Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was skipping the UN Climate Change Conference in Scotland due to a dispute about security arrangements.

Erdogan, following the G20 summit in Rome at the weekend, had been expected to join other world leaders in flying to Glasgow for the climate conference's first day on Monday.

But the president told reporters travelling with him on his plane late on Sunday that plans had changed and he was going home because Turkey's security protocols "were not met," according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

He said the British side had only informed Turkey "at the last minute."

"This is a matter that concerns not only our own security, but also the reputation of our country," Erdogan said, without elaborating on what demands had gone unmet.

He went on to accuse the host country of approving security requests for other world leaders, but not him.

"This was also not in line with diplomatic practice. We could not accept that," he said.

Erdogan joins Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in the ranks of leaders who have chosen not attend the conference in person.

dpa