Foreign Minister Fidan The stability of the Balkans is of great importance for the peace and security of the neighboring regions
Foreign Minister Fidan: The stability of the Balkans is of great importance for the peace and security of the neighboring regions
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that they hosted the first meeting of the Balkan Peace Platform in Istanbul and said, "The stability of the Balkans is of great importance for the peace and security of the neighboring regions, especially Europe."
Fidan spoke at a press conference and answered questions after the Balkan Peace Platform meeting held at a hotel in Istanbul.
Stating that Istanbul is at the center of a very intense diplomatic traffic, Fidan reminded that the talks between Ukraine and Russia were hosted on Wednesday and the nuclear talks between Iran-Germany-UK-France took place in Istanbul yesterday.
Stating that they hosted the first meeting of the Balkan Peace Platform in Istanbul, Fidan said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave the order to organize this meeting, and that the leaders of other countries also expressed interest in this issue, so that they came together with participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania and Kosovo.
Minister Fidan stated that the Balkans is a strategic crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea basins, and has been at the center of political, economic and security balances throughout history.
Stating that the Balkans maintain the same level of importance today, Fidan continued as follows:
"The stability of the Balkans is of great importance for the peace and security of the neighboring regions, especially Europe. This geography is not only strategic for Turkey, but also a priority area intertwined with cultural and human ties. With the contribution of these ties, we are a country that can closely feel the internal rhythm and reality of the region. Our bilateral cooperation with the countries of the region continues to develop in a multidimensional manner. With mutual high-level contacts, our cooperation is gradually moving into new areas every day. We believe that stability in the Balkans will become permanent primarily through further strengthening cooperation and dialogue among the countries of the region. This approach is based on the principle of regional ownership."
Stating that the Balkan Peace Platform constitutes a new link in the regional ownership approach, Fidan emphasized that their goal is to develop a result-oriented and unique structure that addresses the problems in a sincere manner and enables regular contacts between the parties.
Fidan stated that they want to create a ground where the word Balkans will be used in the sense of cooperation and solidarity, not division and separation, and that they endeavor to contribute to the welfare and peace of both their region and their immediate surroundings.
"We do not aim to replace any process, but to support the existing mechanisms. We offer a framework that supports the efforts of the international community, especially the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue process." Fidan said that they came together with the participants today to find Balkan solutions to Balkan problems and to create concrete projects.
"We cannot leave our future to coincidence or in the hands of others"
Fidan said that they discussed regional issues with the participants and emphasized that the establishment of stability and prosperity in the entire Balkans is their main priority.
"In addition to political developments in the region, we exchanged views on many topics, including energy security, strengthening connectivity and opportunities for regional cooperation and capacity building. Of course, we also discussed the future of the Balkan Peace Platform. We aim for this platform to create a complementary format in terms of existing platforms and initiatives in the region." Fidan emphasized that there was a common will to continue the meetings at regular intervals and to prioritize projects that will concretize regional cooperation.
Pointing out that they are going through a period in which crises are intertwined on a global scale, international norms are eroding and uncertainties are increasing, Fidan said that joint solutions should be sought in the face of these challenges, not individual ones.
Fidan pointed out that there is a need to strengthen regional dialog mechanisms more than ever, and that decisions regarding their own regions should be taken together, and made the following assessment:
"We have a common history and this history has painful and beautiful aspects. However, we should not let this history condemn us to the dead ends of the past. We should take lessons from our common history and assume the responsibility of shaping the future together. We cannot leave our future to coincidence or in the hands of others."
Fidan stated that they hope that the Balkan Peace Platform will serve this quest and that they have launched this initiative with the effort to work together for a Balkans that produces together and sees its differences as richness.
"We have decided to work together on the issues related to the candidate countries"
When asked what concrete decisions were taken in today's talks, Fidan reminded that six of the seven participating countries are candidate countries for European Union (EU) membership and said, "One of our common agenda items is how can we share experience together within the European Union membership process? What are our common attitudes and positions? What do we understand differently in our relations with the European Union? How can we take this further? How can we, as candidate countries, raise awareness in Brussels, especially for the region we belong to? In other words, we mainly went over this issue."
Pointing out that the EU has serious economic, cultural, political and technological policies towards the region, Fidan said, "There are responsibilities that come with being a candidate country. These responsibilities can become more and more binding. Candidate countries can take steps to implement or not implement the decisions taken by the European Union depending on their own preferences. Now, the synchronization of all of this is something that Turkey has been thinking about from the beginning, and we have been looking for a common point and a common position based on this common point. Therefore, an agreement was reached to create a more coordinated environment in our work on the European Union."
Minister Fidan said that the Balkan Peace Platform is a platform that allows for detailed discussions on issues such as what kind of experience can be shared together on these issues, especially Europe's visa and Customs Union policies, what kind of changes the geostrategic environment brings, when the membership of the candidate countries will be realized, whether there are any economic, political and security-related problem areas that they have suspended until the membership is realized, and if so, how they can be compensated again, how much the European Union's awareness on this issue is, how much the region's awareness of the sensitivities of the European Union is.
"Historically, geographically, culturally, each of these countries is a continuation of each other," Fidan said, emphasizing that it is important for a community of countries with high interdependence to act jointly on certain issues.
"At the same time, how can we turn the common points that provide this interdependence between us into trade, economy, political cooperation and defense industry cooperation in modern times? We agreed to work on that as well."
Noting that there are two projects that the EU is currently developing with two types of special funds, namely Security Action for Europe (SAFE) and rearmament of Europe, and that there are special rights granted to EU member states in these projects, and that there are different definitions made regarding candidate countries, Fidan said, "We have decided to work together on those related to candidate countries."
"At the same time, apart from SAFE and Rearm Europe (Europe's rearmament plan), how can we make our own defense industry cooperation? Because every country around the table has different capacities. We discussed this issue as an agenda item."
Turkish tourists' interest in Balkan countries is increasing
Stating that it is important for the countries to get to know each other through more education and observation, Fidan said that they touched upon the importance of mobilization on youth and education at the meeting.
Minister Fidan continued as follows:
"In six of these six countries, Turks come first in the number of tourism. As you know, Balkan tours are now very popular. Our citizens go to the Balkans with tours. In every capital city we visit, Belgrade, Pristina, Skopje, Tirana, Turkish tourists are increasing. These countries are also very happy about this. Istanbul and the rest of Turkey are also a big attraction for these countries, both in terms of tourism and business. How can we carry this further? Are we observing this enough? Are we able to evaluate it? We have been in search of this. We will continue to do so."
"We agreed to produce regional solutions to regional problems"
Emphasizing that they also agreed "to produce regional solutions to regional problems" at the meeting, Fidan said that if there is a capacity to solve the problems themselves, it is a duty and a debt for them to put it forward.
Stating that they had discussions on raising awareness and consciousness on this issue, Fidan said, "We have seen that there is a common ground on this issue with satisfaction. We decided to meet again every six months. Istanbul will continue to be the center of the Balkan Peace Platform for now."
Stating that the Balkan Peace Platform, the first of which was organized for the first time, is an informal format, Fidan said, "We agreed to bring our leaders together in this format when we make some progress in the coming time period."
"There is a consensus on solving the problems through diplomacy"
Recalling the tensions between some Balkan countries, Fidan said, "We have observed here with satisfaction, without naming some of the participants, that no one wants a hot war, a conflict like in the old days. There is a consensus around the table that the problems should be solved through diplomacy by talking, by agreement, and that the agenda should be advanced in this way. Therefore, the existence of such a platform will also serve to solve the existing problem areas."
Fidan pointed out that due to the region's focus on problems, areas of opportunity were missed, which had negative economic and security repercussions.
Noting that there is awareness and mental consensus on how to cooperate in economic and other areas and how to increase connectivity in peaceful ways while bracketing certain problems or continuing to solve them, Fidan said, "The parties expressed this around the table. I think this is the biggest output (of the Platform) for the continuation of regional peace."
"Our President wants to speed up this process (leaders' meeting) a little more"
Responding to a question about the possibility of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meeting with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Fidan said that one of the important agenda items of the Istanbul talks between Russia and Ukraine was the bringing together of the leaders, "Now on the humanitarian front, it is really agreed that more and more prisoners, wounded, detainees are being exchanged in increasing numbers, and both sides are implementing this by showing their best goodwill and efforts. This obviously pleases both our President and us very much."
Reminding that Russia and Ukraine have declared their will to come together in Istanbul hosted by Turkey, Fidan said, "But there is an ongoing negotiation process on when and under what conditions. As negotiators, we are obviously trying to bring together the different positions of Ukraine and Russia on this issue somewhere in the middle."
Fidan pointed out that Trump showed interest in the ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and said, "Therefore, our President wants to speed up this process a little more. He believes very much in leaders' diplomacy. In other words, he has an idea that certain blocked points between the negotiating delegations can be opened by the leaders coming together. Maybe we can take an initiative to make this possible."
Noting that the leaders of Russia and Ukraine want to come together but there is a "dispute" over the conditions, Fidan said:
"When the leaders come together here, on what kind of discussion grounds will they take what decisions? The delegations need to advance this beforehand. At the moment, there is no dispute between the leaders about whether to come or not. Everyone wants to come. But there are different opinions on when and under what conditions and at what stage. We are at the stage of bringing them together. Hopefully, if that happens in the near future, I believe that all three leaders will come together in Istanbul, hosted by our President."
Fidan shared a post on the Balkans Peace Platform on social media platform X
Fidan stated that the first meeting of the "Balkans Peace Platform", which was established upon the instruction of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to contribute to peace and stability in the Balkans, was held today in Istanbul at the level of Foreign Ministers.
Fidan said that the platform creates a ground for a sincere and target-oriented informal dialogue at the political level, and thus aims to institutionalize dialogue and cooperation on the basis of the principles of regional ownership and inclusiveness, to create opportunities for constructive consultation among the countries of the region and to promote projects that prioritize common prosperity.
In this framework, Fidan announced that in today's meeting, they agreed to exchange information on issues related to EU accession processes, to form opinions on connectivity, youth, education, defense industry and regional problems, to convene this platform at the level of leaders in the future, and to agree that Istanbul will host the next meetings and that the platform will meet regularly every six months.
Stating that these initiatives are not an alternative to the existing mechanisms, on the contrary, they will support these processes, Fidan pointed out that Turkey attaches strategic importance to peace and stability in the Balkans and will continue to make constructive contributions in different platforms in this direction.