By Mladen Dragojlovic
In an action aimed at improving relations between Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), soldiers from Turkey are in the Balkan country as part of the EU mission to help the country on its EU and NATO accession paths.Politicians in BiH agree it is important for their country to become member of NATO and the EU, and the Turkish battalion, as part of EUFOR, has assisted BiH.
At a recent meeting between Necdet Ozel, chief of the general staff of Turkey, and Ante Jelec, chief of the joint staff of the armed forces of BiH in Sarajevo, Jelec said Turkey has supported Bosnia on its way to Euro-Atlantic integration, NATO and its overall development.
The co-operation between the two militaries is implemented through the donation of military equipment, education and training. As part of EUFOR, the Turkish armed forces is assisting the BiH armed forces in the fields of education and consulting.
“The contribution of the Turkish contingent to EUFOR to support the transition of BiH’s armed forces into a modern army is significant. This support is obvious in the implementation of plans from the EUFOR HQ and in training of BiH armed forces,” Uma Sinanovic, head of the BiH Defence Ministry public relations department, told SETimes.
Sinanovic said the co-operation represents the continuity of the development of bilateral partnerships between the two countries.
Alptekin Tartici, commander of the Turkish military mission in BiH, told SETimes that BiH accession into EU and NATO is necessary to permanently transform the country’s security environment.
“This will also have a positive impact on the security of the Balkan region. We have been supporting BiH during the accession process for EU and NATO. In this context, in all NATO platforms, we are giving the necessary support to BiH to become a NATO member,” Tartici said.
Tartici said that aside from military support, the Turkish troops are organising activities that foster quality relationships with the local administrations based on their needs.
According to Tartici, Turkish armed forces helped reconstruct 80 schools, 28 language laboratories, seven bridges, infrastructure facilities and religious facilities.
“The financial support provided by the Turkish army is more than 4 million euros since 1993,” Tartici said.
Future projects include the reconstruction of a kindergarten in Banja Luka.
“In this kindergarten we will have place for 70 kids. At a meeting with Banja Luka Mayor Slobodan Gavranovic, representatives of the Turkish army gave a list of potential projects in Banja Luka in order to decide which project may be financed. We agreed that it would be the kindergarten,” said Zoran Novakovic, chief of the department for housing, utilities and transport in the Banja Luka government. – Eurasia Review
