Nikolić: Aggression without weapons

BELGRADE President Tomislav Nikolic has said that the statement of Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan that "Kosovo is Turkey” constitutes "aggression without weapons." Addressing the public on Saturday, Nikolic explained that this was why he "froze his participation in trilateral meetings between Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey." Nikolic: Aggression without weapons Nikolic underscored that the scandal triggered by the Turkish prime minister in Prizren constitutes brutal and reckless breach of good neighbourly relations and disrespect and violation of Serbia's sovereignty by a revision of history. Nikolic said that when he took on the position of the president, he also took on the good relations with Turkey set up by his predecessor, former president Boris Tadic. In a release, Nikolic said that he did his best to turn the relations into a sincere friendship between the two nations and kept warning the Turkish president that it not proper for Turkish officials to call on other countries to recognise Kosovo's so-called independence. "The ideas of Kemal Ataturk are no longer the ideas of Turkey's leadership," Nikolic said and underscored that he expects reason to prevail in Turkey and hopes Turkey would apologise to Serbia for the aggression without weapons. Nikolic added that until that point, he will freeze his participation as the president of Serbia in trilateral meetings between Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey because this is not a meeting of warmongers but a gathering of democratic countries which are guided by the reason of statehood toward peace in the Balkans. During his stay in Prizren, southern Kosovo and Metohija, on Wednesday, Erdogan said that “Kosovo is Turkey and Turkey is Kosovo” and added that the nations of Kosovo and Turkey share the same history and civilisation. Erdogan said that he feels at home in Kosovo, and added that Turkey was one of the first countries to recognise Kosovo's independence and promised that it will continue assisting Kosovo. Turkish Ambassador in Belgrade Mehmet Kemal Bozay said on Saturday that at this point, he "cannot comment on the decision of the Serbian president to freeze his participation in trilateral meetings with Turkey." In a telephone statement for Tanjug, Bozay said that he has just heard about the decision of the Serbian president and is supposed to notify Ankara about this, which is why he cannot make any comments at the moment. On Sunday, the media in Ankara quoted Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu as saying that the statement made by Turkish Erdogan about Kosovo was "misinterpreted and taken out of context." (Beta, file) Tanjug

Nikolić: Aggression without weapons

Nikolić underscored that the scandal triggered by the Turkish prime minister in Prizren constitutes brutal and reckless breach of good neighbourly relations and disrespect and violation of Serbia's sovereignty by a revision of history.

Nikolić said that when he took on the position of the president, he also took on the good relations with Turkey set up by his predecessor, former president Boris Tadić.

In a release, Nikolić said that he did his best to turn the relations into a sincere friendship between the two nations and kept warning the Turkish president that it not proper for Turkish officials to call on other countries to recognise Kosovo's so-called independence.

"The ideas of Kemal Ataturk are no longer the ideas of Turkey's leadership," Nikolić said and underscored that he expects reason to prevail in Turkey and hopes Turkey would apologise to Serbia for the aggression without weapons.

Nikolić added that until that point, he will freeze his participation as the president of Serbia in trilateral meetings between Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey because this is not a meeting of warmongers but a gathering of democratic countries which are guided by the reason of statehood toward peace in the Balkans.

During his stay in Prizren, southern Kosovo and Metohija, on Wednesday, Erdogan said that “Kosovo is Turkey and Turkey is Kosovo” and added that the nations of Kosovo and Turkey share the same history and civilisation.

Erdogan said that he feels at home in Kosovo, and added that Turkey was one of the first countries to recognise Kosovo's independence and promised that it will continue assisting Kosovo.

Turkish Ambassador in Belgrade Mehmet Kemal Bozay said on Saturday that at this point, he "cannot comment on the decision of the Serbian president to freeze his participation in trilateral meetings with Turkey."

In a telephone statement for Tanjug, Bozay said that he has just heard about the decision of the Serbian president and is supposed to notify Ankara about this, which is why he cannot make any comments at the moment.

On Sunday, the media in Ankara quoted Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu as saying that the statement made by Turkish Erdogan about Kosovo was "misinterpreted and taken out of context."