Filandra: Erdogan's position is now stronger, BiH expects concrete investments from Turkey

Šaćir Filandra, political analyst and professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Sarajevo, told the Bosnian news agency Patria that after the victory of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the presidential elections in Turkey, he expects stronger investments from this country in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have not been significant so far.

According to the first and preliminary, unofficial results, the Prime Minister of Turkey and candidate for president of that country achieved a convincing victory yesterday in the first direct presidential elections in the history of this country. Erdogan's victory was greeted with enthusiasm and new optimism in most of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well.

Professor Filandra warned NAP that Turkey's presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina has so far been used more in the national dimension, and less in the economic sense, and he hopes that this will now change, when Erdogan's position is stronger compared to the previous period, and that BiH will have more concrete help from Turkey.

- After Erdogan's victory, one can expect continuity of good interstate cooperation, of which Erdogan has been a major promoter and bearer in recent years, but also more concrete investments from this country. However, it should be kept in mind that no one can help Bosnia and Herzegovina, not even Turkey, if we do not help ourselves. First, we must ensure the legal and political prerequisites that enable more intensive development of society and a stable political and economic situation. In this way, we can attract various investors, including Turkish ones - warned Professor Filandra.

Yesterday, the first direct presidential elections in the history of Turkey were held, in which 52,894,115 registered voters chose among three candidates at 165,108 polling stations, Al Jazeera reports.

According to information from the Central Election Commission of Turkey, more than 75 percent of registered voters cast their ballots.

The Prime Minister of Turkey and presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan achieved a convincing victory according to unofficial results.

The joint opposition candidate Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu won almost 38 percent of the vote, while the third candidate in the race for head of state, Selahattin Demirtas, was supported by almost nine percent of voters, NAP reports.