Understanding and cooperation have molded the friendly ties between Turkey and Croatia over the last 30 years, Turkey's Ambassador to Zagreb Mustafa Babür Hızlan said, emphasizing that this approach has helped businesses and bilateral trade flourish.
The bilateral trade volume between the countries has grown steadily, "except for 2020, when the pandemic was affect was felt," Hızlan told Anadolu Agency (AA) Tuesday.
The ambassador said the trade volume reached $890 million by the end of 2021.
Sharing a deep-rooted common history, Turkish-Croatian relations entered a new era when Croatia gained independence from former Yugoslavia, Hızlan said, adding that Turkey was one of the first countries to acknowledge Croatia's independence when it officially recognized it on Feb. 6, 1992.
"Today, Croatia is an important country where we have excellent political relations at the bilateral level, and as NATO allies, we continue our cooperation in strengthening regional peace and stability," he said, adding that the countries also collaborate on regional platforms like the Southeast European Cooperation Process and a trilateral consultative mechanism with Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Turkish investors
The presence of Turkish investors in Croatia is also increasing, Hızlan said, noting that today, around 45 Turkish companies are active in the Balkan country.
"There are significant Turkish investments in tourism, construction, infrastructure, banking and renewable energy sectors," he said.
Croatia's first geothermal power plant, Velika Ciglena, was built by a Turkish company and is one of the examples of these investments, the Turkish diplomat said.
Hızlan added that a Turkish company was also carrying out the renewal of the Krizevci-Koprivnica-Botovo railway line, which is the priciest infrastructure project in Croatia to date, and the construction of a second line.
Croatia's Consul General to Istanbul Ivana Zerec also commented on the countries’ ties while marking the 30th anniversary of bilateral relations, highlighting that political, economic and diplomatic relations have been in a very good place for the past 30 years.
Zerec also drew attention to the strong cooperation between Turkey and Croatia in multilateral forums such as NATO, the European Union and United Nations.
Recalling President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s comments on the $1 billion bilateral trade target during his visit to Zagreb in 2016, she said the potential for economic cooperation is quite high.
"There are Turkish investments in Croatia in different fields such as energy, hotel management, banking, finance, tourism, and we hope that this will be even better in the future," the Croatian diplomat said.