Ministero della Difesa Test

​"I can only express my satisfaction for the signing, during the Italy-Turkey Summit, of the Agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information of the Defence Industry. This clearly proves the cohesion between our two countries, linked by a deep friendship and bound to further strengthen their military cooperation", Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini said at the end of the signing ceremony for agreements concluded between Italy and Turkey. The ceremony was celebrated today in the presence of President of the Council of Ministers Mario Draghi and President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as well as, for the Italian party, Defence Minister Lorenzo Guerini; Minister of Foreign Affairs  Luigi Di Maio, Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese, Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti and Minister of Ecologic Transition Roberto Cingolani. "Our country – the Defence Minister said- has always seen Turkey as a relevant partner in the field of operational and industrial cooperation, and to work together to achieve our common objectives in the interests of collective security, reciprocal growth and stability in the Mediterranean".

The agreements signed today were the last step of a broad long-standing discussion developed on the basis of a number of bilateral meetings, including between the Italian and Turkish defence ministers. The first meeting between the latters took place in July 2020 during Minister Guerini's visit to Ankara. This year, a trilateral meeting with Turkey and the UK took place on 8 April.

Today, Guerini had a deep discussion with his counterpart Hulusi Akar on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and its impact on security in the Mediterranean, the Libyan crisis, bilateral cooperation in the field of both operations- in particular with regard to the NATO mission in Iraq (NMI) – and industry.  

During the meeting, Minister Guerini reiterated his "full support to the Ukrainian resistance as well as to any diplomatic tool able to kick-start actual peace talks" and focused on the Mediterranean and the need to ensure its stability by coordinating efforts, also considering the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on security in that area.  "Stability in the Mediterranean region – Guerini said- is in fact the indispensable pre-requisite for the security of all of us". Then, he added: "Italy monitors with concern the recent events in Libya, and hopes that all the allies pay due attention to achieving a feasible solution, able to guide Libya along a track conducive to institutional, political, economic and domestic security normalization. A unified, stable Libya is an essential pre-requisite to tackle the phenomena occurring in the Mediterranean at our best".

As regards missions that see Italy and Turkey working jointly, in particular the NATO Mission Iraq (NMI) whose command was recently assumed by Italy, Minister Guerini expressed his "deep appreciation for the great job done in a large number of operations". He also thanked Minister Akar for "the productive cooperation between our Armed Forces in the scenarios where they work side by side: in Iraq as well as KFOR and the Western Balkans". He added that such forms of cooperation between our countries' Armed Forces are a clear example of "the solidity of our relations. They also lay the foundations for future, increasingly significant opportunities".

The two ministers also focused on collaboration in the Defence industry sector, i.e. a tool to strengthen synergies between Allies who make available their reciprocal assets of excellence.