Turkey's President Attends Launch of Serbia-Bosnia Highway Work

Turkey's President Erdogan pushes a button to commence construction of a highway west of Belgrade, Serbia, Oct. 8, 2019.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Bosnia's rival leaders to end a year-long political deadlock that has fueled tensions in the country.

Erdogan held a joint meeting Tuesday in Belgrade with the three members of Bosnia's multi-ethnic presidency and Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic.

On the second day of his visit to Serbia, Erdogan is also attending a ceremony inaugurating a Turkish-financed highway linking Belgrade with Bosnia's capital of Sarajevo that is part of efforts to boost cooperation between the former wartime foes.

Long after the 1992-95 war in Bosnia ended, the country remains ethnically divided between majority Muslim Bosniaks and Serbs and Croats. Disagreements over relations with NATO have blocked the formation of a new government a year after a general election was held.