This Tuesday afternoon, the president of Turkey, flanked by his Italian counterpart, has been confident about the creation of corridors for the safe export of Ukrainian cereal. According to Recep Tayyipe Erdogan, they should be a reality “within ten or fifteen days”, in order to avoid a food crisis in several southern countries. Mario Draghi has also declared himself in favor of negotiating with Russia and Ukraine “under the umbrella of the UN” and of inspection mechanisms that guarantee that ships are not used to transport weapons.
The joint press conference, this afternoon in Ankara, turns the page to another press conference from fifteen months ago, in which Mario Draghi referred to Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “a dictator”. The Turkish Foreign Ministry then summoned the Italian ambassador and allowed himself to recall that its president “has not been appointed, but elected at the polls”. Erdogan himself described that exit as “vulgar and impertinent”.
That also cost Italy the freezing of an imminent acquisition of 15 Leonardo training helicopters, finally unblocked last month, with a view to today’s appointment.
In any case, Erdogan received Draghi on Tuesday with the usual honors at the presidential palace in Ankara, which did not even exist when the last intergovernmental summit was held in Rome ten years ago. A strangely long period of time, taking into account the important Italian economic interests in Turkey and the complicities in various fields.
On this occasion, the agenda is focused on the global consequences of the war in Ukraine and the situation in Libya, where both Italy and Turkey are major players. Immigration also flies over the meeting. Rome, which assures that last year irregular entries via Turkey multiplied by three, is looking for a regular forum to discuss this matter.
Finally, ensuring the supply of hydrocarbons is also key for Draghi, with Turkey as the obligatory transit point for gas from Azerbaijan, third on the list in Italian purchases, after the Russian and the Algerian.
Both leaders agreed last week at the NATO summit in Madrid. Since then, Ankara has cooled Atlanticist enthusiasm for its sudden decision to unblock access for Sweden and Finland: “If they do not fulfill the commitments they have made, the Turkish parliament will not ratify their accession.”
The Italian prime minister has been accompanied by the foreign ministers, Luigi Di Maio; Defense, Lorenzo, Guerini; Inside, Luciana Lamorgese; of Economic Development, Giancarlo Giorgetti, and of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani. On the table, among other things, the establishment of an Italian-Turkish university or the validation of driving licences.
Italy and Spain are the two EU countries that Turkey considers closest. In the banking field, however, the trajectories have been divergent in recent months. While the Italian Unicredit has just completely left Yapi Kredi’s shareholding, the Spanish BBVA has taken full control of Garanti.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Greece today added water to the wine of reconciliation between his neighbors. Kiriakos Mitsotakis has referred “to Turkey’s aggressive attitudes”, warning that “what we do today in Ukraine depends on whether we can avoid faits accomplis elsewhere”, in reference to their disputes in the Aegean and Cyprus.
