Today we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Croatia.

Türkiye and Croatia are two friendly and allied countries with deep-rooted historical and cultural ties, located at the two ends of the Southeast European region, connected to each other with the common identity of being European and Mediterranean and seeing each other as neighbours even though they do not share common borders.

The close relations between Türkiye and Croatia, carried from past to present, also constitute the basis for sincere feelings of friendship between our peoples. After Croatia achieved its independence in 1991, Türkiye was among the first countries to recognize Croatia's independence, and a new era began in the relations between the two countries. The relations, which this spirit of friendship gives life to, are built on universal values and principles such as democracy, peaceful and humanitarian foreign policy, respect for international law and treaties, and good neighbourhood.

This close cooperation was crowned with the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed on 16 July 1994.

With the strong support of Türkiye, Croatia joined the Southeast European Cooperation Process in 2004 and NATO in 2009, and the Türkiye-Croatia-Bosnia Herzegovina Trilateral Advisory Mechanism was established in 2010 at the level of Foreign Ministers. The two countries started the EU accession negotiations together on 3 October 2005 and supported each other on this path. Croatia, which joined the EU by completing this process on 1 July 2013, continues to support Türkiye's EU membership. Türkiye also supports Croatia's OECD membership and welcomes the official start of accession negotiations recently.

On this occasion, as two allies and partners, we would like to express our belief that the EU and Euro-Atlantic integration of our region will play an important role in delivering lasting peace and stability in all of Europe.

Economic and commercial cooperation between our countries has reached to a pleasing level at the end of 30 years. The target of 1 billion dollars in trade volume is expected to be reached this year, and new targets have been set. Reciprocal investments have also gained momentum in recent years.

The Turkish and Croatian peoples have shown exemplary solidarity in the face of some natural disasters that have occurred in the two countries in recent years, and they have once again shown that they are true friends.

On this special day, as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations, we would like to emphasize our determination to further our cooperation based on Friendship, Alliance and Strategic Partnership for the benefit of our peoples, allies and partners.