Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Nikola Selakovic met this evening with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Antalya, on the fringes of the informal meeting of foreign ministers of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) participants.

In the meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Minister Selakovic expressed hope that the current level of bilateral relations, intensive political dialogue, deepened cooperation and mutual trust and respect would continue to develop in the period ahead, to the benefit of our countries and the region as a whole.

The Serbian Foreign Minister noted that the good understanding existing between Presidents Aleksandar Vucic and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as well as their personal relationship, have contributed significantly to the development of political, economic and all other relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Turkey.

The two collocutors also discussed the opportunities to deepen the economic cooperation between the two states, with Minister Selakovic stressing that he highly appreciated the personal contribution of President Erdoğan to the arrival of new Turkish investors to Serbia.

Recalling that the two countries marked the 140th anniversary of their diplomatic relations last year, Minister Selakovic said that the history of our relations dated even further back making it incumbent upon us to continue to work together on the strengthening of all-round relations and supporting peace and stability in the region.

The Minister added that Serbia followed with great attention the situation related to the Covid-19 epidemic in Turkey, expressing wishes for a swift and full return to normal life there, and a successful economic recovery.

Minister Selakovic took the opportunity to extend sincerest expressions of condolences following the devastating earthquake which struck Izmir area and took many human lives, wishing a speedy recovery to those injured.

On Friday, 6 November, Minister Selakovic will take part in the informal meeting of South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) foreign ministers, to be held in Antalya.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will host the Antalya meeting entitled "Ways for Strengthening Cooperation in South East Europe Based on the COVID-19 Pandemic Experience of the Region".

The meeting will be held as part of Turkish Chairmanship of the South East European Cooperation Process (2020-20201).

On the fringes of this event, the Serbian Foreign Minister will hold separate bilateral meetings with representatives of a number of SEECP participants and a trilateral meeting with Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina - Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Bisera Turkovic.