West cannot bear Turkey’s position in Balkans, Turkish president says

ANKARA

The West “cannot bear” Turkey’s position in the Balkans, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 7, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. 

“The West cannot really bear Turkey’s stance, particularly in the Balkans, as well as steps, initiatives, efforts Turkey takes in the region,” Erdoğan said in a joint news conference with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic at the presidential complex in Ankara.

“Whether it [the West] can bear it or not, we are intensively doing whatever we can with TİKA [Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency] in the west, in the Balkans,” he added.

“We are especially displaying all our efforts through the restoration and construction of historical artifacts. We will continue to do so thereafter,” the president said.

“Over 220 projects TİKA has carried out in Serbia constitute an important pillar in our bilateral relations,” he said.

Turkey’s government-run TİKA agency is responsible for implementing the country’s developmental cooperation policies overseas.

Since it was founded 26 years ago, TİKA has carried out projects in a wide range of areas, such as education, health, infrastructure, and cultural heritage preservation in many regions of the world from the Balkans to the Middle East, and Africa to Latin America.

Erdoğan said he and Vucic discussed bilateral relations and exchanged views on recent regional developments in the first Turkey-Serbia High-Level Cooperation Council meeting held earlier May 7.

Pointing out the fact that the bilateral trade volume had surpassed $1 billion last year, the Turkish leader said the target has been increased to $2 billion for 2018 and $5 billion in the long term.

Erdoğan also said the planned Belgrade-Sarajevo highway project will strengthen regional and economic ties, while it is a friendship and peace project Turkey wants to start in a short period of time.

“Turkey is the biggest power, the strongest country in the Balkans. What Turkey thinks is important,” said Vucic.

“Turkey is in the Balkans and this is very important to us. If people in other countries see Turkey just politically and not in the field of investment, there’s nothing more I can say here,” Vucic said.

“Our relations with Turkey are significant in order to ensure partnership, peace, and security,” the Serbian leader added.

May 7 is the last day of Aleksandar Vucic’s two-day visit.

Earlier, Vucic paid tribute to Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk at his mausoleum, Anıtkabir.