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2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JULY 2020 Cases 672 Local 573 Active 12 Recoveries 651 Deaths 9 Swabs 99,126 LATEST COVID-19 www.maltatoday.com.mt/covid19 NEWS Delivery fee of just €1 per day for orders up to 5 newspapers per address To subscribe 1. Email us your choice of newspapers, recipient's name, address, contact number to production@ millermalta.com 2. Forward cheques payabale to Miller Dis- tributors Ltd to address: Miller House, Airport Way, Tarxien Road, Luqa LQA1814 Queries on other news- papers and magazines, contact production@millermal- ta.com maltatoday Same-day delivery of your favourite Sunday newspaper Monday-Friday MaltaToday Midweek • €1 BusinessToday • €1.50 Sunday MaltaToday • €1.95 ILLUM • €1.25 Support your favourite newspaper with a subscription https://bit.ly/2X9csmr MATTHEW VELLA MALTA'S foreign and EU af- fairs minister Evarist Bartolo on Saturday held a meeting with the Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar, who is in Malta on a short visit. The meeting is considered im- portant in light of Malta's over- tures to the NATO country and its withdrawal from EUNAV- FOR Irini, the European naval operation considered to be in- imical to Turkey's geopolitical interests. Today, Libyan GNA prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj will al- so be in Malta together with two other ministers to discuss mi- gration issues and other bilat- eral matters. The GNA is now a strong ally of Turkey, which has established a foothold in the country with military support for Serraj's militias. Malta wants the GNA to take better control of its coasts and militias, in a bid to stem the flow of irregular migration from Libya, by reaching out to Tur- key in a bid to influence its ally in Libya. The two sides agreed that Mal- ta and Turkey should cooperate in the fight against international organised crime, money laun- dering, human trafficking, drug trafficking and terrorism. Bartolo was also said to have "expressed his concern about the strong tension in the East- ern Mediterranean and ap- pealed for a peaceful solution, the search for compromise and the common good; to enter into negotiations and discuss ways towards a solution and the ob- servance of international law as well as discussing ways to re- solve disputes between Turkey, Greece and Cyprus." "Malta favours a single, unit- ed Libya in the hands of the Libyans themselves. War is not a solution. Libyans should be supported to find an agreement between themselves so that their country; among the rich- est in the Mediterranean, will take the lead for the good of the Libyan people. Peace and secu- rity in Libya are also essential for peace and security in Europe and the Mediterranean," Barto- lo said. Akar was also in Libya before meeting Bartolo. In the second visit in weeks by a minister from Turkey, Akar and Chief of General Staff Yasar Guler also met Serraj earlier on Saturday, where they discussed "military and security coopera- tion" with Serraj. "I want you to know that we are with you today and tomor- row, and will do whatever it re- quires for our Libyan brothers under the instructions of our president," Akar said. Akar and Guler also went to the Defence Security Cooper- ation and Training Assistance Advisory Command, which was created within the scope of a military cooperation agreement signed last year between Turkey and Libya. The two met Turkish and Libyan soldiers. "Turkish support [for the GNA] continues in the areas of military and security coopera- tion," said Salah Namrush, the GNA's deputy defence minister, in a statement. This week MEPs will discuss the Eastern Mediterranean and Turkish revanchism, after an incident in which an Irini na- val asset was warded off by two Turkish frigates accompanied a cargo ship en route to Tripoli. Turkey is actively providing the UN-recognised Govern- ment of National Accord in Libya with weaponry and air support in its fight against Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army. The LNA in turn is backed by the UAE, Egypt, as well as sup- ported by France and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group. Tripoli insists that Operation Irini, which was set up to en- force the Libyan arms embar- go, punishes it by attempting to prevent Turkish supplies from across the Eastern Mediterra- nean. Irini, run by a joint Ital- ian-Greek command, is also attempting to patrol the seas in which the GNA extended its exclusive economic zone to the Turkish zone. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that Operation Irini had failed to meet the demands and concerns of the internationally recog- nised government. "Does it say anything about the warplanes coming to Libya from Syria? Does it look into arms sent from Abu Dhabi? Does it have a report about France supplying arms to Haftar?" he asked dur- ing a joint news conference with his Italian counterpart, Luigi di Maio, back in June. "It's not objective. Operation Irini does not contribute to a solution to the Libya problem, nor the embargo," Cavusoglu said in Ankara. Libyan PM in Malta today Turkish defence minister in Malta meeting with Bartolo on Libya situation Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar (left) with Evarist Bartolo Libyan PM Fayez al-Sarraj