Boris Johnson went to Turkey and started praising washing machines

On his first visit as foreign minister to Ankara, the capial of Turkey, Boris Johnson tried to build bridges in his usual style.

Speaking at a news conference alongside the Turkish EU affairs minister, Ömer Çelik, Johnson praised the nation for his "beautiful, very well-functioning Turkish washing machine".

The foreign secretary, who won a competition earlier this year for an offensive poem about the head of the Turkish state, said that the relationship between the two countries is crucial even after the UK's exit from the EU.

We are lucky in the United Kingdom to be one of the biggest recipients of Turkish goods.

I am certainly the proud possessor of a beautiful, very well-functioning Turkish washing machine.

Johnson wrote the winning entry to a compettion on offensive poetry about Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The poem, published by the Spectator in reaction to Turkey's suppression of free speech, included a line about the president having sex with a goat and referred to him as a "wankerer". Johnson will be meeting Erdoğan on Tuesday...

This isn't the first time that Johnson will have back-tracked on this trip. During the Brexit campaign, Johnson argued against Turkey joining the EU, yet on Monday he said the UK "will help Turkey in any way".