President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni discussed Türkiye-Italy relations in New York on the sidelines of the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, while Turkish and Italian top diplomats discussed irregular migration.
The closed-door meeting, which lasted 40 minutes, took place at the Turkish House.
Türkiye's Communications Directorate wrote on X that the two leaders discussed ties between the two countries, along with the war in Ukraine, the future of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and economic relations.
Erdoğan emphasized the importance of promptly organizing meetings of the Economy and Trade Joint Committee and Business Forum to boost trade between the two nations.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and Chief Advisor to the President Ambassador Akif Çağatay Kılıç were present.
The meeting took place after President Erdoğan delivered his address at the U.N. Tuesday.
Erdoğan held several meetings with Meloni, with the latest one being at the NATO summit in July.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also met with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in New York to discuss irregular migration, according to a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
The meeting came as Fidan is in New York to attend the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly, during which he has held several bilateral meetings to discuss global issues with his counterparts, including those from Azerbaijan and Greece on Tuesday, the Netherlands on Monday, and Germany and Ireland on Sunday.
In late June, Fidan had attended an Italy-led conference in Rome on irregular migration.
During the conference, he stressed the importance of regional cooperation to tackle irregular migration, which he called a common challenge faced by Mediterranean countries.
On Monday, Meloni's government passed a law enforcing stricter regulations to deter irregular migration.
In July, Meloni invited Mediterranean countries for a conference, which focused on a deal with Tunisia to curb the arrival of migrants to European shores.
Türkiye is home to over 4 million displaced people and Syrians under temporary protection status make up most of the displaced who took shelter in Türkiye, host to the largest Syrian refugee community in the world.
Ankara views “international injustice” as the leading cause of irregular migration. Turkish officials say improving conditions in the countries where illegal migrants hail from is necessary, along with the need for voluntary returns in line with international standards for intercepted irregular migrants.
Türkiye sees the issue as something that needs international cooperation and seeks to establish bilateral, regional and international groups to ensure the cooperation.
Both Türkiye and its strategic ally Italy are tackling the challenges of irregular migration.
The conference in Rome focused on the joint planning and implementation of several projects on agriculture, energy, infrastructure, education, health care and hygiene in source countries.
