Research
‘Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Bilateral Relations with Turkey’
December, 2008
Preface
As part of its activities, Centre for Security Studies regularly produces its own
research on different topics related to the security sector reform and Euro-Atlantic
integration, as well as topics on bilateral relationships in the domain of foreign policy
Therefore, following research represents an analysis of the relation between Republic
of Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina from the economic aspect of cooperation.
The mentioned research has been conducted by Mr. Nerkez Opacin, within the
framework of his internship at the Centre for Security Studies as a part of obtaining a
BA major in International Relation, International University of Sarajevo.
The author received the guidelines and assistance from the Centre for Security Studies
but all statements in the research are the author’s own and CSS cannot be held
responsible.
‘Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Bilateral Relations with Turkey’
The main focus of this research is to closely examine and analyze the extent of
bilateral relations between Republic of Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The
methodology is based on analyzing the general definition of international relations as
an introduction, followed by a synopsis of bilateral relations between these two
countries, whilst the main focus will be placed on the current state of economic
cooperation.
International relation (IR) is a branch of political science. It represents the study of
foreign affairs and global issues among states within the international system,
including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs). It is
both an academic and public policy field, and can be either positive or normative as it
both seeks to analyze as well as formulate the foreign policy of particular states.
Apart from political science, IR draws upon such diverse fields as economics, history,
law, philosophy, geography, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and cultural
studies. It involves a diverse range of issues including but not limited to:
globalization, state sovereignty, ecological sustainability, nuclear proliferation,
nationalism, economic development, terrorism, organized crime, human security,
foreign interventionism and human rights.
Bilateralism comprises the political and cultural relations between two states. Most
international diplomacy is done bilaterally. Examples of this include treaties between
two countries, exchanges of ambassadors, and state visits. The alternatives to bilateral
relations are multilateral relations, which involve many states, and unilateralism,
when one state acts on its own.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has a tradition of bilateral relations with the Republic of
Turkey, since the very beginning of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent state.
Relations between these two states are based on several aspects, which are political,
educational, military, cultural and economical. Whilst some are less developed,
certain aspects which comprise relations between Turkey and BiH are further
emphasized and expanded. The examples of relations which are significant and
impact upon further development of BiH are relations which are focused on political,
educational and economic strengthening. .
Political relations between Turkey and BiH reflect a very strong myriad of assistance
and support. Due to deep historical, cultural and social bonds, Bosnia and
Herzegovina has always been one of those countries which have a privileged place on
the Turkish foreign policy agenda. Turkey believes that the re-establishment of the
multi-ethnic and multi-cultural status of Bosnia and Herzegovina through preservation
of its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally
recognized borders is important.
Turkey has substantially contributed to the reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina
and actively supported the implementation of the civilian and military aspects of the
Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the war. Turkey has also played a role of a
security provider for BiH and as a Steering Board member has actively been joining
the work of the Peace Implementation Council and contributing to the EUFOR
(Operation Althea) by a force composed of approximately 450 personnel including
Integrated Police Unit (IPU). There are also Turkish personnel in the EU Police
Mission (EUPM).
At the start of September 2008 members of the BiH Presidency visited the Grand
National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey and met with the President of the
Assembly Mr. Koksal Toptan. During the meeting it was stated that the
parliamentarian relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of
Turkey are very good, attested by cooperation between the parliamentarian groups of
the two countries. During the meeting both parties expressed satisfaction over
satisfying political relations between the two countries, which serves as a basis for
better economic and trade cooperation.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul highlighted the importance of its ties with BosniaHerzegovina, saying that "we maintain our efforts to protect Bosnia-Herzegovina's
sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity. Turkey is an influential member of
the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council, the international body
charged with implementing the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina."1
In the field of educational assistance, Turkey did invest a lot in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and as a result, several cultural and educational centres have been
opened. One of them is the Konya – Sarajevo Cultural Educational Centre. The main
aim of the centre is to negotiate in agricultural, cultural and sport interactions between
the two cities. Another aim of this Centre is to organize various courses and by
bringing lecturers from Konya to educate the participants in various aspects, like
EBRU painting, wood painting, paining on porcelain, making bijouterie, and learning
Turkish. The Konya – Sarajevo Cultural Educational Centre was opened in the year
2007 where the two cities signed an agreement about further cooperation in an
educational sense.
Another huge investment considering the developments in education sector was the
opening of the International University of Sarajevo. The founders and the co-founders
of the International University of Sarajevo are the Foundation for Education
Development Sarajevo established according to the Bosnian law on July 2nd 2002 and
the Advisory Board of the International University of Sarajevo. Other institutions that
will substantially contribute to the founding of the IUS will also be considered as
founders or co-founders of the University. By founding the International University of
Sarajevo the members of the Foundation for Education Development Sarajevo and the
IUS Advisory Board are determined to contribute to academic, democratic and
economic advancement in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to help offset the magnitude
of the destruction caused by the war. The members of the Foundation for Education
Development Sarajevo and the IUS Advisory Board are committed to increase
academic interest in the project among Bosnian and foreign scholars who are willing
to participate in its realisation and who adhere to the highest academic criteria and
standards; to seek cooperation with interested universities in the world, universities in
1
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/03/content_9765264.htm
Bosnia and the region, and especially with other universities of similar profiles; to
initialize educational connections with the Bosnian diasporas and in particular with
Bosnian experts and scientists abroad; to seek for financial, material, academic and
legal support for the project from all relevant institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina
and the city of Sarajevo, and other countries, and from all relevant institutions
representing the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In September 2008 Turkey had opened a Linguistic Center at the International
University of Sarajevo which was founded by TIKA, an organization I will further
explore at a later stage in the research.
Another educational institution is the Turkish-Bosnian College. It is a private
educational institution which exists and acts within the framework of Bosna-Sema
educational institutions, founded in 1996 with the aim to give help and support to the
educational system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. During its work in Bosnia and
Herzegovina Bosna-Sema has founded a number of new subjects with the same
activity in the field of primary and high education as Sarajevo College, Una-Sana
College, International Primary School Sarajevo and International Primary School
Tuzla in Tuzla.
However, one area of cooperation which stands out the most is the area of economical
development. Due to Bosnia and Herzegovina's strict currency board regime, which
links the convertible mark (Konvertibilna Marka - BAM) to the Euro, inflation has
remained low. Privatization has been slow, and unemployment remains on a very high
level. The introduction of a value-added tax (VAT) in 2006 has increased the
government's tax revenues and resulted in a budget surplus. The economy of Bosnia
and Herzegovina is based mainly on agriculture and mining, however the energy
sector and forestry are also of significant importance. Electric energy is obtained
largely from hydroelectric power stations placed on Trebišnijca and Neretwa rivers
and thermal power stations, for example: Kakanj, Lukavac and Zenica.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has made significant efforts to open its economy to
more foreign investment. Major initiatives include a liberal State Foreign Investment
Policy Law, a new value-added tax (VAT), and a uniform trade and customs policy.
Despite these efforts, foreign investors continue to face a number of serious obstacles,
including a complex legal and regulatory framework, non-transparent business
procedures, and weak judicial structures. Privatization has lagged behind the rest of
the region, providing fewer opportunities to investors interested in working in the
region. Foreign investment has shown only limited gains. Foreign investment in the
banking sector is the exception, with Austrian banks taking a dominant position in the
local banking market. However, the investing of banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina
shows that they consider this country a safe one and this could be a motivation for
other investors to invest more. Under the State investment law, a foreign enterprise
has the same rights as a Bosnian enterprise or citizen. Consequently, foreign entities
can establish and own business enterprises with the same rights as domestic entities.
Still, establishing a business in Bosnia can be an extremely burdensome and timeconsuming process for investors. There are a total of twelve procedures to complete
registration for a new business and it takes at least one month to complete all required
steps. Registration can sometimes be expedited if a local lawyer is retained to follow
up at each step of the process. The myriad of state, entity and municipal
administrations creates a heavily bureaucratic system that lacks transparency. All
three levels of government (municipal, cantonal, and entity) establish laws and
regulations affecting businesses, creating redundant and inconsistent procedures that
encourage corruption. Often it is impossible to know all of the laws or rules that might
apply to certain business activities, given overlapping jurisdictions and the lack of any
central source of information. It is therefore critical that foreign investors obtain local
assistance and advice. Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to ease and to gain foreign
investments has signed agreements to promote and protect investments with many
countries including Turkey. Some of the agreements I will later explore in more
detail.
Since the end of the last war and even during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Turkey has helped the people of this country. The Turkish companies were involved
in the reconstruction of houses, factories, hospitals and the infrastructure in the
region. Former Minister of State responsible for housing, Ali Dincer, said that Turkish
firms would play an important role in Bosnia's reconstruction. "Turkey has made
enormous efforts to achieve peace in the region and will continue its efforts to ensure
peaceful coexistence."2 Aware of the massive demand for housing for repatriation of
refugees returning to Bosnia, Turkey has asked the Bosnian government to give
priority to Turkish contractors to do the job of restoring destroyed buildings during
the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During my research I have visited the Turkish Embassy and did an interview with the
Turkish Commercial Counselor Nurhan Verda Özyer. The Commercial Counselor
gave me some information about the current situation in the field of economic
cooperation between the two countries. According to her telling, the Turkish
companies that want to invest in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not have to give any
report to the Turkish Embassy in Sarajevo and that is the main reason why they
cannot track the current Turkish investments in very detail. Turkish firms if they are
interested in Bosnia for investing can ask for general information in their embassy in
Sarajevo. Ms. Nurhan Verda Özyer said that at the moment there are no significant
Turkish investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and some of the main investors are
the Turkish Ziraat Bank, the Sisecam (glass producer), and the Hayat Kimya
(chemical products).
The Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) was
established on January 24, 1992 in order to “[provide] development assistance
foremost to developing countries where Turkish is spoken and countries that border
Turkey as well as [improve] cooperation through projects and programs in economic,
commercial, technical, social, cultural and educational arenas. “3 TIKA has a strategic
mission to promote a positive image of Turkey and to establish durable relationships
with foreign publics. Generally speaking, TIKA’s role is to facilitate economic,
commercial, technical, social, cultural and educational cooperation with developing
countries via projects aimed at assisting the development of these countries. In
2
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW, February 5, 1996
3
http://publicdiplomacy.wikia.com/wiki/Turkish_International_Cooperation_and_Development_Agency
_(TIKA)#cite_note-0#cite_note-0
accordance with this role, TIKA works to enhance infrastructure, improve living
standards, provide vocational training and employment, protect monuments of joint
heritage and culture, improve cultural relations, provide information and publishing
services, and assist in the teaching of the Turkish language. One effort of particular
importance to Turkey’s public diplomacy activities is TIKA’s “Turcology Project”,
established in 1999. In an attempt to encourage further study of the Turkish language
and its relationship to similar languages and dialects, this project has aggressively
worked to “widen the reach of the Turkish language, improve communications, and
establish a shared cultural platform with neighboring countries. A Turcology Center
has been established in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A linguistic center has been opened
at the International University of Sarajevo. The Turkish minister Mustafa Said
Yazicioglu inaugurated a linguistic center which was funded by TIKA. Yazicioglu
said Turkey's Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) was running many
projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina, including the restoration of historical sites in the
country.
In 2006, numerous projects and activities were implemented by TIKA in BosniaHerzegovina including educational, social and cultural cooperation projects like
support for the production of a documentary film and for the production of a
television program. Another major project is the modernization of the Gorazde State
Hospital. As part of the framework of the project being implemented through its
Bosnia-Herzegovina Program Coordination Office, TIKA has commenced works to
set up an operating theatre, as well as internal diseases, intensive and post operative
intensive care and pediatric units in the Gorazde State Hospital located in Eastern
Bosnia. The Gorazde Canton is forced to meet the expenses incurred by patients that
are transferred out of its own budget. This situation foremost through loss of patients
places a large financial burden on the Gorazde Canton which is already in a difficult
economic situation. The shortfall in health services experienced by the Gorazde State
Hospital will be alleviated to a large degree following the completion of the assistance
project being implemented through TIKA’s Bosnia-Herzegovina Program
Coordination Office.
The next page shows a graph that indicates the countries in the Balkans and the East
Europe that are receiving the most assistance by TIKA with Bosnia and Herzegovina
ranking first with 25.19 million USD, which shows that TIKA puts great importance
on Bosnia and Herzegovina.
4
Some of the significant development assistance projects conducted by agencies and
institutions are as already mentioned, the establishment of a Turcology Department at
the Tuzla and Zenica University and Turkish Language classes at 9 different regions.
Another project is the establishment of new units at the Gorazde Government Hospital
and training of health professionals and the restoration of the historic Drina Bridge,
just to mention a few. Training for 450 participants from 21 countries at the
Partnership for Peace Education Centre includes operations within the scope of AB
ALTHEA, building children's parks, constructions and repair of schools, medicine
assistance and educational support.5
Abolition of tariffs in trade exchange since the first of January 2007 between Bosnia
and Herzegovina and Turkey is a specific form of tariff union with a zero rate. The
main aim is to reduce the barriers in the free exchange of goods and services. Bosnia
and Herzegovina has ratified 36 agreements on promotion and protection of
investments with Turkey. Both countries have signed the Free Trade Agreement
where they shall establish a free trade area on substantially all their bilateral trade in a
transitional period. The objectives of this Agreement are to promote through the
expansion of mutual trade the harmonious development of economic relations
between the Parties and thus to foster in the Parties the advance of economic activity,
the improvement of living and employment conditions, and financial stability; to
provide fair conditions of competition for trade between the Parties; to contribute by
the removal of barriers to trade, to the harmonious development and expansion of
world trade. Even though Bosnia and Turkey have signed the Free Trade Agreement,
till now the ratification of this agreement did not bring a balanced exchange, due to
that Bosnia and Herzegovina needs a more significant present of its goods in the
Turkish market.
Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is dealing with
promoting the country for investments. The Central Bank of BiH, MOFTER, and
FIPA made a research and according to them top investors in Bosnia and Herzegovina
4
Turkish Development Assistance Report 2006
5
http://publicdiplomacy.wikia.com/wiki/Turkish_International_Cooperation_and_Development_Agency
_(TIKA)
are Austria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Italy,
USA, and Turkey. Bosnia and Herzegovina has signed 28 Agreements on Avoidance
of Double Taxation, which aim to eliminate the double taxation of income or gains
arising in one territory and paid to residents of another territory and one of the
countries is Turkey. Agreements on Avoidance of Double Taxation, which mean that
companies only have to pay tax in their home country, accelerate the flow of
investments into the signatory countries, encourage joint ventures, create more
investment opportunities, expedite the transfer of technology and constitute a legal
framework to bolster economic cooperation and enhance strategic economic
partnership. Bosnia and Herzegovina has ratified 37 Agreements on Promotion and
Protection of Investments amongst is Turkey.
Turkey attaches great importance to further developing its current economic and trade
relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Turkey has pledged over 100 million dollars
of financial support for the reconstruction program of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In
2006 Turkey’s exports to Bosnia and Herzegovina totaled 154 million U.S. dollars,
whereas Bosnia and Herzegovina’s exports to Turkey reached 9, 4 million U.S.
dollars. In the period January-October 2007, the volume of Turkey’s exports is 349, 7
million dollars, and the volume of Turkey’s imports is 18, 5 million dollars. Turkey’s
main export items are diesel engine vehicles, glassware, carpets, military ammunition,
ready-wear, house wares, and toys. Main import items are refined copper, electric
locomotive, cattle hides, and chemical products. Turkey with its companies has made
almost 60 million euro investment in Bosnia and Herzegovina.6 Due to the date of
foreign investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey is on the 9th place. Exact
Turkish direct foreign investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1994 to 31st of
March 2007 were 57,864,000 KM, which makes a total of 1.4 percent of the total
foreign investment. This shows that still Turkey is not investing a lot in Bosnia and
this could also show why the economic cooperation is still a small level.
The Bosnian member of the tripartite Presidency Haris Silajdzic said that Bosnia's
investment potential is significant but that resources will begin to diminish and rise in
price in the coming years if investors do not hurry. He is urging the Turkish investors
to invest in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "In two or three years, investing in Bosnia will
be very expensive so we invite Turkish investors to act quickly," President Silajdzic
said in Istanbul at a joint meeting of the Turkish-Bosnian Business Council (TBBC)
organized by the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) at the Turkish
Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) Plaza.” “We have had talks
on the political dimension in Ankara and we mutually think that economic relations
should be improved," he said, adding that this could be achieved by more investment
in Bosnia. President Silajdzic added that an agreement with Turkey signed in 2005 to
eliminate double taxation was approved in Bosnia on July 28 of this year. Milan
Lovric, co-president of the TBBC, said the amount of foreign direct investments in
Bosnia has increased dramatically, to 1.6 billion Euros last year from 564 million
Euros in 2006. Lovric said the most attractive investment areas in Bosnia are energy,
timber, tourism and chain stores that sell electronics targeting the youth, whose
buying power has grown.7
6
http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkey_s-commercial-and-economic-relations-with-bosnia-andherzegovina.en.mfa
7
http://www.emportal.co.yu/en/news/region/61826.html
However, many Turkish representatives want to invest in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
For example, the Turkish company “ABS Gypsum” showed their interest to the
cantonal authorities in Goražde and the representatives of the Foča municipality to
invest in the fields of cast at Presjeci, 5 kilometers from Ustikolina. Another recent
event is that the Turkish economists from the PER-DER group expressed their interest
to invest in building of shopping malls and great market places, whose products
would be sold to the western European markets. There intentions to invest were
presented to the Bosnian prime minister Nedžad Branković. “The first competition for
the BiH market is forthcoming, and the greatest space for interest lays exactly in the
field of nourishment and the wood industry”8, said Mr. Branković. He also added that
the investing in the food industry would hold the economic sustainability of the
returned migrants, who mainly are connected to the agricultural production.
The Turkish group “Keskinoglu” is yet another example of the Turkish interest in
investing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is a company that has around 3000
emoployees, and is one of the biggest in poultry farming in Turkey. Daily over
3,000,000 eggs and 300,000 processed chickens are being produced by this company.
In the field of poultry farming “Keskinoglu” makes 30 percent of the total Turkish
export, and its products are placed in 20 countries.9 Therefore, the representatives of
“Keskinoglu” are interested in investing in agriculture, especially in the possibility to
invest in the company “Agrocomerc” from Velika Kladuša.
These are some of the current happenings that could be expended and further
developed in the near future. Still, the relations between Bosnia and Herzegovina and
the Republic of Turkey have to be strengthened. As it was announced by the Office of
the Public Relations in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the meeting,
where the federal ministers for energy, mining and industry, apropos development,
entrepreneurship and trade, Mr. Vahid Hećo and Velimir Kunić, then the director of
Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Haris Bašić, and
the counselor of the Prime Minister Timur Numić, the Prime Minister Mr. Branković
informed his gests about the main headings of the Government actions in the
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“First of all, we attend to improve the working environment. In that direction many
laws are being implemented in the field of taxing, which got quality markings by the
domestic and foreign investors. We also want to start with the capital investing in the
field of energetics, transportation, agriculture, water control and environment”, said
Mr. Branković.10
According to the Turkish state minister Yaziciouglua, Turkey is open to all types of
cooperation between those two countries, and he points out that in the last years a
constant grow in Turkish investments in Bosnia is visible. The Turkish delegation
appraised that the best way to reduce the trade imbalance is through direct investing
8
http://www.nezavisne.com/ekonomija/vijesti/22563/Turci-zele-da-grade-robne-kuce-i-trznecentre.html
9
http://www.bihrss.net/article_turska_grupa_34keskinoglu34_zainteresovana_za_ulaganja_u_bih__594920.htm
10
http://www.dnevniavaz.ba/dogadjaji/aktuelno/jacanje-saradnje-bih-i-turske
of the Turkish capital into Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the greatest interest lays in
energetics. Nowadays a well cooperation between those two countries in the field of
culture is outstanding. Turkey is investing in the reconstruction of historical and
cultural monuments in Bosnia and Herzegovina.11
Of all the bilateral relations named between Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina the
main focus has been on the economic relations. It does not mean that the other
relations are less explored or weak. The educational aspect as we could see is also
very strong and has the tendency to grow. The political relations have been strong
since Bosnia and Herzegovina exists as an independent state. Even though all the
relations are important it is easy to conclude that they are interconnected and that for
Bosnia and Herzegovina to develop it needs to cooperate in all methods of
cooperation, however the economic aspect is one that needs greater attention. It is
easy to conclude that Turkey is interested in investing in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
investing in this country would immediately mean economic cooperation and
improvement. It is investing in Bosnia and Herzegovina that would improve the
economical conditions of the country and it is the main way of cooperation where
Turkey and Bosnia could work. Some steps have been made in order to improve the
investing climate, like the signing of the Free Trade Agreements, the elimination of
double taxation, the abolition of tariffs in trade exchange, just to mention a few.
Some cultural and educational centers have been opened like the Konya-Sarajevo
Center and the TIKA organization, which help to improve everyday living and
cooperation between the two countries. There is no doubt that the political
relationship between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Turkey are strong,
the fact that long history has joined these two countries makes it even more evident.
Political cooperation is an important aspect of having good relationships with a
country; it is an important step to further other types of cooperation, like for example
the economical. In my research I have shown several examples of economic
relationship and Turkish investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Still more
economical bonds are needed to be developed. The problem with tracking information
about economical relationships is because the companies are unbounded to give
information about their investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to Ms
Nurhan Verda Özyer saying, the Turkish companies have no obligations to report any
investment plans they have in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This makes it difficult to track
the investment flows and investing plans that are ongoing between these two
countries. However, present – day world is working interdependent and in order to
survive, a country has to have relations with other countries, where it can seek for
help if needed. Especially small countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina which
survival depends on the friendly relations with the rest of the world. All in all the
Turkish – Bosnian cooperation can be considered as moderate and improvements
have to be done. Still projects are ongoing and the relations are improving where both
sides gain benefits.
11
http://www.dnevniavaz.ba/dogadjaji/aktuelno/jacanje-saradnje-bih-i-turske
Reference:
http://publicdiplomacy.wikia.com/wiki/Turkish_International_Cooperation_and_Developmen
t_Agency_(TIKA)
- http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkey_s-commercial-and-economic-relations-with-bosnia-andherzegovina.en.mfa
- http://www.capital.ba/turska-slabo-investitora-bih-malo-izvozi/
- http://www.nezavisne.com/ekonomija/vijesti/22563/Turci-zele-da-grade-robne-kuce-i-trznecentre.html
- http://www.dnevniavaz.ba/dogadjaji/aktuelno/jacanje-saradnje-bih-i-turske
- http://www.bihrss.net/article_turska_grupa_34keskinoglu34_zainteresovana_za_ulaganja_u_bih__594920.ht
m
- http://www.predsjednistvobih.ba/saop/1/Template.aspx?cid=12501,1,1
- http://www.predsjednistvobih.ba/saop/1/Template.aspx?cid=12499,1,1
- http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/03/content_9765264.htm
- http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkey_s-political-relations-with-bosnia-and-herzegovina.en.mfa
- http://www.konya-saraybosna.com/company_mission
- http://www.sarajevocollege.com/
- http://www.pmrconsulting.com/Countries/Bosnia-_-Herzegovina.html
- Turkish Embassy in Sarajevo
- International University of Sarajevo
- http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=28416
- http://www.tika.gov.tr/EN/Icerik.ASP?ID=327
- http://www.state.gov/e/eeb/ifd/2007/80682.htm
- Turkish Development Assistance 2006
- http://www.worldtradelaw.net/fta/agreements/turbosherfta.pdf