Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday his country could pay Bulgaria compensations over the so called “Thracian refugees” issue if the Bulgarian claims were proven.

“If it is proven that our country has to pay out compensations over the properties of the Thracian refugees, the respective measures will be taken,” Erdogan said during his press conference with PM Boyko Borisov Friday night, as cited by BGNES.

His answer was to a question by Bulgarian journalists regarding the claims of the descendants of Bulgarian refugees who fled European Turkey at the time of World War I.

Erdogan insisted that Bulgaria should ease its visa regime for Turkish citizens saying that this would increase the number of Turkish tourists in Bulgaria. He pointed out that only 32 000 Turkish tourists visited Bulgaria in 2009 compared to 1,4 million Bulgarians who traveled to Turkey.

According to the Turkish PM, the current bilateral trade, which amounts to EUR 3 B, is not enough but both sides have the will to work for its expansion. The Turkish investments in Bulgarian infrastructure projects amount to EUR 1 B.

Erdogan did stress the fact that the visit of Boyko Borisov to Turkey was a new beginning in the bilateral relations.

He raised the issue of the construction of a water dam on the Tundzha River which is supposed to prevent floods that happen in the European part of Turkey.

Bulgarian PM Borisov responded that this project could be combined with the project for the water power plant “Gorna Arda” located on the Arda River.

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