ISTANBUL

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will travel to Italy this week for a two-day working visit, Turkish diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.

Fidan will meet his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani and deliver remarks at think tank​​​​​​​ Istituto Affari Internazionali during his Sept. 11-12 trip.

Talks are expected to focus on strengthening ties between Türkiye and Italy – NATO allies and strategic partners.

Fidan, sources said, is expected to emphasize the value of high-level contacts, call for preserving and diversifying cooperation to reach a $40 billion trade target, and underline the importance of updating Türkiye’s customs union with the European Union.

The agenda will also include energy security and connectivity in the Mediterranean, irregular migration, defense industry collaboration, and joint work in science and technology, the sources added.

Regional and global issues such as Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Iran, Africa and the war in Gaza are also expected to be discussed, according to the sources.

The two ministers last met in May on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Türkiye's Antalya.

- Bilateral relations

In April, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni co-chaired the 4th Türkiye-Italy Intergovernmental Summit in Rome, followed by a trilateral Türkiye-Italy-Libya summit in Istanbul in August.

Bilateral trade between Türkiye and Italy reached $32.2 billion in 2024, making Italy Türkiye’s fifth-largest export market globally and second within the EU.

At the Rome summit, both countries set a new target of $40 billion.

Defense cooperation has also expanded, with Turkish drone maker Baykar signing a deal with Italy’s Leonardo on unmanned aerial systems in March and completing its purchase of aerospace firm Piaggio in June.

Türkiye is also in talks with Italy over Eurofighter Typhoon jets.

Italy is among Türkiye’s key energy partners through the Southern Gas Corridor, which has delivered gas to Italy via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline since 2020.

Some 50,000 Turkish citizens live in Italy, while more than 719,000 Italians visited Türkiye in 2024.