Migration Min Panagiotopoulos meets with counterparts of Türkiye and Bulgaria in Istanbul

Panagiotopoulos met with Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Bulgarian Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov, following the initiative of Minister Yerlikaya.

The three ministers agreed on a joint statement released after their meeting, in which they confirmed their commitment to work together against illegal and irregular migration, networks of human traffickers, and terrorist or criminal organizations related to human trafficking.

In the statement, Yerlikaya said he had explained Türkiye's strategy to fight irregular migration which focuses on results and is applied at all borders, border passes, and cities. He also noted that Türkiye has begun negotiations with all countries serving as countries of origin, passage, and destination in terms of irregular migration. In this context underlined the successful outcomes resulting from the initiative of the trilateral cooperation that began with Greece and Bulgaria and was implemented through administrative mechanisms in September 2023. 

Bulgaria's Ilkov thanked his Turkish hosts for organizing the trilateral meeting, and both his fellow ministers for their cooperation, and underlined the importance of developing political dialog further, as all three countries face migration flows in common. The trilateral cooperation at professional level has provided operational solutions to key issues such as dealing with irregular migration, and fighting organized transborder criminality, includng human trafficking. The joint actions of Bulgaria, Greece, Türkiye and Europe overall have contributed to a higher level of security for citizens of all three countries and Europe overall, the statement quoted him as saying.

Panagiotopoulos thanked Yerlikaya for his generous hosting, and described Greece's strict but fair policy to fight irregular migration along continental and maritime borders. (In a post on X, the Greek minister said, "The trilateral cooperation is fruitful and its continuation is a priority in managing joint challenges.")

All three ministers expressed their satisfaction over the trilateral initiative's results and the technical coordination following it among high-level officials of Türkiye, Bulgaria, and Greece, and agreed to continue and further boost the process during 2025.

AMNA