Starović: Serbia-Turkey relations are the backbone of stability in the region
In his guest appearance on Radio Television Serbia, State Secretary Starović said that Serbia and Turkey were making efforts to preserve peace and stability, and that a destabilisation of Serbia, which could jeopardise many Turkish investments in Serbia, was not in Turkey’s interest.
“Ankara has realised that it cannot fulfil its long-term interests through a conflict with Serbia, but instead through a pragmatic and constructive cooperation with Serbia, which yields good results”, said State Secretary Starović. He agreed with the statement by President Aleksandar Vučić, given during the visit of President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Belgrade, about the “golden age of Serbia-Turkey relations”.
State Secretary Starović said that Turkey was one of the 10 most important foreign trade partners of Serbia and a major investor, and that there were 1,300 Turkish companies doing business in Serbia, employing approximately 10,000 workers.
“Without the participation of Turkey and Turkish companies, we would not be able to accelerate the works on the Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway. This is a visible result of the cooperation between Turkey and Serbia”, stated State Secretary Starović, and added that Turkey had its interests on the Balkan peninsula, and that the development of economic cooperation helped channel Turkey’s political presence in a positive way.
State Secretary Starović emphasised that seven important agreements with Turkey had been signed the day before, where one of the most important ones was the one allowing Serbian citizens to travel to Turkey and Turkish citizens to travel to Serbia with their identity cards only, which, according to State Secretary Starović, would enter into force at the beginning of the following year.
He spoke about many joint investments of Serbia and Turkey, listing the motorway Belgrade-Sarajevo and the regional road Novi Pazar-Turin, as well as cooperation in the field of military industry, and the importance of Turkey as a transit country for the supply of gas and purchase of electricity.
State Secretary Starović also highlighted Turkey’s clear and direct support to the Open Balkan initiative.
“With the support of Hungary, Turkey and Greece, with strong support of USA, I believe conditions are slowly being created for the initiative to live up to its full potential”, said State Secretary Starović. He added that the initiative would create real impacts in terms of achieving the annual growth rate of 7%, if it were to consist of five countries, i.e., six partners.
Asked about his opinion on Turkey’s position on Kosovo and Metohija, State Secretary Starović answered that it was impossible to deny that Turkey had been one of the strongest supporters of the independence of the so-called Kosovo, but that it had somewhat changed its approach in the last six years.
“President Erdoğan is no more giving such statements as the one he made in Prizren in 2014: “Kosovo is Turkey, Turkey is Kosovo.” For the last few years, the official approach has been much more balanced. The Turkish policy has been reflecting a need for some sort of a compromise, for a solution that would be acceptable to both sides. President Erdoğan has also stated that Turkey believed that a creation of any kind of “Greater Albania” would be unacceptable. These are very useful messages”, said State Secretary Starović.
Speaking about Turkey’s constructive role, State Secretary Starović highlighted an important agreement concluded this June, concerning the implementation of an energy agreement relating to the supply of electricity to the north of Kosovo and Metohija.
“A part of these talks about the coordination of the road map was conducted in the territory of Turkey, and a constructive role in them was played by the Turkish state and Turkish power companies. It has been shown in practice that Turkey can also contribute to this in a constructive way, which we strongly welcome”, said State Secretary Starović.