President Erdoğan: Türkiye closely follows all the developments in the Balkans and offers the necessary contributions in this regard
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered remarks at a joint press conference with President Zoran Milanović of Croatia.
“This year, we mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Croatia,” President Erdoğan said. “Our countries share deep-rooted historical and cultural ties, and are two friends and allies, who consider one another to be neighbors even though we do not share any borders.
Türkiye and Croatia have upheld their strong friendship during the most difficult times. Türkiye was one of the first countries that rushed to help Croatia following the earthquake in recent years. By sending a firefighting aircraft to help with the wildfires in Türkiye, Croatia has demonstrated its solidarity. In this spirit, we discussed all aspects of our bilateral relation during today’s talks. We exchanged views regarding the developments in our region. 3 documents were signed here today. Bilateral contacts and visits have regained momentum at all levels. We also had a chance to evaluate in detail the elections to be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 2.”
“OUR BILATERAL TRADE VOLUME HAS SURPASSED THE PRE-PANDEMIC LEVEL”
On the economic relations between Türkiye and Croatia, President Erdoğan said: “Our bilateral trade volume has recovered very strongly last year and surpassed the pre-pandemic level. It has reached $900 million with increase of nearly 41 percent. We will work to further this progress. We are pleased to see that this momentum has continued to increase in the first 8 months of 2022 and the volume has already surpassed $760 million. Apparently, we will easily exceed our $1 billion target, which we set back in 2016, by year’s end. I believe we will first double this figure in the period ahead and then increase it up to $5 billion.”
Praising the Turkish firms’ interest in Croatia, President Erdoğan said: “Our firms are carrying out significant projects in various sectors, particularly in energy, contracting, tourism and banking. The first geothermal power plant in Croatia, the Krizevci-Koprivnica-Botovo railway project, which is a major strategic infrastructure project in Croatia, the renovation of the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia, which was damaged during the earthquake, have been undertaken by Turkish firms. I would like to take this occasion to thank Mr. President and the Croatian authorities for their confidence in our firms.”
“OUR COOPERATION ON THE HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS RETURNED TO TÜRKİYE IS PRAISE-WORTHY”
“Today, we will also inaugurate the Islamic Culture Center, built in Sisak with TİKA’s support,” President Erdoğan noted. “By doing so, we will send an important message to the entire Europe and the world. I thank my counterpart, President Milanović, and all the relevant authorities for Croatia’s support to the construction of the Islamic Culture Center. Our exemplary cooperation on the historical artifacts, seized in two separate operations by the Croatian customs officials and returned to Türkiye in last November and March, is praise-worthy.”
“As a country in the region, Türkiye closely follows all the developments in the Balkans and offers the necessary contributions in this regard,” President Erdoğan said, and ended his remarks as follows: “During our talks, we have exchanged views on possible joint steps to be taken to preserve and strengthen the peace and stability in Southeast Europe. We have underscored once again our support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s peace, stability and territorial integrity, and its integration with Europe. With this aim, we have discussed the contributions we can make together as Türkiye and Croatia. We have agreed to maintain our dialogue with regard to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a broader sense after the elections.”
