09:00 28/08/2021
The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said that the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina is key to peace and stability.
He made these comments after the meeting in Sarajevo with the members of the tripartite presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zhelko Komšić, Shefik Xhaferović and Milorad Dodik.
"Bosnia and Herzegovina has a special place in the hearts of our people. We focused on the work we can do in the coming period. We also talked about bilateral relations, regional and global relations. We updated the Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force on August 1. We want to develop our cooperation in all directions", said Erdogan.
While the member of the presidency, Zhelko Komšić, said that during the meeting they discussed the projects that would bring Turkish investors to Bosnia, as well as the cooperation in the field of energy.
Komšić said that it was agreed that the next tripartite meeting, Bosnia-Serbia-Turkey, will be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the construction of the Belgrade-Sarajevo highway will also be discussed.
"If we were to make a summary of our bilateral relations during the last three years, then we can say that Turkey and President Erdogan are an important factor in the stability of the Balkans," said another member of the presidency, Sefik Xhaferovic.
Meanwhile, Milorad Dodik said that he has informed President Erdogan about the political situation in Bosnia.
"I call on the people of Sarajevo to understand the seriousness of the situation and it is important that we maintain peace. How things will develop in Bosnia depends only on Bosnia. I am for dialogue with the help of our friends", said Dodik, who maintains close ties with Serbia and several times has expressed himself in favor of the separation of Republika Srpska, the Serbian entity of Bosnia.
Upon reaching Sarajevo, on August 26, Erdogan was welcomed by hundreds of citizens. He made a walk in the old city of Sarajevo accompanied by the member of the presidency, Sefik Xhaferovic and the head of the Islamic Community of Bosnia, Husein Kavazovic.
He stopped at the Bashcarshi Mosque in Sarajevo, which was restored through Turkish funding.
"This mosque was built in 1527, suffered fires and wars, but remained standing. It suffered the greatest destruction from 1992 to 1995," Erdogan said.
During the last years, Turkey has made efforts to increase its influence in the countries of the Western Balkans.
Some analysts have seen this as an extension of geopolitical influence on the part of Turkey.
The American professor, at the same time an expert on the issues of the Western Balkans, Alon Ben-Meir, in an interview for Radio Free Europe, said that "Erdogan always has his own political agendas and he does nothing to help Kosovo or any other country , as long as this does not help himself or Turkey"./REL
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