In Sarajevo, Erdogan attends business forum and opens exhibit

Turkey believes that instability in any country in the Balkans threatens the entire Balkan region, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday. "For this reason, we place great importance on Bosnia-Herzegovina's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said in a speech to the Sarajevo Business Forum, as part of his state visit to Sarajevo. Afterwards, Erdogan visited the tomb of Bosnia-Herzegovina's first president, Alija Izetbegovic, who died in 2003. Erdogan also opened an exhibition on the Ottoman sultans at the Yunus Emre Cultural Center. "The Yunus Emre Institute has been making valuable contributions to promoting Turkey and its history," he said. "I believe it will become a leading international institution, just like the Goethe Institute and Cervantes Institute."