Erdogan: "Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina enjoy excellent ties"

There can be no talk of permanent stability in Europe before stability in Bosnia-Herzegovina is restored, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday. Speaking at a joint news conference with Bosnia and Herzegovina Prime Minister Nikola Spiric, Erdogan described political relations between the two countries as excellent. Erdogan said the driving force in relations stems from very close ties between the peoples of the two countries, adding that their economic and trade are gradually improving. Erdogan expressed satisfaction at both countries' resolve to boost economic, political and trade relations. "Fostering economic relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina is among our countries' top priorities," he said. "At the end of 2008 trade stood at $600 million. We will try to boost this. We also both underlined the importance of reciprocal investments. We discussed matters related to cultural cooperation." He added, "I stressed that Turkey would have dialogue and solidarity with each of the co-founders in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Turkey will also continue its determination for it to join NATO." For his part, Spiric, whose country is facing difficulties over tensions among different ethnic communities and power-sharing issues, highlighted the importance of political dialogue in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "We can't find a solution if we turn our backs on each other," he said. It's a mistake for politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina to expect solutions from outside, instead of solving their problems on their own, Spiric said. He also said he discussed bilateral relations and regional cooperation with Erdogan. Spiric said that Turkey had always helped his country, and Bosnia and Herzegovina had asked for Turkey's assistance to boost its relations with neighboring countries. Earlier in the day, President Abdullah Gul received Spiric, who later attended a working lunch at the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) Economics and Technology University. He also attended a dinner in his honor hosted by Erdogan.