Turkish envoy says Erdoğan expected in Serbia in June

Anadolija

The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to visit Serbia in June, Ankara’s ambassador to Belgrade said on Thursday, the Beta news agency reported.

After meeting Serbia’s Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Mladen Sarcevic, Tanju Bilgiç said the relations between Belgrade and Ankara were never better, the Ministry said in a statement.

“Our economic and political cooperation is exceptional, but there is still room for more collaboration in education. I’m sure there are many topics in that area the two sides can agree upon,” Bilgiç said, as quoted in the statement.

Sarcevic and Bilgiç also discussed the opening of a Turkish school in Belgrade and the minister said the procedure for foreign schools in Serbia had been simplified and that schools in English, Russian and German already existed in the capital.

The June visit would be Erdoğan’s second, after he was in Belgrade in October 2017. Turkish media said he was welcomed “like a king.“

His visit follows Russia’s President Vladimir Putin one-day stay in Belgrade on January 17. Putin was greeted by thousands of people driven into Belgrade on buses from across Serbia mostly organised by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party led by President Aleksandar Vucic.

Last December, French President Emmanuel Macron postponed the planned visit to Serbia due to unrest in his country. A new date has not been specified yet.