Türkiye, Italy have 'close' cooperation on migration, terrorism: Minister

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye and Italy have been coordinating in many areas including migration, organized crime and terrorism, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Monday.

"Apart from the fight against migrant smuggling and migration flow, there is a close cooperation and relationship between Italy and Türkiye in the fight against organized crime, cross-border crimes and drugs, and the fight against terrorism," Soylu told a news conference with his Italian counterpart Matteo Piantedosi in the capital Ankara.

Soylu said the security teams of Türkiye and Italy are in such contact with each other that they have the ability and capacity to intervene immediately in case of criminal activity.

During Piantedosi's visit, a memorandum of understanding was signed on the temporary assignment of experts from the Turkish general directorate of security to Italy.

Stressing that the ministries endeavor to fortify and strengthen friendly bilateral relations, Soylu said: "We continue our fight against illegal immigration with a common mechanism with Italy. In 2022, we all put forth a very strong effort in this regard."

Piantedosi, for his part, said Türkiye and Italy are two countries facing onto the same sea and have a lot in common in many ways.

Upon the arrest of Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Messina Denaro, Piantedosi said: "Today has been a very important day for us, but also in our own country ... I received the news of the arrest of a fugitive, a leading name of a very important criminal organization, who had been hiding for many years."

Denaro, 60, was detained in a private clinic in the Sicilian city of Palermo early Monday.

Considered one of the most powerful bosses of Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia, he had been sentenced in absentia to a life term for several murders, including his role in the 1992 killings of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.