Meloni-Erdogan Summit: behind the scenes of the meeting between wheat, migrants, Libya and Gaza
And thanks for Ankara’s mediation to revive the agreement on grain exports between Moscow and Kiev through a safe corridor in the Black Sea after Russia’s step back, the promise to “strengthen” cooperation on migration matters, and the announcement of a short-term agreement between Rome and Ankara for the management of flows from Libya. These, Italian sources said, were the key themes of the meeting between Giorgia Meloni and Turkish President Recep Tayyp Erdogan in Istanbul. The face-to-face meeting, Meloni’s first bilateral visit to Turkey after several meetings between the two leaders on the sidelines of international events, lasted about two hours at Vahdettin Palace, the Turkish president’s Istanbul residence. The bilateral agreement was an opportunity “to strengthen the relationship between two partner countries, friends and allies”, the same sources said.
On the other handalready before last night Recep Erdogan and Giorgia Meloni had had five bilaterals, recalls Corriere della Sera, “on the sidelines of as many international summits, in which they met, “smelled” each other, said with great transparency everything that was negative they had to say about each other, and in the end this frankness resulted in a relationship of respect and in some way even friendship. If it hadn’t been like this Erdogan would not have had the pleasure of inviting the Prime Minister to dinner, if it hadn’t been like this perhaps they wouldn’t have been face to face, like last night, alone, without staff, for almost an hour.”
Meloni, arrived in the city on the Bosphorus in the late morning and that she took a walk in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul before the face-to-face meeting with Erdogan, he “expressed great appreciation for Ankara’s constant diplomatic mediation efforts” on the war in Ukraine, “with particular reference to the reactivation of the ‘Black Sea Grain Initiative’ to unblock the shipment of grain from the ports Ukrainians” after Russia did not renew the agreement last July. The meeting also “allowed a discussion on major global issues” in view of “the Italian presidency of the G7 with particular reference to the war in Gaza and the Russian invasion of Ukraine”, Palazzo Chigi said.
Key theme is the management of migratory flows: Rome underlines that “last year’s collaboration led to a 56% reduction in irregular flows along the Italy-Turkey corridor”, and announces “increasingly close cooperation in this area also in relation to Libya where the respective Foreign Ministries intend to conclude an agreement soon.” The two Leaders discussed the security and development of the Mediterranean with a “particular focus” on Libya, as well as the future of Africa also in view of the next Rome Summit.
Among the many points of agreement, the issue of the Middle East is the most delicate. Corriere della Sera writes: “You cannot argue that Hezbollah is not a terrorist movement, you who know the phenomenon so well, and I cannot agree with you, it is one of the arguments that the Prime Minister also conveyed last night, on a very outspoken (i.e. frank) level, always borrowing a metaphor of diplomacy, and he replied that she does not may not see or recognize that Israel also defends its rights with actions or operations that the United Nations itself defines as criminal.”
The Prime Minister and the Turkish President also took stock of bilateral relations in all its dimensions: political and defence, economic and culturaland the various economic opportunities for Italian companies were reviewed, including Leonardo. “The state of economic relations is excellent, with trade that has exceeded 25 billion euros and is approaching the objective shared by governments of at least 30 billion in trade by 2030”. Finally, “the various economic opportunities for Italian companies including Leonardo were reviewed as well as the possibility of organizing the Italy-Turkey joint economic and commercial commission together with a business forum as soon as possible”.
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