President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Friday, the first stop on his mini-tour of two Western Balkan countries, which also includes Montenegro.
In Sarajevo, Erdoğan began his visit to the grave of Alija Izetbegovic, the country’s founding president, who died in 2003.
Erdoğan is expected to later attend the reopening of the Bascarsija Mosque, built in the 1500s but damaged during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. The historic mosque, which was declared a national monument in 2006, was restored by the General Directorate of Foundations from Turkey.
Before leaving Turkey, Erdoğan said that with its multicultural structure, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a key country in the Balkan region.
“Turkey attaches great importance to the security, stability and development of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said.
He also said that during his visit he would have the opportunity to discuss measures to strengthen cooperation.
Erdoğan will then meet Zeljko Komsic, Croatian member and current chairman of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three-member Presidential Council, as well as its Serbian member Milorad Dodik and its Bosnian member Sefik Dzaferovic.
The three-member council will welcome Erdoğan in an official ceremony.
During their face-to-face meeting, bilateral relations will be reviewed and steps taken to deepen cooperation will be discussed.
Erdoğan will arrive in Podgorica, the capital of neighboring Montenegro, on Saturday at the invitation of the country’s president, Milo Djukanovic.
During the two visits, current developments in the Balkans will be assessed and views will be exchanged on other regional and international issues.