In Serbia, Balıkesir was introduced with the event organized with the support of the Turkish Embassy in Belgrade.

Turkey's Ambassador to Belgrade, Hami Aksoy, in his speech at the event held in the capital Belgrade, at the Yunus Emre Institute building, said that they would promote the tourism potential of Balıkesir as well as its cuisine, carpets, art, and culture.

Aksoy said, "When we talk about tourism in Turkey, our Serbian friends only think of Antalya. However, Balıkesir also has very beautiful bays."

Explaining that the talks were continuing with the Serbian city of Nis and Balıkesir to be a "sister city", Aksoy said, "Direct flights from Nis to Istanbul have also started. Last week, we started direct flights from Nis to Antalya and Alanya."

AK Party Balıkesir MP Pakize Mutlu Aydemir paid a visit to Nis and noted that they delivered letters of goodwill to become a sister city with Balıkesir.

Balıkesir's Sındırgı Mayor, Ekrem Yavaş, said, “Balıkesir is a place between Istanbul and Izmir, which we can call Turkey's 'mini version', where you can both benefit from sea opportunities and eat beautiful fish."

Within the scope of the event, Ambassador Aksoy presented a plaque to Petar Mudri from Novi Sad for his contributions to Turkey-Serbia friendship.

THE LOCAL ONE MEETS THE WORLD

At the event, cheese, olives, carpets, Balıkesir pullusu, and folk dances were introduced.

Mayor of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality, Yücel Yılmaz, who could not attend the event, said in his message, "Today is a very important day at our Belgrade Embassy for the local one to meet the world. Balıkesir pullusu is a local product unique to our city that we carry from the past to the future. We carry out every effort to make such products produced in our city suitable for the world market. We are working together with both our Metropolitan Municipality and our deputies to make Balıkesir a world brand."

Officials of Turkish institutions in Belgrade also attended the program.