately referred to as “Boris the Turk” by some Turkish media, the new prime minister of the UK was welcomed by headlines in newspapers that include “Ottoman grandson becomes prime minister,” and “For England, a prime minister with roots in Çankırı,” in an apparent reference to Kemal’s home province in central Turkey.

Johnson’s great-grandfather was a journalist who went into government and in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. He was captured and lynched by nationalists fighting to establish the Turkish state.


Johnson was congratulated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Twitter, with reference to hopes for ties between Turkey and the United Kingdom to improve.

Johnson in 2016 won the Spectator’s “President Erdoğan offensive poetry competition” and a £1,000 prize for a crude poem about the Turkish president.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu also welcomed the new prime minister, sharing a video of Turkish reporters asking Johnson about his roots in Çankırı during a 2016 visit to the Turkish capital of Ankara.

A resident of Çankırı’s Kalfat village was quoted by Demirören News Agency as saying it was an honour that someone from their village had become prime minister, adding that Johnson owed his distinctive hair to his Turkish forefathers.

“They call his ancestors from this house ‘Blond Boys’. Boris Johnson’s blondness comes from this lineage,” Mustafa Bal told the agency.

As  a leading campaigner for Brexit in Britain’s 2016 EU referendum, Johnson wrote to then-Prime Minister David Cameron before the vote calling for the government to veto Turkey’s decades-long EU accession and stop a planned extension of visa-free travel to Turkey.

Source: ahvalnews.com