Italy and Turkey signed an agreement on Thursday to step up efforts against irregular migration, focusing on departures from Libya, their foreign ministers said.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, signed what Tajani described as an “operational document” that will bring closer coordination between their coast guards in tackling migrant smuggling and organized crime.
“This will prove very useful in Libya, particularly in preventing the departure” of migrants trying to reach Europe, Tajani said at a joint press conference in Rome.
Libya is a main transit country for thousands of migrants who attempt the dangerous sea journey to Europe each year.
Tajani said the two countries would also work together to train law enforcement agencies to dismantle smuggling networks in the Mediterranean.
Fidan said Ankara was determined to strengthen its “strategic partnership” with Rome and stressed the need to support a political process in Libya to guarantee its stability. “Our two countries have an interest in Libya’s stability,” Tajani added.
The agreement follows a mini-summit hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul last month that was attended by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Libya’s Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.
Italy is already a party to a 2016 European Union deal with Turkey under which Brussels provides billions of euros to Ankara in exchange for taking back irregular migrants who reach Europe.
A statement from Italy’s foreign ministry said the new proposals with Turkey include considering joint work on investigations and providing training to law enforcement agencies of requesting countries on migrant smuggling and irregular migration.