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Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina hold trilateral talks
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu arrived in Sarajevo on Sunday evening in order to attend a ministers’ meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations’ Regional Strategy for Southeast Europe, which was held on Sunday and Monday. Davutoğlu used the occasion to hold a trilateral meeting with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and his Bosnian counterpart, Sven Alkalaj.
Speaking to reporters along with his Bosnian and Serbian counterparts following the meeting, Davutoğlu expressed satisfaction over their meeting, underlining Serbia’s and Turkey’s joint support for maintenance of the national unity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also announced that he would gather with his two counterparts in Belgrade for the next trilateral meeting.
In October, on the sidelines of a ministerial-level meeting of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), the chairmanship-in-office of which is held by Turkey, Davutoğlu brought together Jeremic and Alkalaj for the first of such trilateral meetings. In November, the three held the second such trilateral meeting in İstanbul.
For his part, speaking following the meeting in Sarajevo, Alkalaj said the cooperation among the three countries would continue, while Jeremic said they have planned to hold monthly meetings on a regular basis. Underlining the three actors’ commitment to preservation of territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jeremic also noted his country’s support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s bid to become a member of international organizations such as the European Union.
While in Sarajevo, Davutoğlu held separate talks with three members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, which rotates every eight months among three members -- Bosniak, Serbian and Croatian.
During talks with Croatian Zeljko Komsic, Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) Haris Silajdzic and Serbian Nebojsa Radmanovic, Davutoğlu gave the same message to the leaders, urging reconciliation amongst each other.
Davutoğlu, meanwhile, in a speech delivered at the meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations’ Regional Strategy for Southeast Europe, touched upon the crisis over Switzerland’s minaret ban.
In late October, Swiss voters approved a constitutional ban on minarets in a referendum which was condemned by human rights defenders and Muslim groups in Switzerland and abroad, including in Turkey.
Davutoğlu said he hoped this “mistake” would be repaired by Switzerland, as he, as a non-smoker, used a Bosniak proverb which says, “No coffee without a cigarette, no mosque without a minaret.”
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