Turkey, Serbia Sign Bilateral Pacts

The presidents of Turkey and Serbia, Adbullah Gul and Boris Tadic, have agreed in a Belgrade meeting on Monday that the two countries relations constitute a "strategic partnership".

According to Beta news agency, Gul said that these relations are based “on both friendship and security”.

"As long as Serbia and Turkey support solving the same problems, there will be peace in the Balkans," the agency quoted the Turkish president as saying.

Gul, who is the first Turkish head of state to visit Serbia since 1986, arrived in Belgrade today for a two-day state visit, as the two countries look to strengthen their economic and political ties.

Relations between the two countries were strained after Turkey became one of the first countries to recognise Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008.

Tadic reiterated at the meeting that Serbia will never recognise Kosovo, while stressing that Belgrade will continue to struggle in a diplomatic and legal way to preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“Disagreements over Kosovo cannot be allowed to disrupt our relations,” Tadic pointed out.

Since "Belgrade and Serbia are located at a key position in the Balkans,” Gul said that Turkish companies are interested to invest in projects in Serbia, such as highway Corridor 10.

Serbia and Turkey signed five bilateral agreements in the Belgrade meeting. The pacts are as follows:

- An agreement on cooperation in the area of infrastructure projects and an agreement on economic cooperation - signed by Serbian Economy and Regional Development Minister Mladjan Dinkic and Turkish Labour and Social Security Minister Omer Dincer.

- An agreement on technical and financial cooperation - signed by Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and Turkish State Minister Faruk Celik.

- Two agreements in the area of social security - signed by Serbian Labour and Social Policy Minister Rasim Ljajic and his Turkish counterpart Omer Dincer.