Relations between Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina are excellent - Erdogan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that it was not possible to talk about a permanent stability in Europe before stability in Bosnia-Herzegovina was restored, Anadolu Agency reported.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nikola Spiric, Erdogan described political relations between the two countries as "excellent".

Erdogan said the driving force in relations stemmed from very close ties between the peoples of the two countries and noted that relations in economy and trade were improving gradually.

Erdogan expressed satisfaction over the will of Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina to boost economic, political and trade relations.

"Fostering economic relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina is among primary targets of our countries. Actual trade volume amounted to 600 million USD at the end of 2008. We will endeavor to boost trade volume. We have also mutually underlined importance of reciprocal investments. We also discussed matters related to cultural cooperation," Erdogan said.

Erdogan said, "I have emphasized that Turkey would be in dialogue and solidarity with each of the co-founders in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Turkey would also continue its determination regarding NATO membership of Bosnia."

The prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina underlined the importance of political dialogue to reach a solution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Prime Minister Nikola Spiric of Bosnia and Herzegovina said that they could not find solutions if they turned their back to each other.

It was not right for politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina to wait for solutions from outside, instead of solving their problems on their own, Spiric told a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Spiric is actually visiting the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Also, Spiric said he discussed bilateral relations and regional cooperation with Erdogan.

Spiric said that Turkey had always helped his country, and Bosnia and Herzegovina had asked Turkey's assistance to boost its relations with neighboring countries.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul received Spiric, who later attended a working lunch at the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) Economics and Technology University.