Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is scheduled to pay an official visit to Italy on Friday at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio.

A statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the meeting agenda covers preparations for the third Turkey-Italy Intergovernmental Summit, Turkish-Italian bilateral relations and Turkey’s accession process to the European Union.

Opinions on current regional and international developments will also be exchanged.

Three platforms are dedicated to exchanging views on various dimensions of Turkish-Italian relations: the Turkey-Italy Intergovernmental Summit, the Turkish-Italian Forum and the Turkish-Italian Media Forum. The second Turkey-Italy Intergovernmental Summit was held in Rome on May 8, 2012. The eighth Turkish-Italian Forum and third Turkish-Italian Media Forum were organized in Istanbul on Nov. 24-25, 2011, and on July 4, 2010, respectively. These platforms also contribute to the institutionalization of bilateral relations.

Last month, Çavuşoğlu and Di Maio discussed matters related to Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean in a phone call.

Tensions have recently escalated over the issue of energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greece has disputed Turkey's energy exploration in the region, trying to box in Turkish maritime territory based on small islands near the Turkish coast. French President Emmanuel Macron has interceded in support of Athens, despite mainland Greece's lack of an Eastern Mediterranean coastline.

Turkey – the country with the longest coastline on the Eastern Mediterranean – has sent out drillships to explore for energy on its continental shelf, saying that both Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have rights in the region.

In order to reduce tensions, Turkey has called for dialogue to ensure fair sharing of resources.