President Erdoğan: “We are experiencing a similar situation to Srebrenica today in Gaza.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, “We are experiencing a massacre similar to the one carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s today in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Denis Becirovic, the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The meeting took place at the Presidential Dolmabahçe Working Office. The meeting was closed to the press. After approximately 1 hour of discussions between President Erdoğan and Becirovic, they appeared before the press for a joint press conference.
Expressing that they discussed Turkey-Bosnia and Herzegovina relations in detail, President Erdoğan said, “We exchanged views on regional developments with a focus on the Balkans. We emphasized the genocide occurring in Gaza and the steps to be taken at the United Nations against Israel. As you all know, since the declaration of independence, we, as Turkey, have always stood by Bosnia and Herzegovina and will continue to do so. We are also firmly maintaining our strong support for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. With our membership in the Peace Implementation Council Steering Committee, we contribute to the peace and stability of both Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region. The importance and value of establishing a broad-based social consensus with the participation of all segments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a mutual understanding of living together in peace are clear. We must not forget the fact that any negative development that may occur in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in light of past experiences, poses a threat to the stability of the entire Balkans. Our approach towards our friendly and brotherly Bosnia and Herzegovina is based not only on our historical and cultural ties but also on this understanding. In this context, I hope that the local elections to be held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 6 will be completed peacefully and will bring good results.”

“We predict that the bilateral trade volume will reach 1 billion dollars by the end of this year”
President Erdoğan also noted that they discussed steps to improve bilateral relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating, “We predict that the bilateral trade volume will reach 1 billion dollars by the end of this year. Of course, we do not find this figure sufficient. In this regard, we exchanged ideas on what can be done to increase mutual trade. We also addressed the construction of the Sarajevo-Belgrade highway in this context. I shared my hope with the President that the project will be completed as soon as possible. I also conveyed to my valuable brother that we will continue to support projects aimed at the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly in energy and infrastructure. It is encouraging that Turkish citizens ranked first among tourists visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first 7 months of this year, surpassing neighboring countries. We aim to facilitate travel between our countries by soon finalizing the agreement that allows travel with identity cards and further enhance human relations between our peoples. Cooperation in military and security areas was also on our agenda. We discussed with my valuable brother how we can develop our cooperation, especially in the defense industry, and to what extent. I also emphasized our expectations regarding the joint struggle against FETO.”

“We will definitely hold accountable those responsible for our child Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi”
Speaking about the massacre carried out by Israel in Gaza, President Erdoğan said, “With the decision taken at the United Nations General Assembly in May, we declared July 11, 1995, as the International Day of Remembrance and Commemoration of the Srebrenica Genocide. Turkey supported the decision as a co-sponsor. On this basis, we also declared July 11 as the Day of Remembrance and Commemoration of the Srebrenica Genocide. We will continue our efforts to convey the genocide to future generations, inspired by the late Aliya Izzetbegović, the first President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who said ‘forgotten genocide is repeated.’ We are experiencing a massacre similar to the one carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s today in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. Just as the perpetrators of the Srebrenica genocide were convicted in international courts, those responsible for the events in Gaza will also be held accountable. We will definitely hold accountable those responsible for our child Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was killed by Israeli occupation forces along with over 41,000 Gazan brothers.”

Statements by Denis Becirovic, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Denis Becirovic, the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, thanked President Erdoğan for the assistance provided to Turkey, stating, “I express our gratitude to him for helping Bosnia and Herzegovina, as he is our great friend and brother. Mr. Erdoğan is known as a global leader and a great friend of our Bosnia and Herzegovina. I can say that today’s meeting was a very productive and friendly meeting, a positive meeting.”