Davutoglu visiting middle east after Serbia trip

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Monday departed for a two-country visit to the Middle East just hours after coming back from Serbia, where he was on a postponed working trip to have consultations with officials on bilateral and regional issues, including a religious and political dispute brewing in the country's south. Davutoglu is scheduled to land in Jordan on Wednesday, where he will be welcomed by King Abdullah and stay in Amman for a day to discuss regional and bilateral issues with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh. The Turkish foreign minister's trip to Jordan comes on the heels of a Tuesday visit to Qatar, where he was scheduled to meet with Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Crown Prince Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and his counterpart, Khalid Bin Mohamed Al-Attiya, at a dinner. Davutoglu will assess the latest developments in Libya and the Middle East in general, as well as the democracy protests in Syria, the elections in Tunisia and the projected transition to democracy in the Arab Spring countries, the Anatolia news agency reported on Tuesday. Davutoglu's visit to Serbia, initially scheduled for last Wednesday but postponed due to a deadly terrorist attack by terrorist PKK that left 24 Turkish soldiers dead and the whole country in shock, included separate sessions with his Serbian counterpart, Vuk Jeremic, and Serbian President Boris Tadic on Monday. Davutoglu consulted with the Serbian officials on bilateral issues of mutual concern, particularly Sandzak, where a religious dispute has been dividing the Muslim minority population for years. "There is a problem among the Muslim residents of Serbia and of Sandzak, and Turkey has been trying to solve it," Davutoğlu said with regard to the latest attempts by Turkish officials to unite the Bosnian and Serbian Muslim sides. Davutoğlu said he had discussed the outcome of Turkey's efforts with Serbian officials, who expressed their gratitude for Turkey's contribution to stabilizing Sandzak.