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23 March 2021 The Prime Minister Mario Draghi today had an articulate telephone conversation with the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Palazzo Chigi makes it known.
The meeting focused on EU-Turkey relations on the agenda of the next European Council, on the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and in Libya, as well as on the global challenges and priorities of the Italian G20 Presidency.
Bilateral relations and multilateral relations were also discussed and concern was expressed about the human rights situation in Turkey.
Erdogan to Draghi: "Strengthening the strategic partnership"
The Turkish president congratulated the Italian premier on his post at the helm of the government and discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, including the situation in the eastern Mediterranean, after the de-escalation of recent months.
This was underlined by the Turkish presidency, referring to the talks between the two leaders.
According to the Ankara report, the discussion concerned "the strengthening of the strategic partnership" between the two countries, expressing the desire to hold the third Italy-Turkey intergovernmental summit as soon as the developments of the pandemic allow it.
For Erdogan, the goal is an increase in trade to 30 billion dollars, from over 17 billion in 2020, aiming for growth "in particular in the defense industry".
Among the issues at the center of the discussion, which also took place in view of the European Council on Thursday and Friday, was the EU-Turkey agreement on migrants, of which Erdogan underlined the urgency of a renewal in the context of a "positive agenda" in bilateral relations between Ankara and Brussels, which also includes the renewal of the customs union and visa liberalization.