Historical peace in the Balkans to be initiated in Ankara

Turkey’s silent victory: Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia will both announce tomorrow in Ankara that they will be sending reciprocal envoys.

The most significant step towards normalization in the Balkans, which has been the stage of great grief in recent history, will be taken tomorrow. The decision to resurrect diplomatic relations between Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia will be announced in Ankara. 

DAVUTOĞLU THE MEDIATOR 

The joint plan of action will be announced to the world upon the meeting of Bosnia Herzegovina Foreign Affairs Minister Sven Alkalaj and Serbia Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic, through the mediation of Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. 

AMBASSADORSHIP LEVEL 

According to the new plan, representation, which had been at the chargé d'affaires level, will now be elevated to the ambassadorship level. Foreign Affairs Minister Davutoğlu has been traveling back and forth for the past five months in order to establish this process of renewing relations in the Balkans.   

The step to be taken in Ankara tomorrow marks the most significant move towards the normalization of relations in the Balkans ever since the years of conflict experienced in the 1990’s. Tomorrow, the fifth round of three-way talks will take place in Ankara between Serbia and Bosnia’s Minister’s of Foreign Affairs and their Turkish counterpart. After months of mediation by Davutoğlu between Serbia and Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina and Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia, which began on October 10th 2009, tomorrow the most concrete move will be made with the announcement of plans to deploy mutual ambassadors in Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina. 

A SURPRISING TRIP TO BOSNIA

Davutoğlu’s objective is for relations in the Balkans to normalize paralleled with this new process between the Serbs and Bosnians. The decision to establish this new critical level of relations was first made during a three-party meeting which took place on January 14th and 15th during trips paid by Davutoğlu to both Zagreb and Belgrade. During his time in Zagreb, Davutoğlu, as mediator, held meetings between Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia, while in Belgrade, Turkey mediated for Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia. Following the series of meetings, Davutoğlu made a phone call to Bosnia Herzegovina President Haris Sladziç and then later arrived in Sarajevo accompanied by Alkalaj. After a two-hour meeting in the late night hours, Davutoğlu returned to Ankara.