ANKARA - President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Thursday that Turkey attributed importance to Serbia-Montenegro`s being a stability factor in Europe.
Sezer and President of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marovic, who came to Ankara for an official visit, had tete-a-tete meeting and later headed meetings held between the delegations.
Speaking in the joint news conference held after the meetings, President Sezer said that they had very beneficial meetings and they exchanged views about bilateral, regional and international issues.
``We reviewed the things we can do to further improve the bilateral relations in all fields and we decided to charge our concerned institutions for taking concrete steps,`` Sezer said.
President Sezer noted that participation of Serbia-Montenegro in NATO`s Partnership For Peace programme would be useful for stability of the Balkans.
Sezer said that people suffered a lot during the dissolution process of former Yugoslavia, adding that regional countries should look at the future. Sezer said that Marovic was a statesman who undertook important initiatives to end the pains of the past.
Before the joint news conference, the two countries signed a cooperation agreement in tourism field.
Culture and Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu and Foreign Minister of Serbia and Montenegro Goran Svilanovic signed the agreement.
MAROVIC: TWO COUNTRIES HAVE COMMON TARGETS IN PROCESS OF INTEGRATION WITH EUROPEAN-ATLANTIC INSTITUTIONS
Marovic said that his visit could be considered as a new page in relations between the two countries.
Marovic said that they confirmed once again that there were no political problems between the two countries, adding that they aimed to improve the existing friendly relations in all fields, but particularly in economic field.
Marovic stated that Turkey`s support to Serbia-Montenegro during the process of NATO`s Partnership for Peace (PFP) encouraged them, adding that the NATO Summit which would be held in Istanbul in June was very important for them in that respect.
Marovic stated that regional countries should be open to each other and goods and ideas should circulate freely, adding that inward-looking countries would not record progress.
Calling Turkish business circles, Marovic expressed pleasure over the interest shown in the privatization process in Serbia-Montenegro. ``We want to see more Turkish companies in this process,`` said Marovic.
Marovic said that signing of cooperation agreements about free trade, prevention of double taxation, social security and military-technical fields soon was important.
Marovic said that Sezer accepted his invitation, adding he hoped to see Sezer in his country soon.
SEZER HOSTS DINNER IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT MAROVIC OF SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
Speaking at the dinner, President Sezer said that they believed that relations between Ankara and Belgrade had a special quality inherited by the common history of both countries.
Noting that Marovic`s visit was the concrete proof of developing bilateral relations, Sezer said they believed that Marovic`s visit would constitute an important step for the bilateral relations that had been revived in parallel to the democratization and reform process initiated in October of 2000 after ten years of wasted time in Serbia and Montenegro.
Recalling that important steps had been taken in Turkey-Yugoslavia relations during period of Ataturk who believed in importance of establishment of friendly ties among the Balkan states, Sezer said that the Friendship and Non-Aggression Treaty signed in 1933, the Balkan Pact signed in 1934 and Yugoslavia`s League of Nations Permanent Representative`s being one of the representatives of the nine states that signed the Montreux Straits Treaty were the examples to those steps.
Stressing that the Balkans was a region with which Turkey had historical, cultural and humane ties and maintained intense and multi-dimensional relations, President Sezer noted that they wished to see Serbia and Montenegro, as an element of stability, to be a partner of Turkey also in European institutions in the future and with this respect, bilateral cooperation and support would be beneficial to both sides.
Noting that there existed opportunities of cooperation between the two countries also in fields of economy and trade, Sezer said that the bilateral trade volume which had been about 200 million U.S. dollars in 2003 did not reflect the real potential of the two countries and they should utilize those opportunities. Stressing that almost 200 thousand tourists from Serbia and Montenegro visited Turkey each year and similarly, Turkish citizens living in West European countries traveled via Serbia and Montenegro, President Sezer added that it was a meaningful opportunity of consolidating the friendship between the two peoples. Meanwhile, Marovic said in his part that people of the two countries were bound to each other through multi-dimensional relations and there was a cooperation free of problems on basis of mutual understanding between the two countries.
Stressing importance of developing the cooperation by establishing much closer relations under the process of regional cooperation and integration to Europe-Atlantic institutions, Marovic expressed his gratitude to Turkey for its support to acceptance of his country to the Partnership for Peace program at the NATO summit to be held in Istanbul in June. Noting that the two countries had very similar point of view and purposes regarding their international activities, Marovic said that they had reached an agreement during the meetings that there was not any problem between Turkey and Serbia and Montenegro, stressing that there was a need for an increase in economic cooperation and joint investments.
Stating that they supported every step to be taken to develop bilateral cooperation also in fields of culture, education and science, Marovic added that the Turkish citizens of Serbia-Montenegro origin living in Turkey and Turks living in Serbia-Montenegro contributed to development of bilateral relations and cooperation.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu and Culture and Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu were also in attendance at the dinner.
(AA) 12.02.2004