During the visit of the Prime Minister of Italy Georgia Meloni in Istanbul and after her meeting with the Turkish president, no statements were made to the press, while the modest announcement of the Turkish presidency simply stated that the Italian prime minister was received by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The main source of information for the Turkish media about Meloni’s visit is the Italian news agency ANSA and its Turkish-language service BBC. In this context it is pointed out that this is the first official contact of the Italian Prime Minister abroad since Italy assumed the presidency of the G7 at the beginning of this year.

The Turkish information website T24citing it ANSArelays that thanks to cooperation efforts, the irregular migration flow in the Italy-Turkey corridor decreased by 56% last year and that cooperation in this area will be further strengthened and in this context it was reported that the foreign ministers of the two countries plan to make an agreement soon with the Libya.

In the same publication it is also stated that in the talks, on the first trip of the Italian prime minister abroad in 2024, regional and global developments, as well as bilateral relations, cooperation and agreements in the field of trade and defense between Italy and Turkey had an important place .

T24 also refers to an Italian publication Repubblicain which it is stated that topics discussed included “enhancing cooperation in Immigrantespecially with regard to migrants from Libya, thanks for Ankara’s role in breaking the deadlock for the transportation of grain through Ukrainian ports, security in the Mediterranean, relations with European Union and Africa, bilateral trade relations, especially in the field of defence.

Erdogan’s meeting with Meloni followed bilateral talks the two leaders had on the sidelines of multilateral meetings in Bali, Vilnius, New York and Dubai.

A few twenty-four hours earlier and in view of Meloni’s visit, in his statements to the Turkish agency DHA, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani emphasized that Turkey is an important country for Italy with which “We have a historic friendship”.

Some Turkish media recalled, however, that “when President Erdogan made an official visit to Italy in 2018, Meloni had said: “Since the left-wing government does not do it, let us convey the message of the Italian people to him: No to Turkey in Europe , not to the Islamization of Europe”.