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Turkey, Serbia lift visa requirement
The agreement, signed by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on behalf of Turkey, came as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pays an official visit to Belgrade. The visa-free travel agreement with Serbia brings the number of countries where Turkish citizens can visit without visa to 62.
The Serbian government discussed the issue on Friday and agreed that the requirement for visas for Turkish visitors should be eliminated. Novi Pazar Mayor Meho Mahmutovic stated earlier on Saturday that the government had approved the initiative of Minister of Labor and Social Policy Rasim Ljajic for the abolishment of visas between Serbia and Turkey.
“The visa regime slowed down communication between the two countries' citizens, particularly businesspeople,” Mahmutovic was quoted as saying by Serbian media.
Erdoğan began his visit to Serbia after attending a ceremony commemorating the 15th anniversary of Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbian President Boris Tadic was also present at the ceremony.
“Our relations with Serbia, as it was confirmed during Mr. President's visit to Serbia in October, are moving on a positive course towards the goal of strategic partnership,” Erdoğan told reporters at a press conference ahead of his departure from Ankara on Saturday, referring to a landmark visit to Serbia by President Abdullah Gül last October. At the time, Gül became the first Turkish president to pay an official visit to Serbia since 1986.
“Of course, in the meantime, the actual infrastructure was formed through intense discussions between our foreign ministers, and the three countries have gotten together at the İstanbul gathering,” Erdoğan said.
The prime minister was referring to a historic summit that brought together the presidents of Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia in İstanbul in April. The summit boosted hopes for a lasting peace in the region after years of hostilities and war.
Begun by the joint efforts of the foreign ministers of the three countries last year, the İstanbul summit was the first of its kind. In the meeting, where Serbian President Tadic and Haris Silajdzic, the chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, shook hands for the first time, the Serbian president voiced support for Bosnia's NATO and European Union membership aspirations and its territorial integrity. Bosnia and Serbia are often at loggerheads because of Serbia's support for Bosnian Serb aggressors during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. This has sometimes led to local clashes despite an official end of hostilities.
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