First Deputy Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia H.E. Mr. Ivica Dacic opened today, August 5, 2019, with the new Honorary Consul of the Republic of Serbia in Edirne Mr. Salih Akgul, Serbian Consulate in Edirne, former capital of the Ottoman Empire. This is the second honorary consulate that Serbia opens in Turkey in the last year.
In his speech on the ceremony of the opening Minister H.E. Mr. Dacic repeated once more the importance of the good relations between Serbia and Turkey, pointing out that the opening of this Consulate contributed the two countries` and two peoples` aspirations for rising the relations to a higher level. Minister H.E. Mr. Dacic expressed his satisfaction with the fact that the trade exchange exceeded 1 billion dollars and expressed his expectations that the commercial cooperation will continue to grow. Minister H.E. Mr. Dacic, having in mind the approaching visit of President Erdogan to Serbia, took this opportunity to exchange opinions with high level invitees on bilateral and regional issues. After the opening of the Consulate in Edirne, Minister H.E. Mr. Dacic will have a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
A lot of guests from politics, culture and public life, among which a couple of MPs in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, governor and mayor of Edirne, presidents of various Istanbul municipalities, as well as the presidents of diaspora unions, attended the ceremony of the opening.
Consulate in Edirne, beside providing consular help to Serbian citizens, as its basic function, has as a special function establishing new and tighter commercial relations between two country. Mr. Salih Akgul, as a well-known businessman and owner of the company `Salcano`, popular bicycle manufacturer and sponsor of both national cycling teams of Serbia and Turkey, is a person more than appropriate to contribute to flourishing of the two countries` business relations.