Turkey will continue to stand behind Bosnia on its' path towards NATO and EU membership, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said during a joint press conference with Chairman of Bosnia's Council of Ministers, Denis Zvizdic.

“Relations between Turkey and Bosnia have deep roots in the past and a very good future, especially for the sake of establishing piece and proseparity in the Balkans,” said Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim during his two-day visit to BH.

Yildirim is also to meet with state Parliamentarians and members of the Bosnian Presidency.

Zvizdić told reporters that Turkey is one of Bosnia's most important allies, which “continuously and diligently supports BH in realizing all joint strategic goals,” adding that he informed Yildirim about Bosnia's most important priorities – especially the country's aspirations towards NATO and the EU.

“I have asked Prime Minister Yildirim for Turkey, as an important member of the NATO pact, to continue its strong support of BH, and especially to advocate for the activation of the NATO Membership Action Plan for Bosnia, which we expect to happen at some of the next few meetings,” Zvizdic said.

“Turkey has never interfered in BH's internal issues and has always responded positively to BH requests on a global level in regard to economic issues,” he added.

Turkey supports Bosnia's path towards NATO membership, Yildirim told reporters.

“Turkey will stand by Bosnia in all future meetings on the path towards NATO membership, so that past painful events do not repeat,” he added.

Yildirim also pointed out that Turkey supports Bosnia's path towards the European Union, together with other Balkan countires.

“Apart from other relations, we had the opporunity to talk to BH ministers about what we can do in other fields, such as the energy sector, communications, transport, agriculture, trade, tourism…,” he said.

According to Yildirim, Turkey is aiming to increase investments into the country.

“There is a lot that needs to be done within the coming period. There are certain problems which we expect to be solved in a short time-frame because new investments mean new jobs,” the Prime Minister said.

Yildirim also spoke about the construction of the Sarajevo-Belgrade motorway which is financed by Turkey, saying that the relevant Turkish ministry is preparing the project based on the past meetings between Erdogan, Bosniak member of of the country's tripartite presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

He also announced a visit by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that should take place some time mid-2018.