Director of Communications Altun: "As Türkiye, we will continue to stand together with the people of Bosnia and take every step for the peace and security of the Balkans."
On the 27th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide, Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun commemorated those who passed away. In a post shared on his social media account, Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun noted, "The pain of the Srebrenica genocide, one of the most disgraceful events of the modern world, remains fresh. As Türkiye, we will continue to stand together with the people of Bosnia and take every step for the peace and security of the Balkans. May the souls of our Srebrenica martyrs rest in peace."
Director of Communications Altun also shared a video prepared by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications about the Srebrenica genocide.
Describing Srebrenica as the most brutal massacre that Europe has witnessed since World War II, the video states that tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Srebrenica struggled to make their voices heard as they endured starvation and disease during the siege of their city in July 1995.
Emphasising that the calls made to halt the advances of Serbian forces, utilise UN Peacekeepers in an effective way to stop the violence and end this genocide that was taking place in the centre of Europe fell on deaf ears, the video recalls that as Yugoslavia descended into civil war after its breakup, racist Serbian gangs and soldiers exploited the international community’s silence and weakness in implementing decisions by increasing the level of violence with each passing day.
The video underlines that the UN Peacekeepers, citing security concerns, were collecting weapons from Bosnians and giving them security guarantees and that the Bosnians were left defenceless against the approaching genocide, and it includes the following remarks:
“Void of any human values, the racist Serbian leaders of that period commanded thousands of soldiers to enter the disarmed city of Srebrenica on July 11th, which they did with ease, and massacred 8,373 Bosnian Muslims in only five days. As a result of the ethnic cleansing that was done during the war, the Bosnian communities of many cities were completely exterminated. Some were forcibly displaced, while many were murdered. The Bosnians who fell prisoner were taken to concentration camps where they were tortured, raped and killed. This massacre, where innocent civilians were targeted, and women, men, children and the elderly were indiscriminately murdered, showed us the ugly face of racism once again, making us question the responsibilities of international institutions and see the need to make strong reforms to their structure. The pain of the many massacres and crimes against humanity are still fresh today as the international community’s insensitivity allowed this genocide to last for three and a half years in the centre of Europe. Türkiye will always stand together with the brotherly Bosnian people and continue to take diplomatic steps on every international platform to ensure similar massacres never happen again. May the souls of our Srebrenica martyrs rest in peace.”