Serbia condemns Turkish PM Erdoğan’s remarks

ISTANBUL

Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci (R) and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, inspect an honour guard in Pristina's main airport in Slatina on Oct 23. AP Photo

Serbia has condemned statements made by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a speech given in Kosovo on Oct. 23, saying such words “cannot be received as friendly.”

“In the Republic of Serbia, such statements cannot be received as friendly. They depart from assurances that we get in contacts with Turkey’s top officials,” the Foreign Ministry said, according to the Serbian news agency Tanjug.

Erdoğan had given a speech during his visit to Kosovo’s Prizren, in which he said, “Kosovo is Turkey, and Turkey is Kosovo.” The prime minister further added that the two nations, Kosovo and Turkey, shared the same history and civilization.

“The town of Emperor Dusan [the greatest ruler of medieval Serbia] is probably the least adequate place for such statements. Everyone in the world knows that Kosovo is a Serbian word, and Serbia’s territory, even those who recognized that quasi-state,” the ministry said in a press release.

Erdoğan, accompanied by Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, attended the official opening of a new terminal at the international airport in Pristina on Oct. 23 as part of his Kosovo itinerary.