Boris Johnson is the great-grandson of the Ottoman Empire’s last interior minister, Ali Kemal, and Turks weren’t about to let that fact fall by the wayside as on July 24 he became British prime minister.

Politicians and media described Johnson as an “Ottoman grandson” and pondered how his Turkish heritage could strengthen ties between Turkey—a country that is making no progress right now with its long-held ambition to get into the European Union—and the UK—a country that under Johnson is supposedly heading for the EU exit in a hurry.

Some Turkish media affectionately refer to Johnson as “Boris the Turk”.

“Ottoman grandson becomes prime minister,” read a front-page headline of opposition newspaper Sozcu. “For England, a prime minister with roots in Cankiri,” it said, making a reference to Kemal’s home province in central Turkey.

Like former London mayor Johnson, Kemal was a journalist who went into politics and then government. However, Johnson won’t want to emulate Kemal’s tragic end. In the final days of the Ottoman Empire, Kemal was lynched by nationalists fighting to establish the Turkish state.

In congratulating Johnson on his appointment as PM, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu shared a video of Turkish reporters asking Johnson about his roots in Cankiri during a 2016 visit to Ankara.

Reuters reported that Demiroren News Agency quoted a resident of Cankiri’s Kalfat village as saying it was an honour that someone from their village had become UK prime minister, adding that Johnson owed his distinctive mop of blond hair to his Turkish forefathers.

“They call his ancestors from this house ‘Blond Boys’. Boris Johnson’s blondness comes from this lineage,” Mustafa Bal was cited as saying.

In building relations with Turkey, Johnson won’t want reminding of a controversy three years ago when he won first prize in a UK magazine competition. It asked readers to compose filthy limericks about Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Johnson came up with: “There was a young fellow from Ankara, Who was a terrific wankerer. Till he sowed his wild oats, With the help of a goat, But he didn’t even stop to thankera.”

He later said the Turkish leader had not brought up the verse when they met.