Turkey is ready to support Serbia and Kosovo in overcoming their challenges, hoping for a quick and durable solution as the Balkans cannot tolerate these problems any longer, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to Belgrade on Wednesday, reported Euractiv on Thursday.
When asked who he believed was to be blamed for the crisis in Ukraine, Erdogan said at a press conference he shared with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, that Turkey always supported a policy of balance between Russia and Ukraine, and that it planned to maintain the same view.
“There are several states in the West whose approach we don’t see as the right one. There’s a policy based on incitements, which is the one pursued by the West. When you plan to carry out a policy based on provocation, you can’t have results,” the Turkish president said.
President Erdogan stated that a protocol Serbia and Turkey had signed to facilitate travel by their citizens using ID cards would strengthen the bilateral relationship further.
“The talks were fruitful, we discussed all issues in detail and considered possible solutions, exchanging views. Our relations with Serbia, which are excellent, are growing,” Erdogan said after a meeting, which was part of his three-day visit to the region.
Vucic thanked Erdogan for his approach and for showing respect to Serbia.
During Erdogan’s visit, seven bilateral documents on Wednesday were signed. The two states signed Protocol I to amend the Visa Cancellation Agreement, agreements to incite and protect investment and encourage cooperation in advanced technology innovation, memorandums of understanding to facilitate cooperation in curbing forest fires and strengthen ties in the media and communications sector, as well as in e-governance. A protocol was signed on cooperation between the Serbian public service RTS and the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation.
Also, a Serbian-Turkish business forum was held in Belgrade, attended by about 500 businessmen from more than 300 companies.
Erdogan started his regional visit on Tuesday in Sarajevo and Belgrade was the second leg of the tour. He started a visit to Croatia on Thursday. Erdogan’s tour in the Balkans did not include a visit to Albania. Although there are no official explanations for ignoring that country, there have been reports that the relations between the Turkish President and Albanian PM Edi Rama have got sore. /Argumentum.al
