Heads of Bosnia, Turkey, Serbia to Meet in Istanbul

Turkey’s efforts to normalise relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia continue as Istanbul is set to host on Saturday the first trilateral presidential-level meeting of the three countries. The three are expected to discuss the strengthening of peace and stability in the Balkans.

The meeting of Tadic, Gul and Silajdzic will be the first meeting of the three countries representatives at that level.

Addressing journalists on board a plane en route to Brussels from Belgrade on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that meeting in Istanbul will bring together Haris Silajdzic, the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbian President Boris Tadic and Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

“This is the fruit of a six-month-long effort,” Davutoglu said, referring to the fact that Turkey has been involved in initiating such a meeting since October.

The foreign ministers of the three countries have met five times over the past six months.

The foreign ministers of Serbia, Spain and Turkey, – Vuk Jeremic, Miguel Angel Moratinos and Ahmet Davutoglu, respectively – met in Belgrade on Monday in order to find suitable solutions to outstanding issues so that the forthcoming EU-Western Balkans summit scheduled for June 2 in Sarajevo is a success.

Davutoglu also said that his country’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is planning to pay an official visit to Belgrade soon.