IKV Chairperson Ayhan Zeytinoğlu made notable statements following the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Commenting on the visit, Chairperson Zeytinoğlu underlined the importance of Türkiye-Italy relations and emphasized the importance of cooperation on issues such as migration, security, energy as well as cultural interaction.
 

Chairperson Zeytinoglu said the following:

“Italian Prime Minister Meloni's visit to Türkiye is very important as we enter a critical year. Italy is an important actor in terms of the EU's role in the Ukraine conflict. Italy's role in EU decision-making is also crucial for continued support for Ukraine against Russia. There will be European Parliament elections this year. After the new EP takes office, the Presidents of two important institutions, the European Commission, and the European Council, will be elected. The US elections in November 2024 will then be decisive. If Trump is elected, serious problems could arise in the US-Europe relationship. A strong presence of far-right groups in the Parliament in the EP elections would be an extremely dangerous development for European politics. It would seriously complicate the EU's decision-making and legislative processes. It is in Türkiye's and Italy's mutual interest to end two major conflicts in the EU and Türkiye's neighbourhood. Italy's support for a halt to Israel's attack on Gaza, as this year's G7 President-in-Office, is parallel to Türkiye's position. Italy has also announced that it may send peacekeepers to the region. Italy and Türkiye need to work together to end the war that is spreading especially in the Middle East.”
 

Italy is a Leading Economic Partner for Türkiye

“With over 12 billion dollars of exports, Italy ranked 5th with 4.8% among the countries with the highest exports in the January-December 2023 period. There are more than 1500 companies with Italian capital in our country. In terms of investments, both the investments of Italian companies in Türkiye and the investments of Turkish companies in Italy create an important added value in terms of bilateral cooperation. Sectoral cooperation in renewable energy, circular economy, sustainable textiles, food, automotive, etc. can make a significant difference in Türkiye's alignment with the European Green Deal and digital Internal Market strategies. The process of updating the Customs Union between Türkiye and the EU is still on our agenda. Last year, a report by High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, proposed to start the process of updating the customs union, subject to certain conditions. In this process, it will be useful to accelerate the cooperation process with Italy. Finally, we also ask for Italy's support in facilitating the Schengen visa process, which Turkish citizens suffer from. When we look at Italy's rejection rates, we see relatively more favourable results among EU countries. In the past years, 93% of the total applications were granted visas. However, it is necessary to speed up the appointment process and issue long-term visas, especially for business people, students, academics and members of civil society organizations. Increased cultural contacts would be extremely beneficial for the future of relations between the two countries and for the future of Europe.”