The President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a key country in the Balkans and that Turkey sees great importance in its multicultural structure, security, stability and development.

Erdogan made the statements at the Ataturk Airport as he was leaving for an official visit to BiH, where he said he will discuss joint steps to further improve cooperation with the country.

He also said he will visit Montenegro the following day.

“We are on our way to visit two friendly countries in the Balkans. In the first part of the visit, we will meet with members of the BiH Presidency in Sarajevo,” he announced.

The Turkish President said he met with BiH’s Presidency member already twice this year, in March in Ankara and at the Summit of the South-East Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP).

“We have very close historical, cultural and human ties with friendly and brotherly Bosnia and Herzegovina. We also have very fruitful and broad cooperation built on these foundations and on the basis of mutual political will,” Erdogan said, adding that during his visit to Sarajevo he would discuss strengthening economic and trade cooperation and review the current situation regarding joint infrastructure and investment projects.

Apart from Erdogan, the Turkish delegation coming to BiH consists of his wife, Emine, Trade minister, Mehmet Mus, Culture and Tourism Minister, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, head of the communications office, Fahrettin Altun, and spokesperson for the Turkish president's office, Ibrahim Kalin.

On Saturday, the Turkish President will travel to Montenegro, also to discuss several bilateral, regional and international topics.

“We will focus especially on the topics of improving economic, trade and investment cooperation in the post-pandemic period,” Erdogan said, adding that he will also meet with representatives of the Bosniak and Albanian community in the country.

“Turkey sees great importance in the development of peace and prosperity throughout the Balkans. We advocate the preservation of the region's multicultural identity and support all efforts in this context. I am convinced that our cooperation with BiH and Montenegro contributes to the stability of the Balkans,” Erdogan said.