Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is expected to be in Türkiye on Saturday and hold talks with senior officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The visit is part of Meloni's busy international schedule where she is scheduled to visit member countries of the G-7, whose presidency will be helmed by her country this year.

This is Meloni's first official visit as prime minister to Türkiye since she took office in 2022. But she held talks with Erdoğan elsewhere, most recently at the COP28 summit in Dubai. It is also the first visit to Türkiye by a sitting prime minister of Italy. Her predecessor, Mario Draghi, who faced Turkish outcry for defining Erdoğan as a dictator, was the last Italian premier to visit Türkiye in 2022. Italy and Türkiye otherwise enjoy historic, warm ties, and Italy is among the major trade partners of Türkiye. They have common interests in the Mediterranean region but differ on some international issues. The two countries are also bonded over joint candidacy to host the UEFA Euro 2032 football championship.

Speaking to Türkiye's Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Thursday ahead of Meloni's visit, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Türkiye was an important country for Italy and a part of the NATO alliance. "We have a historic friendship," he emphasized.

Tajani said Italy was grateful to Türkiye for its efforts in delivering grain products to African countries amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict and stressed Türkiye's significance in efforts to promote peace in the Middle East.

The minister reiterated that Italy rushed to the aid of Türkiye following last year's devastating earthquakes, a sign of developing friendship that began back during the tenure of late premier Silvio Berlusconi. "Berlusconi championed this friendship and our friendship will be strengthened with Prime Minister Meloni's visit," he said.

Regarding Türkiye's role in the Middle East's peace and stability, Tajani said Türkiye, as a Muslim country, can easily engage in dialogue with all Muslim countries to de-escalate tensions. "We have to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from spreading. We have the same goal. We support the two-state solution. Israel should recognize the Palestine state and Palestine should recognize Israel," Tajani said.

He stressed that Türkiye and Italy could play a big role in "greater peace" in the region instead of "greater war."