Turkish Prime Minister to sign memorandum of understanding with Malta

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim will be meeting his Maltese counterpart in Malta on Friday to sign a memorandum of understanding, according to a government statement.
Yildirim will be joined by several members of his cabinet.

During his official visit, Yildirim and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will also address a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce.

Earlier this year, Muscat called for the deal struck between the EU and Turkey to stem the flow of migrants, to be replicated in the central Mediterranean in order to minimise the flow of illegal migration from Libya.

Muscat had said that the Turkey deal “has been one of the few measures that has led to tangible results.”

The European Commission rejected the proposal, revealing divisions over how to respond to the record death toll in the central Mediterranean. The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, argued that that the situations were “completely different”.

Malta currently holds the helm of the Presidency of the EU Council, with migration and security in the Mediterranean featuring high on its agenda.