Vučić: Turkey is an important power; Erdogan: Our relationship with Serbia is a 'Golden Age'

"Thank you to President Erdogan for expressing his good will to always visit our country," Vučić said at the beginning.

"Today, we talked about all the important geopolitical topics, as well as the problems we face individually and together," he said.

"Turkey and Serbia have good economic relations," he said.

"I believe that Serbia and its citizens will benefit significantly from this conversation. Turkey and Serbia have good economic relations, we have tripled the exchange rate. We will end the year at 2.6 billion euros," he continued.

"Turkey is a country with which we are trying to build friendly relations. It is an important power, that is why I am particularly pleased that today we held meetings of the High Council for Cooperation. It is important to establish much closer relations for cooperation in the military field, to establish a team that would work on that," said Vučić, and then spoke about Turkish companies working in Serbia.

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Profimedia/Serhat Cagdas / Anadolu

"We also talked about the situation in the Balkans. I listened carefully to Erdogan, he spoke clearly and unequivocally about the politics of Serbia. I am grateful to Turkey and Erdogan for understanding that they wanted to listen to us," said the President of Serbia.

"I hope that he will soon visit Serbia again and that he will accept my invitation to visit Belgrade again. We will hold the next session of the Council in Ankara," President of Serbia concluded.

Erdogan's address

"I would like to thank President Vučić, my friend, for the hospitality I felt. We signed several agreements that will further strengthen the contractual obligations between us. Our relationship with Serbia is such that we can say "golden age". Economic relations are that governs our relations. We are determined to move in that direction. We hope that the number of tourists from Serbia will increase. We employ 960 people in Serbia," said Erdogan.

"Dear friend, Mr. Vučić, plays a big role in establishing this climate. Once again we underlined the importance of peace and stability in the Balkans. Once again we confirmed our determination to protect stability in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I have underlined many times how much Serbia plays a constructive role", he added.

"What is currently happening in the Middle East was also a topic. It is high time to stop Israel's attacks. I would encourage others to officially accept Palestine as a state. During the bilateral talks, we focused on political, economic, tourism, issues related to defense... We hope that the decisions made will be fruitful," Erdogan said.

Press conference

On the relations between the two countries, the preservation of peace and stability...

"The essence of our talks concerns the maintenance of peace and stability. Serbia received an investment rating a few days ago. I am grateful to Erdogan that we were always able to talk, even when we did not fully agree. Erdogan has many ideas, how to preserve peace permanently and accordingly we will try to show some different signs towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. Turkey is the biggest player in the Balkans and the most powerful country, I am grateful to Erdogan for always wanting to talk to everyone," said Vučić.

• Erdogan with Vučić in Belgrade: The meeting between the two leaders has begun VIDEO