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Davutoğlu celebrates Eid in Bosnia and Herzegovina, calls Sarajevo home
Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric welcomed Davutoğlu, telling worshippers that “today is a day we waited for centuries” in Sarajevo. “Today is a day to cherish because the Turkish foreign minister is with us,” he said.
Davutoğlu said Ceric’s sermon was “emotional” and added: “We were here, are here and we will always be here.”
Ceric further commended Davutoğlu after his sermon at the mosque, saying “Allah created him to make history.” Calling Davutoğlu’s Eid prayer at Gazi Husrev Bey Mosque a “historic moment,” Ceric said it symbolized the “rebirth of a new politics and new realities in the Balkans, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
Davutoğlu said after the prayer that he was honored to be in Sarajevo, calling the city as “home.” He said: “In our traditions, we celebrate Eid at home. This is what I am doing, I celebrate the Eid with my family in Sarajevo. Bosnia is our home and Bosnians are our family members.”
Izetbegovic, son of late Aliya Izetbegovic who was the first president of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that Davutoğlu brought even more sunshine to Sarajevo on this sunny day.
Turkey has boosted its influence in the Balkans, once dominated by the Ottoman Empire, in recent years. Speaking to Today’s Zaman at the start of his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina at the weekend, Davutoğlu rejected “neo-Ottoman” label for his government’s foreign policy and said such a label stemmed from the uneasiness some have felt in the face of Turkey's growing influence in the region.
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