President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Ankara on Thursday, with the two leaders saying they want to deepen cooperation in commerce, investment and defense and setting a target of $5 billion in annual trade.
In a joint declaration issued after the talks, the two countries said they would expand cooperation in foreign policy, economic and trade relations, the defense industry, culture, tourism, education, energy, transportation, connectivity, advanced technologies and the environment, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
Erdoğan said trade between Turkey and Serbia reached $3.5 billion in 2025 and that Ankara and Belgrade were moving toward the $5 billion target.
The joint declaration stipulated that the next meeting of the Turkey-Serbia Joint Economic Commission would be held “at the earliest opportunity.”
Both leaders made public statements that emphasized the Balkans, a region where Turkey has pursued closer ties through trade, infrastructure projects and diplomacy. Erdoğan said Turkey was working for regional peace at a time of greater uncertainty and said Ankara “never neglects” the Balkans.
Vučić, speaking at a joint news conference, described Turkey as an important partner for Serbia and praised its regional role.
The meeting included a signing ceremony for agreements, but the public readouts available on Thursday did not provide a full list of documents.
The talks came as the two governments have highlighted economic ties as the center of the relationship. Serbia is a candidate for membership in the European Union and has sought foreign investment, including in manufacturing, construction and energy. Turkey, a member of NATO, has sought to expand its political and commercial influence across the Balkans, where ethnic conflicts in the 1990s reshaped borders and left disputes that still affect regional politics.
Turkey’s outreach in the Balkans also intersects with regional flash points, including tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 and is recognized by the US and most European Union states but not by Serbia. The European Union has led talks aimed at normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina.
Vučić said the two sides were on track toward the higher trade goal, noting that bilateral trade had risen from under $1 billion years earlier to about $3.5 billion.
Erdoğan also said Turkey would participate in Expo 2027 in Belgrade, an event Serbia has promoted as a platform to attract tourism and investment.
The joint declaration framed the relationship as expanding beyond commerce, with both governments pointing to cooperation in transportation links and connectivity.
Turkey and Serbia have increased high-level contacts in recent years through structured formats such as the High-Level Cooperation Council, a mechanism used by Ankara with several countries to coordinate government-to-government cooperation.