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Erdoğan vows Turkey will stand by Bosnia and Herzegovina
“It does not matter whether we have a shared border or not, I feel this country is our closest neighbor, and we will never abandon Bosnia because of our historic responsibility,” Erdoğan told a conference at the Bosniak Institute on Monday. He is on a two-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which ended yesterday. He recalled that he had been asked to stand by Bosnia and Herzegovina by the country’s late president, Alija Izetbegovic, days before his death in 2003. “Turkey is aware of this historic duty,” he told the audience. “Without providing peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there can be no peace and stability in the Balkans,” Erdoğan also said.
A peace agreement ended Bosnia’s 1992-95 war but divided it along ethnic lines and left it with a confusing constitution and an entirely devastated infrastructure and economy. Apart from destroyed factories, the ongoing quarrel between the former warring factions -- Christian Orthodox Serbs, Muslim Bosniaks and Christian Catholic Croats -- is hindering the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s economy. The country is divided in two mini-states, one for the Serbs, the other shared by Bosniaks and Croats. The two are linked by a common government.
Erdoğan, who was one of the foreign dignitaries that attended a major conference for foreign investors on Tuesday, firmly opposed a possible division of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “I even do not want to think about it,” he said on Monday when asked about the suggestions that division of the country could be a way to address its problems.
He also lauded the move by the Serbian Parliament last Wednesday to apologize for the bloody Srebrenica massacre, stating that the resolution is an important step towards reconciliation between the two nations.
Speaking on Tuesday at the investors meeting, Erdoğan said Bosnia was rich in natural resources but emphasized the importance of stability and security. “Money is like mercury. It goes wherever it feels good, and we want it to feel good in Bosnia,” he told the Sarajevo Business Forum.
Even though international donors have sent billions to fix infrastructure, clear mines and repair people’s homes, a sustainable return of the 1.8 million refugees was just partially achieved. Many of those who fled the war to other countries never came back because the unemployment rate remains over 40 percent. The country hopes to join the EU one day, but to do so, it has to change its constitution and reduce its administration. There are over 700 state and regional ministers in a country of 3.5 million.
“We do have some political problems, but we trust that business activity can bring people together,” Haris Silajdzic, a member of the country’s collective Presidency and one of the initiators of the conference, said at the opening of the conference. The Sarajevo Business Forum offers over 600 businessmen from mainly Muslim countries and global organizations investment opportunities in the energy sector, food production industry, tourism and infrastructure. In addition to Erdoğan, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and leaders from the region also attended the forum.
During his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Erdoğan also attended the opening of a new building of International University of Sarajevo, in which 900 out of a total of 1,300 students are Turkish. “It is impossible to erase some moments from our memories. But we cannot build the future on pain. We need to build the future on peace and friendship,” Erdoğan said during the opening ceremony on Monday.
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