President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović, with an official ceremony on Saturday.
After a formal welcome at the Office of the President in Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace, Erdogan and Bećirović introduced their delegations, after which they moved on to a bilateral meeting.
At the beginning of the conversation, Bećirović especially thanked President Erdoğan and the friendly people of the Republic of Turkey for their strong and continuous support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina greatly respects the courageous and responsible leadership of the President of the Republic of Turkey in these difficult global times.
During the conversation, the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH emphasized that the support of the Republic of Turkey, one of the strongest NATO members and a member state of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council, is extremely important for Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also recalled recent talks with NATO leaders at the Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, where he reiterated that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership in NATO is one of the strategic foreign policy goals of the state.
Bećirović emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Turkey, in addition to strong political, diplomatic and other ties, are also developing increasingly strong economic cooperation. He particularly pointed out the fact that in 2025, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s exports to Turkey increased, while total foreign trade exceeded 2 billion BAM. He emphasized that there is significant room for further improvement of economic cooperation in the areas of infrastructure, energy and agriculture, with the need to further strengthen the institutional framework for economic cooperation between the two countries.
The Chairman of the Presidency of BiH informed the President of the Republic of Turkey about the intensified activities of lobbying structures engaged by the leadership of the BiH entity RS, emphasizing that huge financial resources are being used to systematically spread false narratives about Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this context, he also mentioned the latest contract that the leaders of the BiH entity RS concluded with a lobbying firm with the aim of undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Big-power circles are deliberately promoting Islamophobic narratives and trying to create malicious theses about Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bosniaks. The answer to such dangerous policies is not passivity, but proactive action in key centers of world power and strengthening alliances with key partners.
Erdoğan said that preserving peace, stability and a multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina are extremely important for the Republic of Turkey. President Erdoğan confirmed that the Republic of Turkey will strongly oppose anyone who threatens the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also said that the Republic of Turkey will continue to strengthen ties with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the coming period.
The two leaders then met for a working lunch, AA writes.
