Meloni-Erdogan-Dbeibah: responding to the migration challenge

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni went to Istanbul today, Friday 1 August, where she held a trilateral meeting with the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the Prime Minister of the Libyan National Unity Government, Abdulhameed Mohamed Dabaiba. The focus of the summit was the migrant dossier, starting with the increase in departures from Libya that has characterised the last period. During the meeting, explains a note issued by Palazzo Chigi at the end of the meeting, the three leaders discussed the strengthening of cooperation to meet common challenges, starting with the management of migratory flows.

"Recalling the excellent results achieved in this field with Turkey," the document goes on to say, Meloni "underlined the opportunity to enhance the lessons learnt by applying them also to support the action of the Libyan National Unity Government in the field of migration. Meloni 'discussed with her interlocutors a series of lines of action to combat international criminal networks of traffickers'.

Meloni, during the summit in Turkey, reiterated Italy's commitment to the stability, unity and independence of Libya and support for a Libyan-led and UN-facilitated political process leading to elections. The three leaders agreed to continue work immediately at a technical level to identify concrete actions to be conducted jointly within a well-defined time frame. This was reported by sources in the Chi Palace 

At the end of April, the Turkish president had been in Rome for the fourth intergovernmental summit between the two countries and for the occasion Meloni and Erdogan had also discussed geopolitical crises, from the conflict in Ukraine to the crisis in the Middle East. And, of course, of the present and future of Libya, with the prime minister reiterating her common commitment to full stabilisation through UN mediation.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence of the Libyan National Unity Government announced the launch of targeted air raids in areas in the west of the country, 'against outlawed groups in specific areas, to eliminate smugglers and drug traffickers'. The ministry specified in a press release that the operation is part of a broader plan to dismantle the infrastructure of organised crime, which poses a direct threat to public safety and security. He also urged the local population to stay away from places where these elements are concentrated. According to several analysts, operations will most likely be conducted in the areas west of Tripoli, around Zuara, Sabrata and neighbouring locations.