Cavusoglu: Cooperation with Serbia in its "golden age"

ANKARA - Turkey and Serbia are in the "golden age" of bilateral cooperation, Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday in Ankara after a meeting with Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic, adding that he had noted this not only in the discussion with Dacic but also during a phone conversation with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

At a press conference with Dacic, Cavusoglu said Turkey would continue to work on advancement of bilateral relations and was ready to help Serbia deal with the consequences of recent flooding.

He said that, compared to other countries, Turkey had exchanged the most visits with Serbia and that the two countries had in September discussed ways of strengthening infrastructure.

"During my tenure, I visited Serbia five times and took part in many meetings - I am happy about the cooperation and the fact we can exchange experiences. We discussed the economy and tourism to develop that volume (of exchange) from the present 2.5 bln dollars to 5 bln dollars," he said.

Speaking about investments, Cavusoglu said they had risen from 1 mln to 400 mln dollars and that the Serbian government was to be credited for that as it helped Turkish companies resolve problems quickly.

"Another Halk Bank branch office has been opened, and we intend to open more to reach a total of 40. That will be great support to our companies and the Serbian economy. Our cooperation in the banking sector is very important. If we look at all forms of cooperation, a fourth meeting of the joint commission on trade is necessary," Cavusoglu said.

He added the defence ministries also maintained good cooperation and aspired to develop it further.

Cavusoglu added that the number of flights between Serbia and Turkey had been increased to boost the tourism economy and would be increased further to a significant extent once travel with ID cards only became possible.