“The fact that our relations have turned into strategic relations is a development with historic significance,” President Abdullah Gül said at a joint press conference with his Serbian counterpart, Boris Tadic, during a visit on Monday.
Relations between the two countries were strained after Turkey became one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, despite Belgrade's protests. Turkey and Serbia were also at odds during Serbian-Muslim conflicts in Bosnia in the 1990s.
“We don't see eye to eye on some issues such as Kosovo. We will never accept Kosovo's independence,” Tadic was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. “But our positions on Kosovo should not harm our relations.”
During Gül's visit, the first presidential visit from Turkey to Serbia since 1986, the two countries signed deals on cooperation in areas of economy, finance and transportation. The two presidents also called on Turkish businessmen to invest in Serbia.
“Turkish investors are not sufficiently active in Serbia. Perhaps this is due to some historical misunderstandings, but it is time now to turn a new page [in relations],” Tadic told a Serbian-Turkish business forum later in the day.
Gül and Tadic also discussed the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina and their joint aspiration to join the European Union. Tadic said Serbia and Turkey support each other's membership in the EU, which he later called “the biggest peace project of history.” Serbia must arrest war crimes fugitives to move forward in joining the EU, while Turkey has faced criticism for its human rights record.
Gül and Tadic visited a Serbian town on Tuesday where the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Karlowitz with a coalition of European countries in 1699. The treaty, which concluded a preceding war between 1683-97, is seen as marking the beginning of the Ottoman Empire's decline. “There is no peace anywhere in the world without peace with Turkey,” Tadic said.
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