International relations expert Goran Bandov in N1 Studio analyzed live the Balkan tour of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which he also visited Croatia.
About the meaning of the visit to Croatia, Bandov said:
“President Erdogan is coming to Croatia to say what he thinks about the situation in BiH and to see what the Croatian leadership thinks about it. We are facing elections in BiH, we know the political situation in that country. Turkey has always had influence in that country, it has a strong influence on Bosniak leaders.”
Croatia is extremely interesting for Turkey
Bandov adds that the second topic is certainly economic.
“Croatia is extremely interesting to Turkey because Croatia is one of the EU countries that looks quite favorably towards Turkey. Croatia can be a route for Turkish products to other parts of the EU. In this way, Erdogan shows his political scene that he has influence in the Balkans. Croatia is particularly interesting because it is a NATO country and a member of the EU. With that, it is more interesting than other countries that are a little further south”, explains the international relations expert.
Erdogan’s foreign policy
About Erdogan’s policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bandov says:
“We don’t know what he said to SDA president Izetbegović in private. What is certain, the President of Turkey does not want Schmidt as the EU Commissioner to be the one to make key decisions, Turkey wants to be the one to directly influence. He said explicitly that he is not in favor of intervening so that Schmidt intervenes, but that there should be an agreement. He is friendly towards Serbia and Croatia as well. His interest is wider than BiH. Croatia has certain advantages that it can give here. Croatia is also interesting as one of the countries that has one of the most successful religious models, which is certainly extremely important to Erdogan.”
He notes that BiH, which is running into difficulties, is not desirable to anyone, including Turkey.
“Of course, it is not favorable primarily for us in the environment, who will then have to react directly to it. This is an opportunity for Erdogan to use his diplomatic skills in the best way to preserve the interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Bandov, emphasizing that Erdogan is also an advocate of Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro…
“This is how he comes home and says ‘we are home in the Balkans’, both culturally and economically. This can play a role in the election. There is also a wider community from the Balkans that can react positively to this,” adds Bandov.
Turkey is starting to play a global role
Speaking about the relationship between Turkey and Russia, Bandov noted that President Erdogan has said that he supports an integral Ukraine, including Crimea.
“He’s someone who tries to find a win-win situation for everyone involved in the talks. A full confrontation would make it impossible for them to be a mediating party. Erdogan finds a solution in situations where the situation seems hopeless, primarily by thinking about the interests of the parties. He is also able to tell the host what he is up to. He came to Belgrade, talked about economic cooperation, but he also said that the dialogue with Kosovo should be continued and the situation with license plates should be resolved,” said Bandov.
“Turkey is definitely starting to play a global role. We are in new geopolitical realignments and she is trying to strengthen her position. About 20 years ago, Turkey took some other paths, these paths are significantly more imbued with faith. The question is whether this is something that is supported by Turkish society”, he points out.
Looking back at Turkish society, Bandov assessed that we live in Croatia with significantly greater freedom than citizens of Turkey.
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