Turkish people trust the leadership of their President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will follow his vision of defending the national economy and currency, Bosniak leader Bakir Izetbegovic told Anadolu news agency.

“Turks are a proud people and respond defiantly to the pressure. They have trust in Erdogan's leadership and will follow his vision of defending the national economy and currency,” said Izetbegovic, Bosniak member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite Presidency.

Commenting the sudden drop in the value of Turkish lira, Izetbegovic there are various reasons behind that, the said ones and those that can be speculated.

“Strengthening of Turkey and its leader apparently disturbs the many. I am sad that the western countries have such stance towards Turkey,” Izetbegovic said, adding that those countries are looking for reasons not to cooperate with Turkey while Turkish people has been trying to establish a friendship with the West for a century.

“I'm afraid such stance will turn Turkey towards the East, to some other political blocs. I'm afraid this will be of no use to the West or Turkey, and therefore to Bosnia and Herzegovina which is vitally interested in good relations between the western and Islamic countries,” stressed Izetbegovic.

He assessed the trade relations between Bosnia and Turkey as excellent, while the trade agreement that the two countries recently signed would further stabilize their relations in that field.