Turkish Ambassador in Serbia Ali Riza Colak, who headed a high-level state delegation which visited Serbia and its southwestern region of Sandzak, expressed expectation that steps would be taken in the near future to help Sanzdak in every sense, including the development of infrastructure.

Colak told Tanjug that the members of the delegation were very satisfied with what they heard in previous days from Serbia officials, religious leaders and NGOs. I think this mission has cleared up many things and helped us a lot. We are very satisfied with what we heard, Colak said.

The Turkish diplomat noted the goal of the visit was to show that a joint effort from Turkey and Serbia in the Sandzak region could help to determine the situation there and explore the region's potential.

The delegation met with all competent ministers in Belgrade two days ago, and went on to discuss political, social and cultural issues in Novi Pazar, the biggest town in Sandzak, he reminded.

We gave them our message, which is that inside the framework of democratic laws and the right to free speech, everything that needs to be said, and that contributes to progress in Sandzak, should be said, Colak noted.

I think Sandzak is a region Serbia should be proud of. It is one of Serbia's greatest treasures, not only in the ethnic and cultural sense, but also in terms of natural resources which can drive the development of all branches of the economy, regardless of whether the region is inhabited by Serbs or Bosniaks, he said.