Turkish Airlines to sponsor Sarajevo soccer club

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Turkish Airlines has become the official sponsor of Sarajevo FC - one of the biggest and most famous football clubs in the Balkans.

Sarajevo players will wear the official Turkish Airlines logo on their jerseys under the three-and-a-half year sponsorship agreement signed in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on Tuesday.

Ziya Taskent, senior director for marketing and sale in Turkish Airlines said: "Because of our historical ties with this country, Sarajevo is for us a special place.

"We hope that this agreement will help in further strengthening relations and cooperation between the two countries."

'Honest work'

Sarajevo FC General Director Dino Selimovic said: "Sarajevo FC has had financial problems for a long time, but we have done a lot of honest work and today we have a global brand that has decided to cooperate with us.

"I believe this will help us to achieve our goals."

Sarajevo chairman Edis Kusturica, said the agreement was one of the most significant moments in the recent history of the club.

He said: "This business event shows that Bosnia is not a black hole, and we show that decent work can find partners outside Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"I hope we send a positive message to other companies in the world to invest in our club and also in our country."

New jerseys

Kusturica and Taskent formally presented new Turkish Airline jerseys to Sarajevo FC after the signing ceremony.

The Turkish Ambassador to Sarajevo, Cihad Erginay; Sarajevo FC head coach, Meho Kodro; members of the Board of Sarajevo FC and numerous guests and friends of the club attended the event.

Turkish Airlines, one of the world's largest airlines, is well known in the world of sports, especially in football and basketball.

The carrier had initially flown only three flights a week to Sarajevo but last year increased them to 18, making it the airline with the most flights to the Bosnian capital.