Immigration, energy and security at the Melon-Erdogan-Dbampa meeting in Istanbul with the Turkish press underlining the absence of Greece.

At a surprise meeting, the leaders of Turkey, Italy and Libya met in Constantinople yesterday and discussed closed doors of burning issues such as immigration, energy and political support of Libya. The meeting confirmed at the last minute (some talked about disputes that were settled) and took place at the Turkish Presidency’s work Office in the Dolmabahce palaces, hosting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, and present by Italian Prime Minister Dimo

The Turkish Presidency’s announcement states that President Erdogan emphasized the importance of cooperation between the three countries “in the fight against the challenges facing the Mediterranean basin, but also the need for long -term and sustainable solutions to eliminate the source of the unimaginable migration”.

Melon satisfaction

Mrs Meloni’s office announced that the trilateral meeting discussed the strengthening of cooperation in the Mediterranean region, starting with the management of migratory flows. Melona referred to the “excellent results achieved” through cooperation with Turkey to control immigration, saying that the lessons drawn from cooperation with Ankara should be used to support the efforts of the Libyan national unity government. It confirmed Italy’s commitment “to Libya’s stability, unity and independence” and its support in a political process under the leadership of Libya leading to elections.

“The summit was part of the ongoing coordination between Libya, Turkey and Italy, to continue the common approaches that serve the interests of the peoples of the region and contribute to supporting stability and international cooperation,” the national government said.

Call to Qatar, absent Greece

According to the Libyan press, however, Prime Minister Dbabba proposed a four -member ministerial platform that would include Libya, Turkey, Qatar and Italy focusing on joint security efforts, and confirmed his support for a political process. What will be Ankara’s attitude towards the government of Debiba is not yet clear, as Turkey has recently begun to work with a Haftar regime agents in Benghazi.

Yesterday’s meeting seems to have been doing well, all three leaders decided to meet after the cooperation committees met to evaluate the decisions taken. Turkish media, welcoming the trilateral meeting, are raising the concerns and criticism of the opposition in Greece for the absence of the Greek government by the trilateral, describing the Greek prime minister as a “simple observer of developments”.