Summary:

On 1 August 2025, Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah attended a trilateral summit in Istanbul alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation in the Mediterranean, with discussions covering irregular migration, joint energy development, and regional stability.

The talks centered on strategic areas, including offshore energy development, infrastructure investment, and irregular migration.

Migration took center stage in the discussions. The leaders explored ways to strengthen cooperation across the Mediterranean, beginning with the management of migration flows. Meloni praised the “excellent results” achieved through Italy’s partnership with Turkey on migration control, suggesting that similar frameworks could help bolster Libya’s capacity in this domain.

President Erdoğan underscored the need for “long-term and sustainable” solutions to address the root causes of migration, signaling a shared commitment to more comprehensive and coordinated approaches.

Dbeibah called for enhanced coordination to combat smuggling networks and other illegal activities. He proposed a four-way ministerial meeting involving Libya, Türkiye, Italy, and Qatar to launch joint projects and address priority issues.

Outlook: 

The Istanbul summit underscores Libya’s growing strategic relevance in the Mediterranean, particularly as a pivotal actor in managing migration flows and unlocking regional economic potential by way of its oil reserves.

As Europe grapples with migration challenges and energy diversification, Libya’s geographic position and untapped resources place it at the heart of future cooperation frameworks. Furthermore, this makes Libya’s stability an ongoing concern for both regional and global partners.

Dbeibah’s participation in the meetings highlights Tripoli’s intent to position itself as a partner to Europe and other external partners in shaping long-term, multilateral solutions to regional challenges. Both Italy and Türkiye view Libya as critical to curbing irregular migration at its source, and the summit signals a potential shift toward more structured support for Libya’s institutional capacity in this domain.

Libya’s energy and infrastructure sectors remain highly attractive to both Ankara and Rome, with Turkish and Italian firms already active on Libyan soil through exploration projects and infrastructure investments.

These ongoing and planned initiatives could pave the way for deeper trilateral integration. Such developments may help stabilize Libya while reinforcing its status as a key Mediterranean partner bridging European and regional interests.

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