“In light of the pain experienced in the region in the '90s, this meeting is very important for the Balkans. The interpretations and common plans of Turkey, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on the problems of the region are very important for the stability and future of the Balkans,” the Turkish foreign minister told reporters.
Davutoğlu also underlined that Turkey will continue its efforts to develop relations between Serbia and Bosnia, saying, “We will discuss what we can do to provide an atmosphere for the peaceful coexistence of different religions along with the entrenchment of peace and tolerance in our region.”
The meeting is seen as a significant step to ease the historic tension between the two countries which reached a peak in the 1990s, when a bloody war broke out between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, which was pursuing ultranationalist policies and genocide against Muslim Bosnians.
The war, which lasted more than three years, left 312,000 dead, of which nearly 200,000 were Muslims, according to the data provided by the International Red Cross. Another 2 million were made refugees and fled the country.
