Turkey making inroads in North Macedonia

Three days after the opening of the defense company ASELSAN's headquarters in North Macedonia, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Skopje on Thursday in a bid to demonstrate the role Ankara wants to play in the internal affairs of North Macedonia and the Balkans.

In his joint press conference with his counterpart Timco Mucunski, Fidan initially referred to "Macedonia" (rather than North Macedonia), and only later used the country's full name.

According to Turkish sources, the two ministers discussed bilateral relations, developments in the Balkans, economic relations and the strengthening of cooperation in the defense industry.

"The companies of our country's defense industry hold leading positions in the world and I would like to stress that these companies are ready to contribute to North Macedonia," said Fidan.

He also referred to the Turkish...