Istanbul mayor seeks to bond with investors on London charm offensive

Turkey's relationship with Western allies has soured over a raft of issues in recent months. They widely condemned Ankara's military push into Syria, while Turkey's purchase of a Russian missile defence system raised hackles with its NATO partners, and could trigger sanctions from Washington - potentially hammering its already fragile economy.

"I believe Istanbul is one of the least risky cities in the world. First of all, we are here to ease any problematic perspectives that will form in peoples' minds given some current questions."

"There are very high level problems with the way the world is looking at this process. Especially, the countries that are affecting the situation in Syria the most were pursuing strategies based on their own interests and I believe that keeps Syrian refugees outside the discussion'', the mayor of Istanbul said.

"These people should absolutely return to their homeland and at the end of the day the conditions for them to form their own lives should be ensured."

Imamoglu was elected Istanbul's mayor in June after a re-run vote that shocked Erdogan and his ruling AK Party, which with its predecessors had run Turkey's largest city for decades.