HUMZA YOUSAF has defended inviting “authoritarian despot” Recep Erdogan to Scotland as a meeting with a “Nato ally.”

The Scottish First Minister invited the Turkish president to Scotland during what he described as a “warm and friendly” meeting at the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai last year.

The meeting had already proven controversial after Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron wrote to the First Minister to warn of repercussions of meeting foreign leaders without Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials present.