Visit of Turkish Foreign Minister to Malta and Libya, August 5-6, 2020

and the new executives of the Council. During this sincere and productive meeting, the political process and the current state of play in our bilateral relations were discussed and Minister Çavuşoğlu highlighted that we were always going to stand by the brotherly Libyan people.  On the same day, Minister Çavuşoğlu also had a frank meeting with Foreign Minister Mohammed Tahir Siyala of Libya, together with his counterpart Evarist Bartolo of Malta. Minister Çavuşoğlu emphasized that together with Malta we were strengthening relations with the legitimate government, and that we would support Libya on the fight against irregular migration and that all other Mediterranean countries should enhance their cooperation with Libya as well. Minister Çavuşoğlu returned to Malta on the same day and was received by President George Vella of Malta and conveyed him the best wishes of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that the agreements signed during his term as Foreign Minister of Malta greatly contributed to the development of our relations and we would also work together with Malta on the Libyan crisis and irregular migration.  Later that day, Minister Çavuşoğlu met with the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Affairs and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell.  Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that the EU should keep its promises on migration, that our relations should not be taken hostage by some EU member states and that we would continue to defend forever our rights in the Eastern Mediterranean. Finally, Minister Çavuşoğlu met with High Representative Josep Borrell of the EU, together with his Maltese counterpart Evarist Bartolo. Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that we were pleased of Malta’s decision to withdraw from EU’s one-sided Operation Irini on Libya, and expressed that Malta’s cooperation with the legitimate government of Libya should set an example for other EU member states. On 5 August 2020, before the start of his visits abroad, Minister Çavuşoğlu also had a meeting in Ankara with Aydın Maruf, Regional Minister for Ethnic Groups of the KRG and Member of the Executive Board of the Iraqi Turkmen Front. During this meeting, recent developments in Iraq, our relations with the KRG and the current situation of the Turkmens were discussed. Minister Çavuşoğlu emphasized that we were always going to stand by our Turkmen brothers and sisters. Source: Government of Turkey